Six years since the start of the DGPT; six years since Bradley Williams won an Elite Series.

June 28, 2022 by Justin Westfall in Analysis with comments

It seems like everything finally fell into place for the third iteration of the Preserve Championship. After a rush to put on the event in 2020 and smoke-filled air in 2021, this year’s event displayed a more refined layout and hosted tons of spectators on the gorgeous property adjacent to the Mississippi river. While the wind did pick up a bit this year, the increased difficulty on both tee shots and putts is exactly what course owner Cale Leiviska was hoping for. Paige Pierce was able to claim a historic 70th Elite Series/Major win with little stress during the final round. And Bradley Williams was able to claim his 2nd career ES win, exactly six years to the day that he and Pierce both won the inaugural Disc Golf Pro Tour event at Maple Hill.

Bradley Williams

Williams won the first-ever DGPT event back in 2016, averaging a 1055 rating at Maple Hill and defeating Michael Johansen in a playoff. That was the highest rated ES event in Williams’ career — until coming to Clearwater and averaging 1060 golf with back-to-back 12-under par rounds to start the weekend. Leading the tournament in fairway hits, holes parked, and OB rate was a huge part of his success. Bradley threw the disc extremely well and only needed to take 35 C1X and C2 putts across the three rounds, which helped take a lot of stress off.

Though he now has two wins, Williams has just five top 10 finishes on the Pro Tour. Known mainly for his woods play, two of those top 10s came at WACO, one at the Green Mountain Championship, and, of course, his win at Maple Hill. While many see the Preserve as a long thrower’s course, Bradley was still able to get eagle looks on hole 18 and utilized a roller on the 1280 foot hole 9 to chew off extra distance. His buttery finesse was on full display in the wooded holes and highlighted by a blind 250 foot throw-in on hole 5 during the final round.

Ricky Wysocki

An excellent return for Wysocki who led the field in strokes gained tee to green and nearly chased down Williams on Sunday. Ricky played comparably to Bradley; the difference really came down to Wysocki’s two OB strokes whereas Williams played clean. Over the three rounds, Ricky shot 1-over on hole 5, the most difficult hole on the course. But oddly enough, he also shot 1-over on hole…