What happens when a scene has so many excellent players? The premiere of the Disc Golf Pro Tour Elite in Europe under the DGPT Europe brand at the Copenhagen Open (Denmark) had an entry with many recent winners among which to look for favorites:
Anneli Tõugjas-Männiste (Estonia), Rachel Turton (Great Britain), Anniken Steen (Norway), Eveliina Salonen (Finland)... but the one who most strongly claimed her options was Estonia's Kaidi Allsalu, who with a -8 made clear why she won on this same course at the 2023 European Pro Tour: a flying start with 4 birdies in a row and only one bogey with a really solid game in all aspects.
PDGA Europe, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, serves the 29 PDGA Affiliate Countries on the European continent. PDGA Europe operates under the direction of the PDGA Europe Board of Directors with the overarching aim of growing disc golf throughout Europe in collaboration with PDGA Global, PDGA Europe members, and National Governing Bodies/Associations.
PDGA Europe seeks proactive and dynamic candidates with the best and brightest minds to serve on the PDGA Europe Board of Directors. For 2024, there are two vacancies available, with each successful candidate expected to serve a term of three years, commencing 01-Sep-2024.
For the first time, the PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships are heading to Europe and it's already time to mark your calendars for the biggest event in the sport of disc golf.
The joy of disc golf is evident in Cambodia. Photo: Greg James
A year ago, when the PDGA unveiled its new logo, the organization was left with a stockpile of former logo discs at our fulfillment house in Georgia, USA.
Our Memberships Manager Vic Allen came up with the cool idea of distributing most of this plastic to our overseas partner countries, across the developing world and elsewhere. In short, this would be another means of PDGA delivering on its mission “to develop disc golf into a globally-recognized competitive sport and recreational activity.”
Disc Golf Uganda, in conjunction with Ndejje University, recently hosted the Greenzone Disc Golf Championship in March. Ndejje is located just outside Kampala, offering a central location for travel and accommodation within the country. This prime location was one of the key factors in the collaboration between the Paul McBeth Foundation, Ledgestone, and the PDGA to install the first-ever 18 hole course in Uganda on the university's property.
Project Olangama, one of Paul McBeth Foundation’s newest course announcements, was just installed this past week.
Olangama is a general name denoting the work being done amongst a particularly underserved people group in Uganda, the Batwa Pygmy people. This community is over 12 hours from the nearest disc golf course and is cut off from many of the luxuries of the developed world. The PMF introduced the sport for the first time to this entirely new audience, in collaboration with former UFC fighter and current Bellator MMA fighter, Justin Wren.
Silva Saarinen has participated in five PDGA Euro Tour events and has won... all five: Krokhol, Swedish Open, Skellefteå, Åland and now the PDGA Euro Tour Championship - Andalucía Open!
NOTE: Due to an extreme weather forecast on Sunday, the competition schedule for the final round of the 2023 Andalucía Open has been adjusted. MPO and FPO will both play at 9:35 AM local time (3:35 AM ET) with a shotgun start. Disc Golf Network will run concurrent lead card coverage of both divisions. Post-production coverage will remain unchanged.
The MPO Feature Card of this PDGA Euro Tour Championship was an absolute luxury: three of the top five in the points standings of the entire circuit (Jakub Semerád, Miro Ryhänen and Silver Lätt) plus the current European Champion Dennis Augustsson, but the luck was very uneven for each of them:
Jenni Karppinen was the regular-season points leader on the 2023 PDGA Euro Tour. Photo: PDGA Europe
Sunny Spain... most of the time! Sustained winds of 30-50 km/h (20-30 mph) added a touch (or two) of spice to the training days, although the forecast is for more pleasant weather for the competition days of the 2023 Andalucía Open - PDGA Euro Tour Championship.
A team from Uplay Disc Golf is heading to Africa this week. Photo: Paul McBeth Foundation
Uplay Disc Golf, a transformative educational organization, has partnered with the Paul McBeth Foundation and the PDGA to continue the growth of disc golf and help build sustainable habits for new disc golf communities in Uganda, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.
What an end for the PDGA Euro Tour regular season!
Another day of more than pleasant weather and a total of 154 players between the Open, Masters and parallel Amateur tournament played for the final rankings of this 9Hill Open 2023 and met in a crowded trophy ceremony that had something of a farewell for this year, waiting for the Grand Final of the PDGA Euro Tour Championship in Spain at the end of October.
Recently, Joe Feidt, PDGA #362, and a team traveled to Cuba to meet with PDGA Latin America Coordinator Luis Rodriguez as a part of a PDGA Marco Polo project. Check out the video and a brief rundown of the trip.
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.
Moving day on Åland Islands was half way through with lead card of FPO almost holing out on 18 when a lightning delay suspended the round for 70 minutes before they could make their final putts.
PDGA Euro Tour stop number 7 on Åland Islands has been just that so far and nothing less. Everything you might have heard about the disc golf heaven is true and some more here on the archipelago between Sweden and Finland. If you are ever planning for a disc golf holiday, this must be on top of your list.
Kyle Klein led after the opening round, then Anthony Barela in round 2, then Calvin Heimburg in round 3 with Corey Ellis joining them on the lead card going into the final round. All four players were looking for their first Major title at an event that had never been won by a player without a previous Major win.
“Last time I played here was four years ago and I feel like I had a totally different game back then,” Kristin Tattar said after becoming the first European player to win the European Open. “It was one of my goals going into this season to win the European Open and I’m just super happy that I did it.”
Calvin Heimburg built a two-stroke lead on Saturday. Photo: Daniel Voss / PDGA
Calvin Heimburg made a seemingly quietly move to the chase card on Saturday at the 2023 European Open, the second PDGA Major of the year.
He wasn’t quiet on Moving Day.
Heimburg dropped a 1080-rated 12-under round to jump to a two-stroke lead heading into Championship Sunday in Nokia, Finland with 18 holes remaining on The Beast between him and his first PDGA Major title.
It was the hottest round of the day by one stroke. Estonia’s Mauri Villmann followed with an 11-under round to jump into a tie for eighth place.
Henna Blomroos is in second place. Photo: Dan Voss / PDGA
Round 3 of the 2023 European Open saw very little change to the top of the leaderboard on moving day, with the same four players remaining on top.
Kristin Tattar shot her worst round of the tournament at even par, but still tied for the hot round with Heidi Laine and Ella Hansen. While Tattar was disappointed with her performance, she still managed to extend her lead to 14 strokes over second place. Never content to rest on her laurels, Tattar seems motivated to finish out the tournament with a score that meets her standards.
The MPO field will see a completely different lead card on Saturday after a leaderboard shakeup in Round 2 of the 2023 European Open.
Anthony Barela shot the hot round at 12-under to jump up 10 places and lead the tournament at 19 strokes under par. While nowhere near as big a lead as we saw by this point last year, Barela now has a two-stroke lead over Albert Tamm and Eagle McMahon.
“I was just throwing the disc great and making all my circle 1 putts. I was pretty happy with how I threw every hole except for that bounce and rollaway on 18,” Barela said after tying the course record in Round 2.
After another scorching round on day two of the 2023 European Open, Kristin Tattar has expanded her lead even further over the rest of the FPO field.
Just like in Round 1, Tattar was the only FPO player to shoot under par, this time shooting six-under to expand her lead to 13 strokes over 2nd place. According to StatMando, this is the largest two-round Major lead since Valarie Jenkins’ 13-stroke lead in the 2015 Aussie Open and largest ever two-round lead at a European Major.
As we’ve seen through the whole 2023 season, the opening round finished with a logjam at the top of the MPO leaderboard at the 2023 European Open.
Kyle Klein currently has the solo lead at 10 strokes under par while four players are tied for second at 9-under. Defending champion Eagle McMahon and last year’s runner-up Paul McBeth are only two strokes back of the lead yet find themselves tied for sixth place. Every missed putt and OB stroke out on the Beast can feel devastating as finishing just four strokes back of the lead puts you in a four-way tie for 17th place.
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.
Presidents Cup 2023: Team USA Seeks to Extend Dominance as Europe Aims for Upset
As the disc golf world eagerly awaits the second PDGA Pro Major of the year, the 2023 European Open in Nokia DiscGolfPark, there’s a captivating prelude that promises to set the stage for an unforgettable week of disc golf action. The prestigious Presidents Cup, a thrilling team event between the United States and Europe, will take place on Wednesday, July 19th. Disc golf enthusiasts from around the globe will witness elite players from both continents compete fiercely to determine the best team.
