MPO leader Daniel Davidsson. Photo: Joosep Martinsson
FPO leader Heidi Laine. Photo: Joosep Martinsson
FPO
The day dawned radiant, with 20 degrees Celsius and no wind but, curiously, several players told us that the increasing humidity influenced their game, both at the level of disc flight (humid air is less dense and is equivalent to gaining height), in the clothing comfort and the discs grip: Disc Golf is a complex sport!
Who said that double digits were only for MPOs? Finland's Heidi Laine maintains her stellar form and scores a 10-under-par round of 1016 on the Mäetaguse course at the PDGA EuroTour — Lone Star Disc Alutaguse Open.
She told us in the interview that, despite being a player with a great distance, she had saved the last percentage of power to improve her accuracy and make sure to play from the fairway. If we add 73% accuracy from inside 10 meters and even an eagle on hole 2 we have an extraordinary round!
Heidi Laine was keeping her lead throughout the last round, but Silva Saarinen never gave up and, with birdies on 15, 16, 17 and 18, she put a pressure on Heidi, who had an eagle putt, but missed and had to go to a tiebreaker with Silva.
Eveliina Salonen leads by three after the first round at the PCS Open. Photo: Disc Golf Pro Tour
FPO
All the players, and ourselves,had in mind Paige Pierce, who slipped and suffered a fracture that takes her away from the biggest competitions of the season in the worst possible way.
The number of high-level players was on display from the start of the round, and in fact it was the third card that started to make very good scores: Sarah Hokom, with one under par, took advantage of her forehand flex lines with stable drives to navigate the demanding fairways of Øveras Disc Golf Park.
What a battle we have lived through in the PDGA Euro Tour Skellefteå Open FPO final round! We were working at the excellent press area, went down to take a coffee (Sweden is the 2nd highest per-capita consumer in the world), and crossed in front of the clubhouse with Jenny Larsson. Something in her eyes said she was super-focused. We took a look at UDisc Live and found out why: she was smashing the course record! Rushing to the interview set to get her impressions on that -6 (which would stay at -4 after a double bogey on the 18th).
No one is spared from "accidents" on the difficult Swedish course of Skellefteå, as shown by Hannele Määttä (Finland), provisionally fifth; she is the player who has scored the fewest bogeys with 4, so it is important to know how to reset the mind at the start of each new hole.
Czech Nikola Moravcováwill give up her place on the leader card to play in the chase card after two double bogeys dropped her to sixth.
Nikola Moravcová on Friday. Photo: Johannes Fidemo / IG: jfidemodiscgolf
FPO
An interesting leading card with the stellar presence of Ella Hansen, the American player with a rating 25 points higher than her immediate pursuer, raised the expectation for the first day of the women's category at the PDGA EuroTour #5 — Skellefteå Open presented by Latitude 64°.
However it was, once again, Finland's Silva Saarinen who achieved the best score but, this time, the distances were much smaller, with the first four players being separated by only three strokes.
Is it possible to keep out of your mind the fact that you are leading an international tournament on the last day with an 8-stroke gap over your pursuers?
Imperial Anttila! As if it were Miron's discus thrower, the young Finnish player has delighted us with an impeccable game at the PDGA EuroTour — Swedish Open presented by Kastaplast, with moments of the highest quality such as the "almost ace" on the 11th hole: a very high turnover that even reminded us a bit of the "Holy Shot" of James Conrad.
British Rachel Turton has finally established herself – if there was any doubt about it - among the top elite FPO European players after convincingly winning the Konopiste Open presented by Discmania, second stop of the 2023 PDGA Euro Tour in the beautiful Czech woods.
Disc golf tournaments are not like highways, with twists, turns and ups and downs…
Anneli Tõugjas-Männiste (Estonia), Sofie Björlycke (Sweden) and Kristi Unt (Estonia) each had their share of ups and downs during round two, each scoring +2. This brought which brought yesterday’s leader, Tõugjas-Männiste, to second place while Sofie and Kristi went down to fourth.
Players from 24 countries are playing in the thick forests of Varaždin at the Pro Forester presented by Vall Tours in a clear proof that many players from Central and Southern Europe are willing to join PDGA Euro Tour.
Marianne Must extends her lead into the final round. Photo: PDGA Media
The demanding course just outside of the Croatian city, by the Drava river, is more demanding than ever: summertime is making vegetation grow and the local organizing team has had to make an extra work to clear up the fairways and players to find the lines.
The signage effort has been considerable and the course has players are delighting in the opportunity to play in such a professional looking course.
A European-level robotics contest in Varaždin Arena has attracted hundreds of visitors that are discovering disc golf in the holes around it.
Calixto Garcia, of Spain, is the new Marketing & Media Manager for PDGA Europe.
With the growth of the sport in Europe (and in general), PDGA Europe has expanded its staff with a new Marketing and Media position.
Calixto García is a 46-year-old marketeer from Bilbao, Spain, has three children and realized that throwing discs is somewhat better than hitting a ball with a stick three years ago. Since then, he established himself known in disc golf community as a huge sport promoter as owner of Zona Disc Golf YouTube channel that specializes in content in Spanish language, growing the sport not only in Spain, but also in Latin America.
In addition to the PCS Open, which will return to the DGPT schedule as an Elite Event, the Disc Golf Network will now produce full-scale live broadcasts at a majority of 2023 Euro Tour events. The events added are as follows.
Philo Brathwaite plucks an ace from the basket at the Drava Forester. The spring iteration of the tournament will kick off the 2020 Euro Tour in April. Photo: Drava Forester
With six events spanning from April to July, the 2020 Euro Tour is set to put the height of European disc golf on display. From venerable, long-established events in Scandinavia to up-and-coming tournaments in the Baltics – and plenty in between – it’s set to be a wild ride that will feature several hotbeds of the sport.
Maxime Tanghe tees off at the Creeksea Classic while Blær Örn Ásgeirsson (left) and Tony Ferro (second from right) look on. Photo: PDGA Europe
If you want a succinct summary of last weekend’s Creeksea Classic in Burnham on Crouch, England, look no further than this comment from competitor Tony Ferro: “Everyone came to play this weekend, and the course conditions were perfect for it.”
Henna Blomroos, shown here during the 2019 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships, closed out her season with a victory at the EuroTour's Nokia Open. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
If disc golf fans know anything about Nokia, Finland, other than its connection to cell phones, it’s that it’s home to one of the most famous courses in the sport. That course, The Beast, is mostly thought of as the challenge awaiting contenders at the prestigious European Open. But last weekend The Beast roared back to life—with some slight modifications—to play host to the penultimate EuroTour event of the season: the Nokia Open.
Paige Pierce soared to her second career European Open title this weekend in Nokia, Finland. Photo: Tomi Mäkipää
NOKIA, Finland—After a perfect drive on hole 4 Sunday at The Beast, Paige Pierce found herself in difficulty: She followed up by yanking her upshot a little right, then bumped a tree and fell into circle 2 on a dangerously sloping green. Despite having a lead in the double digits, she stared down her line with intensity and then launched her putter with a slight anhyzer around a tree into the heart of the chains.
Pierce’s caddie, Tina Oakley, shook her head incredulously and smiled. “She didn’t even need that,” Oakley said. “She just wanted it.”
After three rounds, Paige Pierce has a commanding lead at the European Open. Photo: Jari Mäki-Kuutti
NOKIA, Finland—There was a moment in round three of the European Open on the Open Women’s lead card that seemed emblematic of the fates of all Paige Pierce’s competitors at the PDGA Major. Finn Henna Blomroos had laid up to just a few meters from the basket for an easy par on the 94-meter, (308-foot) par-3 6th. Her putt hit so perfectly, the gallery was already clapping.
Paige Pierce (right) assesses her lie during round two of the European Open. Photo: Tomi Mäkipää
NOKIA, Finland—Holes 4 and 5 of The Beast hit Texan Paige Pierce hard during round two of the European Open. On 4, a wooded, 155-meter par-4, her driving putter wedged in a tree in the shape of a taco. From there, the hole snowballed to a double bogey. She then three-putted on 5, causing a drive into circle 1 to quickly devolve from birdie to bogey.
Paige Pierce drove her way to the top of the leaderboard Thursday at the European Open. Photo: Tomi Mäkipää
NOKIA, Finland—Though she’s now leading the Open Women’s division after round one of the storied European Open, on Wednesday Paige Pierce was just happy to make it here for her Presidents Cup tee time.
Kevin Jones took home the win in his first European tournament. Photo: PDGA Europe
With Estonia just a hop, skip, and a ferry ride away from Finland, the seventh EuroTour event of the season, the Estonian Open, offered the perfect warm-up for this week’s PDGA Major, the European Open. And if the action in Estonia was a harbinger of what’s to come, we’re in for some exciting rounds in Nokia.
One week after withdrawing from the Ledgestone Insurance Open with a shoulder injury, Eagle McMahon hopped across the pond for a win at the Tyyni. Photo: Marika Salmi | Natural Born Disc Golfer
Going into the final round of an A-tier with just a one-stroke lead over three players and another five players lurking two behind would make most leaders edgy, to say the least. But whether it was the festive atmosphere of Europe’s largest-ever event (second-largest in the world this year with 958 registered players), his vacation mindset pre-European Open, or a mixture of both, nerves weren’t a factor for Eagle McMahon during the final round of the Tyyni.
A triumphant Jenni Eskelinen celebrates her Tynni victory. Photo: Marika Salmi | Natural Born Disc Golfer
Before play began at last weekend’s Tyyni near Helsinki, Finland, most people following European disc golf this year would have told you that their hands-down favorite to win the Open Women’s division was Estonian Kristin Tattar. Case in point: In UDisc’s Grip6 Pick6 contest, a game where you pick six players you think will be closest to the lead in their respective divisions, Tattar was picked by 70% of the almost 2,000 participants -- over 800 more than the female competitor with next-highest total.
