A weird start and a thrilling finish!

August 23, 2022 by Justin Westfall in Analysis with comments

The Disc Golf Pro Tour Elite Series regular season is officially in the books, but the Des Moines Challenge was far from a typical event. The FPO division had a fairly standard week, with Kristin Tattar claiming her 3rd win of the season in a wire-to-wire victory that began with her setting a course record and shooting the highest rated round of the year in round 1. The MPO division, however, featured lightning delays, a double-header, no-name leaders, and a thrilling playoff conclusion.

After thunderstorms led to a stoppage of play on Friday, much of the field was forced to play two rounds on Saturday. The early morning conditions were not as favorable as they had been on Friday, with heavier winds and slippery teepads. Only 8 of the 43 players on cards 1 through 11 finished round 1 at or above their player rating. Compare that to 52 of the 76 players on cards 12 through 30 who finished round 1 at or above their player rating. Simon Lizotte would ultimately come out on top after a four hole playoff with 2021 U.S. Amateur Champion Robert Burridge.

Simon Lizotte

Re-entering the Player of the Year conversation, Simon Lizotte earned his 3rd Elite Series win of the season to tie Ricky Wysocki for the most wins in 2022. Lizotte finished 4th in strokes gained tee to green and 8th in strokes gained putting, going 100% inside C1X. Lizotte kept the scorecard pretty clean with just four OB strokes, two bogeys, and one double bogey in the event. One of those OB strokes came during a very complicated missed mandatory situation on hole 12 on Sunday: Simon got stroked by the new mando rule which incurs a penalty for crossing the restricted space, even if the mandatory was initially made before a kick or rollaway. He eventually fought back to force a playoff with Robert Burridge, and then hit a Circle 2 putt on hole 4 to claim the victory. The win ties his highest event rating of the season at 1057 and moves him into solo 5th place for all-time MPO wins on the Disc Golf Pro Tour.

Robert Burridge

Everybody watching the action on Sunday surely had the same thought: who the heck is Robert Burridge? At 1009 rated, he is the 2021 U.S. Amateur Champion and the 2022 College Disc Golf Singles National Champion….