Anyone's Game at The Beast
Anyone's Game at The Beast
Get ready for the PDGA Major — 2023 European Open
The best of the best — and the strongest field in the history of the prestigious tournament — has landed in Nokia, Finland for the 2023 European Open presented by Discmania. Many of the top players from the United States traveled to Norway to join the Euro Tour for the PCS Open last week and will now have a chance at a PDGA Major title. The European Open was established in 2006 and has become the premier professional disc golf event in Europe.
Elite players from all over the world will compete at the Nokia DiscGolfPark for the second professional Major of the year. The pros will play four rounds at an extensively modified layout of the Nokia DiscGolfPark, commonly referred to as “The Beast,” which is believed by many players to be one of the best and most challenging courses in the world. While both the MPO and FPO fields have traditionally played the same layout in the past, the FPO layout has been modified this year to better suit the FPO competitors. The Beast is now an 8,825-foot par 65 for the FPO and a 9,167-foot par 63 for the MPO field. The front nine forces players to carve lines through the woods of the Nokia Arboretum while the back nine features more open holes with water hazards and tight OB lines.
Eveliina Salonen took the early lead in the 2022 European Open after scoring four-under in the second round. This would be the only time an FPO player scored under par in any round of the tournament and it gave Salonen an eight-stroke lead over Paige Pierce going into Round 3. Pierce made a push in the third round to shrink that lead down to two strokes, eventually catching up with Salonen by the second hole of the final round. The pair kept trading off the lead as they each took multiple birdies and bogeys with Pierce taking the lead going into the last few holes. Pierce held on, finishing with a three-stroke lead to set the record for most FPO Major wins. Unfortunately, Pierce injured her ankle while practicing for the PCS Open and will not be competing in the 2023 European Open.
The 2022 European Open saw one of the most exciting battles in disc golf history as Eagle McMahon and Paul McBeth started off the final round tied for 1st with a 13-stroke lead over 3rd place. It became clear very early on this would be a two-horse race as McBeth and McMahon separated themselves from the field and finished no more than one stroke apart after each round. In the final round, they traded shots as they had all weekend and were tied going into Hole 17. McBeth’s tee shot went out of bounds and he ended up taking a bogey, leaving McMahon with a one-stroke lead going into Hole 18. Both players took a birdie on the final hole and McMahon took down his second Major win.
“I had a lot of self-doubt going in. And knowing that I was going head-to-head with Paul McBeth who is the five-time European Open champion,” McMahon said of his mindset going into the final round, “I rolled with the punches, and at a certain point, I just realized that it doesn’t have to be Paul to win, it can be me. I dug deep, I focused, and at the end, I was able to pull through the European Open champion.”
The strongest field in the 11 years of the European Open hits the course on Thursday in Nokia, Finland for the second PDGA Pro Major of the year.
This year the European Open has the strongest field in its history, when 13 out of the 15 best players in the world compete at The Beast. In the MPO division, there are over 80 1000-plus rated players, and in the FPO division there are only two under 900 rated women.
Here's everything you need to know to catch the action this weekend:
Tee Times & Round ratings
PDGA | Event Page
- Official scores, tee times, PDGA Live scoring and round ratings can be found on the official event page on PDGA.com.
Live Coverage
Disc Golf Network
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- Active PDGA members receive a 50% discount on their monthly DGN subscription »
- DGN media plan for the 2023 European Open »
Thursday's FPO Feature Card (Coverage begins with Tournament Central at 8:30 AM EEST | 1:30 AM EDT. Feature card tees at 9:30 EEST | 2:30 AM EDT)
- Eveliina Salonen
- Silva Saarinen
- Missy Gannon
- Ella Hansen
Thursday's FPO2 Live Card
- Kristin Tattar
- Henna Blomroos
- Anneli Töugjas-Männiste
- Catrina Allen
Thursday's MPO Feature Card (Coverage begins with Tournament Central at 2:30 PM EEST | 7:30 AM EDT. Feature card tees at 3:30 EEST | 7:30 AM DT)
- Eagle McMahon
- Paul McBeth
- Kyle Klein
- Matt Orum
Thursday's MPO2 Live Card
- Niklas Antilla
- Ricky Wysocki
- Lauri Lehtinen
- Kevin Jones
Post Production Coverage
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Open Lead Card / Round 1 MPO Feature Card
- Eagle McMahon
- Paul McBeth
- Kyle Klein
- Matt Orum
JomezPro | Subscribe
FPO Lead Card / Round 1 FPO Feature Card
- Eveliina Salonen
- Silva Saarinen
- Missy Gannon
- Ella Hansen
More Disc Golf | Subscribe 
Open Chase Card / Round 1 MPO Feature Card
- Niklas Antilla
- Ricky Wysocki
- Lauri Lehtinen
- Kevin Jones
More Disc Golf | Subscribe
FPO Chase Card / Round 1 FPO Feature Card
- Kristin Tattar
- Henna Blomroos
- Anneli Töugjas-Männiste
- Catrina Allen
Recap Articles
PDGA.com
Check back to PDGA.com daily for a recap of all of the action from the 2023 Elite Series.