Dynamic Discs Open Preview
A short turnaround from Jonesboro, the Disc Golf Pro Tour moves to Emporia, Kansas for it's final stop before heading out west next month
This week 700 professional and amateur disc golfers have traveled to Emporia, Kansas for one of the premiere events of the year, the Dynamic Discs Open. While this is technically just the 5th stop on the Disc Golf Pro Tour, this year‘s DDO is also so much more than that. Dynamic Discs really worked to push their brand forward in the professional game by signing Ricky Wysocki, Gavin Rathbun, Mason Ford, Valerie Mandujano and Kona Panis this offseason, and these players are motivated to perform this weekend. It is also a big showcase for Eric McCabe who is not only the course designer of the Emporia Country Club, but also the latest redesign of the Supreme 18 at Jones Park. Most importantly, this weekend is a precursor to the World Championships where the city of Emporia and both of these courses will play host later on this year.
2021 recap
After two rounds at the Jones Gold course, Calvin Heimburg, Eagle McMahon and Ben Callaway all found themselves tied for the lead heading over to the Emporia Country Club. Paul McBeth proceeded to shoot the hot round at 9-under par in round three, and on the final day McBeth, Heimburg and McMahon were all tied for the lead with Ricky Wysocki just one stroke back. Only Calvin Heimburg was keeping pace with McBeth until the back-9 where McBeth shot 4-under par as Heimburg went 4-over par. McBeth had won his 5th Dynamic Discs Open in the past seven years by six strokes. His back-to-back 9-under par rounds at the country club was seven strokes better than any other competitor.
Similar to McBeth, Hailey King finished round 2 in a three stroke deficit to Catrina Allen but took control of the event after going to Emporia Country Club. Hailey entered the final day up by one stroke and by the 18th hole was able to claim a six stroke victory of her own over 4-time champion Catrina Allen. In the end, King had the 2nd most strokes gained tee to green, 3rd most strokes gained putting and the 3rd best OB rate, which is a recipe for success at this tournament.
Course changes
Not only has every hole at the Emporia Country Club been modified for this year, but Jones Park has been completely redesigned into the new Supreme 18 course. Last year a mix of Jones East and West was combined into Jones Gold, but the new Supreme course bears little resemblance.
2021 Jones Gold MPO: 10,511 feet Par 69
2021 Jones Gold FPO: 9,750 feet Par 70
2022 Supreme 18 MPO: 10,762 feet Par 65
2022 Supreme 18 FPO: 9,414 feet Par 67
2021 Emporia CC MPO: 10,658 feet Par 65
2021 Emporia CC FPO: 9,193 feet Par 67
2022 Emporia CC MPO: 10,977 feet Par 65
2022 Emporia CC FPO: 9,835 feet Par 69
Fantasy picks
Here are my picks for the free weekly league over at skipace.com where you select four MPO and two FPO players with a budget of 6,000 PDGA ratings points.
Drew Gibson (1039)
Gannon Buhr (1034)
Colten Montgomery (1021)
Eric Oakley (1019)
Macie Velediaz (946)
Holyn Handley (941)
Points Used: 6,000
Tournament picks
Hungry may not be a strong enough word to describe Paul McBeth’s desire to win right now, he’s starving for a win. Despite coming up short in a playoff last weekend McBeth played extremely well leading the tournament in birdies but catching a few bad breaks along the way. The 5-time DDO champion has performed better at this tournament, and the Emporia Country Club in particular than anybody. Paul will likely have to contend with Calvin Heimburg once again, as well as Ricky Wysocki who despite never winning this event has been the runner up four of the last six years. After signing a big contract with Dynamic Discs this offseason, Wysocki likely has even more motivation to try and claim his first DDO win.
Finally with the monkey off her back, Kristin Tattar is headed to Emporia with her first elite series win of the year. She won back-to-back pro tour events last year and I believe she will do the same this weekend with a win at the DDO. Kristin’s tee to green stats in Jonesboro were incredible, and on long courses with tight OB lines what more could you ask for. It’s hard to pick against a 4-time winner in Catrina Allen, and even harder to go against a 5-time winner in Paige Pierce who was notably absent from this event last year. But Tattar has been more consistent than anybody in the division this season, and the challenges of this event set up very well for her game.
Weather report
It wouldn’t be Emporia without wind, and lots of it. While the weekend may be clear there is a chance of rain and thunderstorms on both Thursday and Friday.
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