hailey king

McMahon, a 23-year-old from Boulder, Colo., who is considered one of the most popular players in the world, said it felt nice to be back in Emporia because it’s unique among disc golf cities.

“Emporia stands out because the whole town welcomes us. There’s no other place that I’ve been to where it’s quite the same as Emporia,” he said.

Miller, whose Youtube account has more than 64,000 subscribers, agreed that Emporia is a special community for disc golfers and fans alike.

“Coming to Emporia, everybody feels like a big deal here, right?” he said. “I mean, every placard and billboard sign, the streets are lined, saying, ‘Welcome, disc golfers.’ I think it’s pretty exciting for all of us to see and experience.”

The four rounds of the Dynamic Discs Open will be held at Jones Park’s Gold Course Wednesda – Saturday.

King, who is 19 and hails from West Bend, Wis., only practiced at Jones Gold once, preferring instead to spend her time in Emporia prior to the tournament relaxing.

“I got here Wednesday but … I just wasn’t wanting to throw a frisbee,” she said. “I just wanted to sit and watch movies all day so I did that. … It’s not that tough of a course.”

McBeth has played professionally since 2008 and is considered by some to be one of the best disc golfers in history, perhaps evidenced by the 10-year $10 million deal he signed with Discraft in February. He said that Jones Gold is an attackable course but that there are a few holes he will be looking out for.

“Hole one is definitely a tough one. You can double bogey if not triple that first hole and that’s not going to get you where you want,” said the 30-year-old from Huntington Beach, Calif. “And the last hole is pretty tough as well. But yeah, it’s a very attackable course.”

McMahon agreed with McBeth, saying that holes one and 18 were the trickiest. He also expects that weather could be a key contributor to how each player goes about each round.

“[Jones Gold] plays not as hard as any other course we play on tour, so it’s all about just picking your spots,” he said. “Tomorrow is going to be potentially rainy and windy, so that might play a factor. But for the most part, I’m going out and trying to attack the whole course.”

King said she was far more nervous about speaking on the panel Tuesday night than she was about teeing off Wednesday morning.

“I don’t really get nervous the night before. It’s like an hour before my tee time [that I start to get nervous], but then I’m able to settle it down before I tee off,” she said.

McBeth felt like he had spent enough time practicing the course that he is well-prepared, but admitted that in the morning he might start to feel a bit more anxiety.

“I don’t get nervous the night before to where I can’t sleep,” he said. “ … Today, I’m pretty calm, prepared, but tomorrow as the time gets closer, you get into warm-up, you want to get into that zone. That’s usually when I start to feel the nerves. … It’s more so nervous about how my preparation was more than anything.”

The first round of the professional tournament teed of Wednesday at 7 a.m. McMahon said that, after the Dynamic Discs Open (then the Glass Blown Open) was canceled last year due to COVID-19, being back in Emporia is a return to normalcy.

“Disc golf feels like it’s really back now,” he said. “That’s the cool thing. There’s going to be about 1,000 fans out here, so really looking forward to that. Looking forward to playing. I love the four-round tournament. Those feel like it just makes the whole event bigger, so I’m excited. Thanks, Emporia.”