Grind Goes on in Arkansas
Grind Goes on in Arkansas
Get ready for the DGPT - Jonesboro Open
Calvin Heimburg won the 2022 Jonesboro Open in a playoff over Paul McBeth. Photo: DGPT
With the first PDGA Major of the year completed just a few days ago, the PDGA Elite Series and Disc Golf Pro Tour heads to Jonesboro, Arkansas for the 2023 Play It Again Sports Jonesboro Open presented by Prodigy.
The Jonesboro Open started as a PDGA B-Tier in 2017 and moved up to an Elite Series event in 2018. Now in its seventh year, the 2023 Jonesboro Open will be the fifth Elite Series event of the season.
Players will take on the Disc Side of Heaven Championship Course, a 9,995 foot par 64 for the MPO field and 8,572 foot par 66 for the FPO. In contrast to the tight, wooded fairways the pros just played during the Champions Cup at W.R. Jackson, Disc Side of Heaven is made up of wide-open fairways on rolling hills. Constant elevation changes and occasional water carries to island greens will challenge players’ distance as well as accuracy. Longer holes call for placement golf as the pros pick their landing zones to navigate around walls of trees. Even the putting greens can prove difficult as sloping hills cause massive rollaways from putts that missed by inches.
Kristin Tattar will look for the repeat in Jonesboro after taking down the PDGA Champions Cup this past weekend. Photo: DGPT
Going into the final round of the 2022 Jonesboro Open, Kristin Tattar led the tournament with a seven-stroke lead over second place. Tattar went wire-to-wire, shooting the hot round all three rounds to expand her lead and finish 10 strokes clear of the field.
For the rest of the lead card, the final round went from catching up with Tattar to battling for second place. Missy Gannon and Kat Mertsch started the round tied for second, but Gannon pulled away to finish at 14 strokes under par while Mertsch tied for third place with Ella Hansen at 12 strokes under par.
Tattar has two Elite Series wins, a Silver Series win, and a PDGA Major win so far in 2023, so we’ll see if that momentum will carry on into Jonesboro.
The MPO field had a much more dramatic finish in the 2022 Jonesboro Open with Kevin Jones, Paul McBeth, and Calvin Heimburg tied for the lead going into Hole 18 of the final round.
Paul McBeth and Calvin Heimburg wait to start a playoff at the 2022 Jonesboro Open. Photo: DGPT
While Jones took a par, both McBeth and Heimburg birdied and went to a playoff for the win. Going back to the 470-foot Hole 1, McBeth’s tee shot veered off to the left while Heimburg’s laser-straight drive came to rest in the bullseye. McBeth was pinched off and unable to throw it in, so Heimburg tapped in the final putt to win his second Jonesboro title.
In the 2023 season, Heimburg is currently the only MPO player who has won an Elite Series event when starting the final round on the lead card. The MPO field has seen tight leaderboards and three chase card winners so far in 2023, promising another unpredictable finish if this trend continues.
Since its start in 2017, the Jonesboro Open has seen many repeat champions with Paige Pierce having won four times and Ricky Wysocki winning three times. Unfortunately, both players will not be playing this weekend due to injury.
The PDGA Champions Cup saw some gorgeous weather, but potential rain on Friday and Saturday as well as a windy Sunday could make this a challenging weekend at Disc Side of Heaven. Regardless of the weather, we’re sure to see long drives and a few ace runs at the 2023 Play It Again Sports Jonesboro Open presented by Prodigy.
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
The Disc Golf Network (DGN) is the home of live disc golf. Built by the Disc Golf Pro Tour, the DGN is a subscription streaming and on-demand platform. Covering the world’s best players competing in the sport’s most elite tournaments, a subscription includes post-produced coverage of select disc golf tournaments as well as exclusive disc golf shows, touring pro interview series, podcasts, and other segments only available on the Disc Golf Network.
Friday's FPO Feature Card (Live coverage of FPO begins at 10:30 a.m. ET)
- Kristin Tattar
- Caroline Henderson
- Kat Mertsch
- Catrina Allen
Friday's FPO2 Live Card
- Missy Gannon
- Lykke Lorentzen
- Hanna Huynh
- Holyn Handley
Friday's FPO3 Live Card
- Eveliina Salonen
- Ella Hansen
- Heidi Laine
- Henna Blomroos
Friday's MPO Feature Card (Live coverage of MPO begins at 4:30 p.m. ET)
- Calvin Heimburg
- Kevin Jones
- Väinö Mäkelä
- Eagle McMahon
Friday's MPO2 Live Card
- Paul McBeth
- Isaac Robinson
- Simon Lizotte
- Luke Humphries
Friday's MPO3 Live Card
- Mason Ford
- Ezra Robinson
- Silas Schultz
- Alden Harris
DGPT YouTube | Subscribe
In addition to the DGN, the live broadcast for both divisions will be simulcast free on the DGPT YouTube channel for the first round only on Friday, April 28.
DGN Press Conference | Watch
Hear from some of the players before the action gets going during a press conference from 1-2:40 p.m. CT on Thursday, live on the DGPT's YouTube channel. Here is the tentative schedule for the press conference (all times CT):
- 1:00 p.m.: Calvin Heimburg
- 1:10 p.m.: Kristin Tattar
- 1:20 p.m.: Kevin Jones
- 1:30 p.m.: Kat Mertsch
- 1:40 p.m.: Silas Schultz
- 1:50 p.m.: Caroline Henderson
- 2:00 p.m.: Paul McBeth
- 2:10 p.m.: Catrina Allen
- 2:20 p.m.: Isaac Robinson
- 2:30 p.m.: Brad Pietz (TD)
- 2:40 p.m.: Evan Shper (DGPT Rep)
Post Production Coverage
JomezPro | Subscribe 
Open Lead Card / Round 1 MPO Feature Card
- Calvin Heimburg
- Kevin Jones
- Väinö Mäkelä
- Eagle McMahon
JomezPro | Subscribe
FPO Lead Card / Round 1 FPO Feature Card
- Kristin Tattar
- Caroline Henderson
- Kat Mertsch
- Catrina Allen
Gatekeeper Media | Subscribe 
Open Chase Card / Round 1 MPO Feature Card
- Paul McBeth
- Isaac Robinson
- Simon Lizotte
- Luke Humphries
Ace Run Pro | Subscribe 
FPO Chase Card / Round 1 FPO Feature Card
- Missy Gannon
- Lykke Lorentzen
- Hanna Huynh
- Holyn Handley
Recap Articles
PDGA.com
Check back to PDGA.com daily for a recap of all of the action from the 2023 Elite Series.