Eyes of the sports world will be turning to Johnson City when the calendar flips.
The PDGA Pro Masters Disc Golf World Championships are set to begin on Aug. 3 and finish up Aug. 7. The action will be split up between Harmon Hills in Fall Branch, Sugar Hollow in Bristol, Va., and Johnson City’s Winged Deer Park.
“This will be an exciting event that brings together the best players over 40 to our area,” tournament director Tim Barr said. “This will certainly be an exciting event for our area and it will show that there are good courses in the area.
“We’ve got three courses rated inside the top 150 in the world by U-Disc, which is an app that is rated by the players. Harmon Hills was rated in the top 50.”
HOW DID THIS COME ABOUT?
“A lot of the credit goes to Gavin Andrews because he got in contact with the people at PDGA and started looking around for what we had to do to host a major,” Barr said. “A few years ago, when we hosted the women’s event, they really liked the way we did it and we were fortunate enough to win a bid again.”
The event was originally scheduled to be in the area last year, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, was rescheduled for 2021.
“With the shutdown, people were looking for a safe way to get outside and socially distance,” Barr said. “Disc golf is perfect and the popularity just took off. With this big event that’s drawing in players from around the world, this will only help the city corral big events in the future.”
A LOOK AT THE SCHEDULE
Sign up to Johnson City Press Today!
Top stories, delivered straight to your inbox.
All of the festivities actually begin on July 31 with the Divisional Doubles at Harmon Hills.
“What’s pretty cool is that we have a bunch of players coming that are over 70 and those are the people that got the sport started,” Barr said. “Disc golf started in the 1970s, so it’s pretty cool to have some of those people here. We’ve got plenty of former champions coming and it’s certainly going to be an exciting event.”
There will also be several social events and a players banquet on Aug. 2 at the Millennium Centre ballroom.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
One can imagine that players coming in from all around the country and the globe will certainly add to the local economy.
“When we had the women’s event and that was only for three days, we had 156 players,” Barr said. “And I remember someone saying that it added somewhere between $500,000 to $750,000 to the local economy.
“We’ve got people coming in here for this tournament and staying 10 to 11 days. And with well over 100 more than we had the last time, the economic impact could be much greater.”
Currently, there are more than 250 players registered, but Barr expects that number to increase significantly in the coming days.
“Registration is open until July 31 and there are still some spots available in the B Pool,” he said. “We’re still in need of volunteers, though. You don’t have to have any experience at all to help. There’s a link on the website where you can go to sign up.”
BLACKSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) – It was the disc golf shot heard ‘round the world.
James Conrad’s 247-foot birdie last Saturday in Ogden, Utah, would have been impressive without any context. But on the final hole of the Pro World Championships, needing to sink it to force a playoff, Conrad made what might be the greatest shot of all time.
“The fact that I was able to put myself in the position to play basically five rounds of really good disc golf and be right there in the mix coming down the home stretch, that’s an accomplishment that I’m proud of on its own,” said Conrad. “And then the fact that I was able to sink that shot and force the overtime just really puts it over the top. It was super special, you know.”
The shot sent the gallery of 1,400 spectators into a frenzy and for good reason.
Conrad says the response was overwhelming.
“If you have hundreds of people watching and you do something impressive or if I make a good putt or something and just to hear everyone get really excited about that is such a special feeling,” he said. “The silence during the anticipation while I’m lining up the shot, to have that many people just focused on what I’m doing and then the eruption of emotion, just amazing.”
Growing up with his father in the army, Conrad’s family moved around throughout his childhood, but they eventually settled in the New River Valley in 2007, where James graduated from Blacksburg High School.
His first pro win came in Rocky Mount back in 2008.
“That’s been as close to home as anywhere, pretty much since then,” said Conrad. “The last five or so years, I haven’t spent too much time around Virginia. I definitely spend some time around the holidays visiting my family and such, but Virginia still feels like home.”
His miraculous shot made it to number one on SportsCenter’s top 10 plays that night, and Conrad went on to defeat his opponent, and Lynchburg-area resident, Paul McBeth in the playoff to win his first world championship in a tournament showcasing two of the best from the Commonwealth.
“It’s really cool for Virginia and for the Virginia disc golfers and everything,” he said. “I know they’re all super proud of us. Paul and I, we never really spend time together in Virginia, but we both obviously have roots there and so, I think we’re both really happy for the exposure to the area and we both think it’s a really good area for disc golf. The land is beautiful and there’s a lot of good people around.”
But besides representing Virginia, Conrad and his competitors on the PDGA Tour are bringing their sport to a new level, too.
He says the crowd reaction and the attention his shot garnered in the last week is only helping to grow the game he’s played professionally since 2006.
“If there’s a street performer out on the street, he could be doing something completely amazing, and if no one is watching then people walking by will barely notice,” Conrad explained. “But if he gets a small crowd of 10 or 20 people watching and getting excited about what the performer’s doing, then that kind of just attracts a larger and larger crowd, so I think we’ll see some of that phenomenon.
“When we get great coverage of a shot like I threw and the coverage is good enough to be shown on SportsCenter and these kind of things, I think that’s a big step towards growing it, and those guys are really working their butts off to make some good disc golf content and it’s definitely helping.”
And as for his career, the win itself has validated Conrad’s rise up the disc golf ranks, with his shot heard ‘round the world serving as a culmination of the work it took to get here.
“Just as a competitor, to be able to say that I stepped up to the biggest stage in the world in our sport and was able to come out on top is a great feeling,” he said.
Paul McBeth is a professional disc golfer born on October 22, 1990, in Auckland, New Zealand. McBeth began playing disc golf at the age of 12 and turned professional in 2013. He is considered one of the best disc golfers globally and has won numerous tournaments, including four PDGA World Championships (2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017) and two United States Disc Golf Championships (2015 and 2016). McBeth is also the first disc golfer to win five PDGA Majors. McBeth’s biggest rival on the professional disc golf circuit is Ricky Wysocki, who has also won numerous tournaments. The two have competed against each other extensively and are often considered the top two-disc golfers globally. In October 2017, McBeth and Wysocki faced a final-round battle at the USDGC, regarded as one of the best rounds in disc golf history. McBeth ultimately won the duel by one stroke. He has achieved 126 professional wins in his career, winning 22 on the PDGA National Tour, two on the Disc Golf World Tour, and 16 on the Disc Golf Pro Tour, Making him one of the most successful professional sportspeople in history.
Paul McBeth Early Life
On October 22, 1990, Paul McBeth was born in Auckland, New Zealand. His parents, Rob and Gina, were both avid disc golfers and introduced their son to the sport at a young age. McBeth took to disc golf quickly and began playing competitively at 12. In 2013, he turned professional and had since become one of the best disc golfers in the world. And thanks in part to his prowess on the disc golf course, McBeth has also become a household name in the sport.
Paul McBeth Professional Career
McBeth’s first game was in a professional event in 2006. He began his professional career in 2008, taking place in 29 professional events. During this time, he netted $11,852.50 in winnings and earned the PDGA Male Rookie of the Year Award. McBeth was also able to win his first Professional Event in 2009 at the Utah Open. In 2010 McBeth competed in 34 Professional Events and earned $24,047.50 in winnings. He was also able to increase his career total wins by netting seven more tournament victories. The following year (2011), McBeth competed in 38 Professional Events and earned $37,950.00 in winnings. This was his best year up to date for earnings, and he was also able to add ten more tournament victories to his career total. 2012 was a breakout year for McBeth as he competed in 42 Professional Events and earned $158,950.00 in winnings. This included his first National Tour win at the PDGA National Tour Championship. According to his Disc Golf Metrix profile, he also won his first Major at the United States Disc Golf Championship. The following year (2013), McBeth competed in 38 Professional Events and earned $144,950.00 in winnings. This included his second National Tour win at the PDGA National Tour Championship and his third Major win at the World Championships.
During 2014 McBeth competed in 39 Professional Events and earned $191,600.00 in winnings. This included his third National Tour win at the PDGA National Tour Championship, his fourth Major win at the Masters’ Cup, and his first Disc Golf Pro Tour win at the Dynamic Discs Open. The following year (2015), McBeth competed in 37 Professional Events and earned $148,950.00 in winnings. This included his fourth National Tour win at the PDGA National Tour Championship, his fifth Major win at the United States Disc Golf Championship, and his second Disc Golf Pro Tour win at the MVP Open. In 2016 McBeth competed in 36 Professional Events and earned $191,600.00 in winnings. This included his fifth National Tour win at the PDGA National Tour Championship, his sixth Major win at the United States Disc Golf Championship, and his third Disc Golf Pro Tour win at the MVP Open. The following year (2017), McBeth competed in 36 Professional Events and earned $196,000.00 in winnings. This included his sixth National Tour win at the PDGA National Tour Championship, his seventh Major win at the United States Disc Golf Championship, and his fourth Disc Golf Pro Tour win at the MVP Open.
2018 McBeth competed in 36 Professional Events and earned $189,000.00 in winnings. This included his seventh National Tour win at the PDGA National Tour Championship, his eighth Major win at the United States Disc Golf Championship, and his fifth Disc Golf Pro Tour win at the MVP Open. The following year (2019), McBeth competed in 36 Professional Events and earned $151,000.00 in winnings. This included his eighth National Tour win at the PDGA National Tour Championship, his ninth Major win at the United States Disc Golf Championship, and his first European Open win. During the 2020 season, there were lots of delays, and tournaments got canceled, so McBeth only had 14 tournaments winning five tournaments and winning $32,729 in prize money. In the 2021 season, McBeth competed in 36 Professional Events and earned $196,000.00 in winnings. This included his ninth National Tour win at the PDGA National Tour Championship, his tenth Major win at the United States Disc Golf Championship, and his fifth Disc Golf Pro Tour win at the MVP Open. Paul McBeth is a professional disc golfer who has competed in over 300 Professional Events and won over $1.5 million in prize money. He is the most successful player in Professional Event history, with 24 career wins. McBeth is also the only player to have won all four PDGA Majors. He has dominated the sport for the past decade, winning seven National Tour Championships, eight United States Disc Golf Championships, and five MVP Open titles. When it comes to sponsorship, McBeth has been very successful. He currently has seven sponsors: Discraft, Prodigy Disc, Latitude 64, Innova Champion Discs, MVP Sports, and Westside Discs. Between all of his sponsors, McBeth earns an annual salary of $150,000.
Personal Life
McBeth resides in Forest, Virginia, with his wife, Hannah McBeth. He has stated that his family is his top priority and wants to be a good role model. When he’s not playing disc golf, McBeth enjoys spending time with his family, hunting, fishing, and playing other sports. He also has a fear of heights.
Conclusion
Overall, Paul McBeth has been very successful in his professional disc golf career. He has won over $1.5 million in prize money and is the most successful player in Professional Event history. He has also been very successful in sponsorship, earning an annual salary of $150,000. The collective success has made him a net worth of $6 million, which is sure to increase in the years to come.
Spring Hill Intermediate School students received a lesson Thursday from a champion in a sport that “everyone can do.”
A classroom of about 43 fifth-graders took part in a lesson by 2018 Professional Disc Golf world champion Gregg Barsby.
The students then put their skills to the test at Panther Stadium, where the played in groups of five led by Barsby.
Chris Peurifoy, a coach at Spring Hill Intermediate, is an active disc golfer. He said he enjoys it so much that he wanted to bring it to his students.
“My family and I play a lot of disc golf, and last year I wrote a grant through the PTA at Spring Hill … for all of the disc golf stuff. I wanted to bring something I really enjoyed playing outside of school to our students here in P.E.,” he said.
Peurifoy said he has encountered Barsby during several tournaments and decided to reach out to ask him to visit in order to get students interested in the sport.
Barsby, who lives in Tyler, has been playing for 19 years.
He said the sport is getting bigger and enjoys coming to schools in East Texas to shine a light on the game he loves.
“The sport is getting a lot bigger. The disc pro tour is in full swing, and there’s tournament coverage on ESPN2 now,” he said. “The game is very easy to get into. There’s a lot of local parks here, Hinsley Park and Guthrie Park, that have disc golf. And the sport is relatively inexpensive to get started. Everyone can do it. It’s a family sport.”
As students played Thursday, Barsby rotated among groups and cheered them on as they attempted to land the disc inside the basket.
“I just try to bring a positive attitude and bring a fun-loving attitude when I work with the kids. I think that’s the most important thing,” he said. “I’m very fortunate to make this my job. It feels really special.”
Peurifoy compares disc golf with regular golf but instead with a disc or a frisbee. Players attend to throw the disc into a basket with the fewest number of throws.
He said the reaction of the students playing disc golf has been amazing, and he’s excited for them to learn the different things the sport teaches.
“It teaches fair play, to get outside, to cheer each other on whenever they do great things. It helps them know how better their body works as far as the mechanics, and we talked about science and how the wind plays a factor in physics,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that the game helps kids with and just getting outside instead of being on video games all the time.
“It’s a game that anybody can play. You don’t have to be necessarily strong or tall, big or whatever. No matter your size, you can play disc golf. They’ve truly really loved playing.”
Kinsley Cox, 11, said the playing disc golf Thursday was “awesome” adding that the experience with Barsby was “very cool”.
“I wasn’t expecting that. It’s really cool to have him here,” Kinsley said. “I’ve learned how to hold the disc correctly and how to hold it with the nose down.”
Disc golf fans can keep up with Barsby at the upcoming Disc Golf 2022 Pro Tour for the Texas State Championship at greggbarsby.com.
February 22, 2022: The Disc Golf Pro Tour is pleased to announce its post-production media plans for the 2022 season. JomezPro has signed a two-year agreement to gain post-production coverage rights to the MPO Lead Card for the 2022 and 2023 DGPT seasons. GK Pro has agreed to a one-year deal for coverage rights to the FPO Lead Card, and Gatekeeper Media will produce MPO Chase Card coverage for both the 2022 and 2023 DGPT seasons. Additionally, the DGPT will be working with GK Pro and Central Coast Disc Golf to provide post-produced coverage of Silver Series events on the DGPT’s YouTube channel.
While this constitutes the current season-long partnerships, more post production will provide additional coverage throughout the season. FPO Chase Card coverage will be added whenever possible, and is planned for all PDGA Majors
The agreement with JomezPro is groundbreaking for disc golf media. In addition to covering MPO lead cards for all DGPT Elite Series events for 2022 and 2023, they will also provide coverage for three PDGA Majors; the PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships, the United States Women’s Disc Golf Championship, and the Champions Cup. The historic, two-year agreement will see JomezPro purchasing the MPO lead card post-production coverage rights of the events for $500,000.
“At JomezPro, our mission is to share our love of the sport of Disc Golf across the world through our media channels,” said JomezPro founder Jonathan Gomez. “Through our partnership with the DGPT and our first multi-year agreement, we are able to create a long-term media strategy that will allow us to serve the community in new and exciting ways!”
“We are thrilled to bring back the full team of post-production media partners from 2021,” said DGPT CEO and Tour Director Jeff Spring. “The value generated through media, in 2022, will be put right back into event support, continued purse growth, and another record-breaking DGPT Championship payout. The disc golf industry has seen incredible progress and development, working together, and these agreements strengthen all parties and give disc golf fans the high-quality, post-produced coverage that they’ve come to know and love.”
GK Pro and Gatekeeper will also provide additional coverage at PDGA Majors. Gatekeeper will provide Chase Card coverage at the PDGA Pro World Championship and the Champions Cup, while GK Pro will provide FPO Lead Card coverage at both as well, along with additional post-production coverage at the USWDGC.
The 2022 Disc Golf Pro Tour regular season kicks off this Thursday, February 24 with the Las Vegas Challenge. Post-production coverage will be available on each of the above media team’s YouTube channels.
###
For media inquiries, please contact DGPT Communications Manager, Charles McCracken at [email protected].
March 25, 2022 by Charlie Eisenhood in Preview with comments
Last year, the Texas State Disc Golf Championships were the first stop on the final season of the PDGA National Tour. The consolidation with the Disc Golf Pro Tour this offseason means that it returns as a DGPT Elite Series stop. This is the first event of the year that makes its debut as a DGPT tournament.
While Texas States has long moved from course to course, this year’s new layout — The Thorn, a safari combination of the three courses at Lindsey Park, including last year’s Dogwood track — reflects a changing reality of professional disc golf. We are, in fact, out of the woods.
Open holes, plenty of spectator sightlines, and way more distance become the themes of this year’s Texas States. It’s not just about having good courses anymore; it’s about ticket sales and cell signal for the live broadcast.
Hey, they say everything’s bigger in Texas. Let’s dive into what to watch for this weekend.
Past Winners
Year
Tier
MPO
FPO
2021
NT
Ricky Wysocki
Hailey King
2020
A-tier
Bradley Williams
Valerie Mandujano
2019
A-tier
Ricky Wysocki
Sarah Hokom
2018
A-tier
Anthony “AP” Perkins
Jessica Weese
2017
A-tier
Ricky Wysocki
Paige Pierce
2016
A-tier
Bradley Williams
Sarah Hokom
2015
A-tier
Paul McBeth
Paige Pierce
2014
NT
Ricky Wysocki
Paige Pierce
2013
NT
Ricky Wysocki
Sarah Hokom
2012
A-tier
Cale Leiviska
Valarie Jenkins
2011
NT
Nikko Locastro
Valarie Jenkins
Five Things We’ll Be Watching
1. See those five times in the table above that Ricky Wysocki has won this event? Those are the only five times he’s played in it. It’s a pretty remarkable streak, even if you discount the two years he won it against weaker fields when it was just an A-Tier. And it’s not like he dominated the Dogwood course they played last year for the event every time: this tournament moves around, and he’s won all over Texas on all kinds of different layouts. Everything’s Ricky in Texas. Can he make it six in a row and kickstart his 2022 campaign? This stretch of the tour is where he got it going last season en route to unanimous Player of the Year honors. He’s certainly got the game to handle the open and wooded combination course that the Thorn presents.
2. Welcome back, Matt Orum! Matty O got hit with appendicitis before LVC and had to skip the first couple of events of the season following surgery. Armed with a fresh bag, how will he look in his first start of 2022? He finished second at Texas States in 2021, so it could be fertile ground for him to find a rhythm right away.
3. With Champions Cup, the first major of the year, just weeks away, another group of European MPO players has made its way over to the US to begin their tour here. Luukas Rokkanen, Niko Rättyä, Väinö Mäkelä, Kristo Raik, and, most notably, Niklas Anttila, the 2021 European champion, will all be making their 2022 DGPT debuts this weekend. For Anttila, it’s his first time ever competing in the United States! Can a full contingent of the best Europeans make a dent in the top 25 — or dare we say the top 10?
4. Hailey King will not be defending her title this weekend after getting turned around by the severe thunderstorms and tornados that swept across the central US this week. That means eyes will be squarely focused on the top performers in the division so far this season: Catrina Allen, Valerie Mandujano, Kristin Tattar, Paige Pierce, and Eveliina Salonen. Neither Pierce nor Tattar has won an event yet this year; could one of them take advantage of the distance-laden layout to card their first W? Or maybe Valerie will keep up her sharp play and get back-to-back Elite Series wins.
5. This is the final Elite Series stop before the Champions Cup. Don’t expect to see full fields at the Music City Open or Open at Tallahassee. While those tune-up Silver Series events will still be quite competitive, this will be the one chance we get to see (almost) the entire professional touring scene in one spot before they take on WR Jackson in a few weeks. Who looks ready to contend for a Major? Keep an eye on performance on the wooded and line-shaping holes that define the Jackson course.
The Course
The Thorn:MPO – par 63, 9,772 feet; FPO – par 67, 8,986 feet
The Thorn is a new layout at Lindsey Park that combines parts of each of the three courses on the property — Dogwood, Cedar, and Hickory — into a safari layout that stretches the distance to nearly 10,000 feet for MPO. While it does contain some wooded Dogwood holes from last year’s course, it is far more open and will require a wide combination of skills in order to win.
Designed by Gregg Barsby and the Rose City Disc Golf Club, The Thorn is a physically demanding course with a set of long, difficult finishing holes.
“I just wanted to challenge the best,” said Gregg Barsby. “This is a course I feel like the best player is going to win. There’s not nearly as much flukiness with this course as there is at Dogwood, and we all love Dogwood, especially us local players. We love playing there all the time. But to bring an event of this caliber to Tyler and East Texas, I’m really stoked they wanted to go with this layout.”
Here’s a look at the course:
Texas States The Thorn Layout
Here is the 2022 Texas States caddie book.
Extended Forecast
Finally, a beautiful weekend for disc golf. It will be a reprieve from cold, wind, and rain that have marked earlier rounds.
Friday: Sunny. High of 77 degrees. Little to no wind.
Saturday: Sunny, high near 80. Wind picking up to around 10 mph in the afternoon.
Sunday: Warmer, high of 86 degrees. Winds around 10-15 mph in the afternoon.
How To Follow
UDisc Live will have livescoring available all weekend. For video coverage, see our How To Watch post.
Read on for PrizePicks Lines & Best Bets…
Bonus Content for 2022 Texas State Disc Golf Championships Preview: A Fresh Start is only available to Ultiworld Subscribers
Subscribe to Ultiworld
Already have a subscription? Log in
Whether you visit Ultiworld for our reporting, our podcasts, or our video coverage, you can help us continue to provide high quality content with a subscription. By becoming a subscriber, not only do you receive benefits like bonus content and full article RSS feeds, you also help fund all of Ultiworld’s coverage in general. We appreciate your support!
“Blowing up” was the phrase used all weekend to describe disc golf. The sport has seen tremendous growth in popularity, which was evident Saturday as the Pro Disc Golf Association’s (PDGA) World Championships concluded after five days in the Ogden area.
To win the world title, 288 players had to contend with two very different courses split up over the five days. Mulligans, which doubles as a golf course, plays longer with water and sand obstacles that prevent birdie opportunities. The Fort, actually Fort Buenaventura in Ogden along the Weber River, on the other hand, is known nationally to players for its vegetation that can eat up any player’s disc shot after shot.
“You definitely have to have every shot in your bag to walk away from here a world champion,” said Hayden Henry from PDGA Media. “The two courses complement each other.”
The courses fall in line with what’s happened across the U.S. as most courses double up with public parks, golf courses, ski resorts and colleges and universities. Ogden was awarded the bid to host the world championships for 2020 but had to wait a year with events postponed due to COVID-19.
It was during pandemic shutdowns that a sport already experiencing a 15%-30% yearly growth rate among casual players exploded as people sought a socially distanced activity once it was safe to start back up with outdoor activities.
Disc golf blew up so much that UDisc estimates rounds were up 250% from January 2020 to January 2021, with the growth occurring on both the men’s and women’s side as well as across ages and skill sets. It’s also a low-cost sport, with intro discs costing around $8 and the vast majority of courses not charging greens fees.
Another contributor to the popularity during the pandemic was increased coverage of pro player events on YouTube, as fans were binge watching at home and quickly realizing that although disc golf is an easy sport to get into, it’s definitely not an easy sport to master.
“We’ve been in this waiting game for the tournament,” said Rob Bullen, tournament assistant director. “So while we were in the waiting game, popularity was exploding on what was already a fast growing sport. It’s been great to get the fans out to watch their favorite players and help build an amazing atmosphere for the players to compete.”
Fourteen hundred fans were allowed to attend worlds in person, hopping back and forth between courses and the men’s and women’s championships before both concluded at the Fort Saturday. They were spoiled with competitive play throughout as both titles were decided on the final hole.
“I felt the love out there all week, and coming down that home stretch, I felt it.” — 2021 men’s disc golf world champion James Conrad
Catrina Allen earned her second world title, topping defending and five-time champion Paige Pierce. The two had seesawed the lead throughout the week and Saturday. It looked like Pierce had locked things up after she hit a 60-foot putt to save par while Allen bogeyed 16 for a two-shot difference, but the final two holes favored Allen, who shot even par while Pierce was three over to fall just short of Allen.
“These are tears of joy, tears that come from hard work, determination, discipline, never giving up no matter what was thrown at me the past couple of years,” said Allen, whose last world title came in 2014.
Fans and fellow players cheered on Allen while also trying to show support for a devastated Pierce. It’s a theme many in the sport tout as another reason for its popularity across both the men’s and women’s games.
“We play against each other week in and week out. Some of us have been playing against each other 15-20 years,” said player Nate Sexton. “You want to see good shots and beat somebody when they are on their best game. I of course want to play the best, but I don’t want anyone to play bad.”
Sexton, who finished third, was one of several players who joined the fans after finishing up to watch the men’s finale, and it was a grand one for sure, as James Conrad hit a 247-foot shot for birdie on 18 to force a playoff with defending and five-time champion Paul McBeth.
The crowd erupted and you could sense the momentum shift for Conrad as he then topped McBeth on the first playoff hole (16), which he had played well all week, including an ace.
“I felt the love out there all week, and coming down that home stretch, I felt it,” said Conrad to the fans, “and all of you helped will that shot right into the basket.”
Conrad was one of many players who thanked the fans for a great tournament, while admitting how excited they are to watch the sport continue to evolve and blow up.
Melissa Yack is a contributor for the Deseret News.
March 10, 2022 by Charlie Eisenhood in Preview with comments
Two years ago, the Waco Annual Charity Open was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on disc golf. Just hours before players were set to tee off for the first round of WACO 2020, the NBA suspended its season, the first domino in a cascade of cancellations across the sports world. By the following evening, DGPT brass and tournament staff were staying up until the wee hours agonizing over how to proceed. Ultimately, the second round was played without spectators and the third round was cancelled.
“We [internally] had a call Friday morning, and I had put out a statement that we weren’t going to allow spectators, and that was our decision — the Pro Tour’s decision,” said DGPT CEO Jeff Spring back in 2020. “And then we had a call with the PDGA and they informed us that they were going to be suspending the Elite Series…The PDGA said, ‘We’d like you to finish the round, but we’d like you to end the tournament after this round.’”
Disc golf shut down for months. When the DGPT returned in June 2020, events, like many across sports, were played without spectators. It was a harrowing time for the Tour — little did they know that disc golf was poised to explode in popularity.
WACO was back on the Tour in 2021, but it remained a spectator-free phase one event: COVID-19 vaccines were still not available to the general public. It was another thrilling event, with Kona Panis securing her first Elite Series win in dominant fashion and Nikko Locastro cashing a wild long-range putt to lock up his second DGPT win.
Fast forward to 2022. WACO’s tickets are completely sold out. Disc golf is back, and the pandemic finally feels like it is truly receding. Cases in Texas and across the country have plummeted in recent weeks. It’s not just another season on the Pro Tour for WACO; it’s a fresh start.
Past Winners
Five Things We’ll Be Watching
1. We’ve got a number of players making their DGPT season debuts this weekend, including Paul McBeth, Simon Lizotte, Lauri Lehtinen, Andrew Fish, Philo Brathwaite, MasonFord, Valerie Mandujano, Alexis Mandujano, Macie Velediaz, and Keiti Tatte. McBeth got an early season win against a competitive field at The Memorial, but many of the other players haven’t played anything beyond smaller local events. Will we see a continuation of the strong end-of-season play from Valerie Mandujano and Mason Ford? How will Simon Lizotte look after another few months to work on getting back to full health and becoming a father? Is Macie Velediaz ready to make a star turn? Lots to keep an eye on.
2. Will we see a continuation of the boom in interest in live disc golf coverage? The live broadcasts from the final rounds of the Las Vegas Challenge neared or exceeded all-time highs in viewership. Was that a “first tournament of the year” effect, or are we seeing the start of a new level of engagement? It’s not about live vs. post, either — there are plenty of eyeballs to go around.
3. WACO has earned a reputation for delivering…unusual results. As you can see above, it’s been four years since a repeat winner, when both Paige Pierce and Jeremy Koling went back-to-back in 2017 and 2018. Since then, a diverse slate of players has taken down a victory (note that 2020 was just a two-round event, but Colten Montgomery won from the chase card!). Scores often stay close at the tournament as well, adding to the Sunday drama. Will we see more familiar names back at the top of the leaderboard, or will the combination of the thick woods, high winds, and variable tree kicks deliver victories to less heralded names once again?
4. Who can handle the changing weather over three rounds? It will obviously be crucial for this event (see below for the forecast) but it’s also worth seeing which players can manage shifting conditions as a means of better handicapping future tournaments. The rain will be a factor on Friday, but it’s the shifting wind that will be more compelling to watch.
5. Yea, you know you’re curious too: how will Gannon Buhr back up his hot start at LVC? He talked on The Upshot about feeling even more confident in his game on the more varied Brazos East course than he did about LVC. Expectations have skyrocketed for the 16-year-old, but he’s been embracing the moment and isn’t satisfied with his playoff loss from two weeks ago.
GRIP6 Pick6 Locks Of The Week
How can you not take Chris Dickerson after this display of pure swagger? In all seriousness, though, Dickerson looked very sharp at LVC. He went OB just four times and played well in all facets except Circle 2 putting. Don’t sweat the C2 issues: leaning on his control game and C1 putting skill will be plenty to keep him at the top of the leaderboard at WACO. Dickerson also finished 7th at WACO last year. And he can handle the crazy weather that’s coming for everyone in round one: he won the USDGC in driving rain in 2020.
We picked her last year and we’re picking her again: Sarah Hokom. She’s played WACO five times and never finished lower than fourth. What more do you really need to know? How about that she was 12th in Circle 1 putting at LVC? Good sign.
The Course
Brazos Park East:MPO – par 63, 7,957 feet; FPO – par 67, 7,677 feet
Brazos Park East, aka The bEast, is a classic combo course. Mixing park style golf — not totally dissimilar to places like Fountain Hills or Vista del Camino — with some exceptionally tight wooded fairways, the bEast has a little something for everyone. While the course isn’t long, there are a couple opportunities for the big arms in both divisions to air it out and let the disc fly, especially on the big water carry on hole 18 (seen cleared by Ella Hansen and parked with putters by Calvin Heimburg and Kevin Jones).
This year, there are basically no substantive changes to the layout, pars
Here is the 2022 WACO Caddie Book.
Extended Forecast
We’re getting a real taste of Texas spring. It’s straight up not going to be fun out there on Friday, with cold, rain, and wind. The sun will come out for rounds 2 and 3, but the wind will be up again — and in the opposite direction — for the final round on Sunday. Here’s a closer look:
Friday: Showers possible in the morning and likely after noon. North winds picking up from 10-15 mph in the morning to 20-25 mph in the afternoon, gusting to 35. High of 40 degrees. Nasty weather for disc golf.
Saturday: Sunny, high near 56. 5-10 mph wind.
Sunday: Continuing the warming trend, temperatures will top out in the mid 60s. South winds will pick up from 5-10 mph in the morning to 15-20 mph in the afternoon, gusting to 25 mph.
Players will need to be prepared for very different conditions in each of the three rounds. Early tee times may be advantageous throughout the weekend as the wind will be lower. It could cause scoring to bunch over the weekend.
How To Follow
UDisc Live will have livescoring available all weekend. For video coverage, see our How To Watch post.
Read on for PrizePicks Lines & Best Bets…
Bonus Content for 2022 Waco Annual Charity Open Preview: From COVID Cancelled to Sold Out is only available to Ultiworld Subscribers
Subscribe to Ultiworld
Already have a subscription? Log in
Whether you visit Ultiworld for our reporting, our podcasts, or our video coverage, you can help us continue to provide high quality content with a subscription. By becoming a subscriber, not only do you receive benefits like bonus content and full article RSS feeds, you also help fund all of Ultiworld’s coverage in general. We appreciate your support!
When Oakland University freshman Ayden Roupe told me he was a professional disc golf player, I quite literally laughed out loud. It wasn’t until he produced a pro card from his wallet that my chuckling stifled.
“My pro card is a document that proves my status as a disc golfer,” Roupe said. “It shows that I am recognized as a player registered with the Professional Disc Golf Association.”
The sport is simple, only requiring a disc and access to a course. Disc golf rules are similar to traditional golf, each throw of the disc counts as a ‘stroke.’
The objective of each hole is to get the disc into the disc golf basket in the least amount of throws possible. At the conclusion of the round, the player with the lowest cumulative score wins.
After the COVID-19 pandemic forced many sports to be placed on hold, disc golf was one of the rare activities that escaped the shutdowns. Soon, ‘folfers’ flocked to once neglected disc golf courses to regain a sense of normalcy amidst the chaos.
“Disc golf is what got me through the pandemic,” Roupe said. “It was an individual activity that allowed me to leave the house safely — once I started getting good at it, I decide to start competing.”
Roupe’s introduction to disc golf parallels that of many other athletes. In fact, the Professional Disc Golf Association (the official governing body for the sport) saw a dramatic 84% increase in new players throughout 2020.
In the past, disc golf was seen as a casual hobby enjoyed by unruly teenagers. Today, it is respected as a legitimate sport for all ages with competitive events popping up worldwide.
“Last year, I attended the state tournament for disc golf,” Roupe said. “I managed to place 4th in the state for the 18 and under division.”
While competitions draw players with a competitive spirit, the allure of disc golf is that it can be enjoyed in a relaxed, casual atmosphere as well. Instead of attempting to beat another player’s score, you may instead challenge yourself against the course.
“I would say I play disc golf in a relaxed setting most of the time,” OU freshman Eien Vanriper said. “Oftentimes my friends and I don’t even keep track of our scores—we just test out new skills and throwing techniques.”
Evidently, disc golf is a rising sport that has provided a unique form of comfort to players of all ages and abilities amidst the pandemic. Whether it be enjoyed in a competitive or casual environment, the sport is sure to captivate any individual lucky enough to get their hands on a disc.
Is disc golf starting to sound intriguing to you? Fortunately, you can get your start right on campus at Oakland University’s very own Grizzly Oaks disc golf course.
Grizzly Oaks, located in the woods between the upper athletic fields and the Meadow Brook Amphitheater, opened in 2009. Although labeled ‘challenging’ by some, Grizzly Oaks promises a fun round of disc golf to individuals of all abilities.