Forget Bolf, Let's Talk Frolf: The Disc Golf Thread

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Closest course of note is Franklin Falls Dam in Franklin. It's a free ACOE site. Haven't played it but have heard positive things. It's supposedly on the long side. Few other pay-for-play options nearby: Woods at Beauty Hill in Barnstead (two full 18s plus a putter course), Top O' the Hill in Canterbury, and Moose Mountain in Brookfield. I've only played Beauty Hill and I'd highly recommend it. I know the owner at Top O' and he's a good dude so I don't think you can go wrong there either. If you don't have the uDisc app, I really recommend it. Great way to find courses nearby plus scorekeeping and course maps are built in. Even just their website (udisc.com) is handy as a course directory.

The tournament was a ton of fun to watch. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say it's nice to see the pros struggle, but it was nice to see a course and conditions where one didn't need to shoot double digits under par each day to contend. Predictably, there's been a lot of negative talk about the courses because a lot of disc golfers are unimaginative and don't think pros should struggle or go OB too often. I thought it was a great test and the player(s) who navigated the challenges smartly were rightly the ones coming out on top.
I've got Udisc, but I've only played Top O down that way so it's nice to get some thoughts from people who have played the courses. I liked the course the one time I played it so I'd recommend giving it a go if you're in the area. Thanks for the recommendation on Woods.

I don't always want to see the pros struggle, but it makes me feel a little better about my game when they aren't throwing 550 feet into the circle every time. Plus when you see a shot like Gilberts, it is then extra special.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLJefLHmENU
 

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I like the scoring being closer to par in a vacuum, but I didn't really enjoy that tournament as much as most of them this year. The Emporia courses (especially Country Club) are always boring as hell to watch compared to Brazos East, DeLaveaga, Maple Hill, etc; there's just too much plain open grass and not enough differentiated terrain there.

And I also disagree that the players who did well were the ones who navigated the challenges smartly: obviously smart play always helps, but it felt like nearly as many layups on the island hole wound up in the drink as shots that went for it. And there were a number of shots that were basically sitting down and then the wind just took them away OB, which had precious little to do with smart or dumb play. https://www.reddit.com/r/discgolf/comments/ufjw4c/its_a_little_breezy_out_there_eh_brody_smith_ddo/

Kristin is an absolute joy to watch, though; I'll miss seeing her competing for the next few weeks. The FPO is so much better with her and Eva and Henna in the fold. And it was great seeing Simon do well again.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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And I also disagree that the players who did well were the ones who navigated the challenges smartly: obviously smart play always helps, but it felt like nearly as many layups on the island hole wound up in the drink as shots that went for it. And there were a number of shots that were basically sitting down and then the wind just took them away OB, which had precious little to do with smart or dumb play. https://www.reddit.com/r/discgolf/comments/ufjw4c/its_a_little_breezy_out_there_eh_brody_smith_ddo
Oh sure, in that much wind, you're going to get some weird shots like Brody's approach that got blown OB. That happens and can't be blamed on the player. However, on that same hole, you had Ricky taking the straight line approach not even messing with the OB and happily taking his par (the smart play) while Thomas Gilbert tried the big hyzer forehand approach out over the OB that never came back because it was fighting the wind the whole way. And then Gilbert kept running at the putt from 30-40 feet and blowing by and ended up with a triple bogey. It struck me as stubborn adherence to how he'd normally play rather than adjusting to the conditions. They're used to taking aggressive lines and running putts from anywhere within 50-60 feet and in that wind, you can't do it and expect to score well.

I think Ricky nailed it with his answer to this question on the Smashboxx podcast the other day. It was all about the upshots and not leaving yourself any putts of length.
 

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Nikko finding that in Europe they actually care about the rules and have officials make calls. Biggest online disc golf buzz since Conrad tossed it in:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K6aBv86LEg
Glad that action on this was swift and decisive. He's always been a "heart on his sleeve" emotional player (which sometimes leads to fun and joyous moments) and this isn't the first time he's had a temper tantrum or a confrontation on the course. It is, to my recollection, the first time he's actually been disciplined for his poor behavior though, and hopefully it doesn't end with being DQed from the tournament. He's been enabled for too long. Maybe he'll finally get the shock he needs to shape up.

I was at a tournament probably a decade ago, in the playing group ahead of the one Nikko was in. From afar, we watched him literally kick his bag down the fairway to the green. It was after he failed twice to get over an OB carry to an island green. Since this was the 18th hole of the course (but due to a shotgun start not the 18th hole of his round), it was right near the course parking lot in a popular state park, and he loudly cussed out the hole and its design in the direction of a staffer that was nearby. A volunteer staffer who had no hand in the design of the hole whatsoever. Unfortunately the tournament director decided not to do anything about it, no DQ, no penalties, no warnings. Another staffer took it upon himself after the event to call Nikko's main sponsor in the hopes that maybe they might talk to him or dock his bonus or something. They blew it off.

The really sad thing is that off the course, Nikko's great. He's personable with everybody and pretty laid back in general. He's one of the first guys you'd want to hang out with to shoot the shit before or after a round, but the last guy you want to actually be carded with during the round.
 

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Went to play Smugglers Notch on Saturday. Did Fox Run Meadows early and Brewster Ridge after lunch, played the long tees on both courses because why not? It was in the 90s but a beautiful day and both courses deserve their high ratings in my view.

I shot 11 over on Fox Run, which I'm pretty happy with, misunderstood the OB lines a couple of times which cost me. Had a few chain outs, including for the birdie on hole 1 from edge of circle. Can't really complain too much about chain outs since I'm usually good for a couple a round. Managed my only birdie on 18, so nice to end on a high note.

Brewster was a 15 over I think. I was tired and hot but still had a good time. No official OB there, but I had a few practical OB where I kicked into jail.

Someone on my card said it was 3.5 miles of throwing and my should definitely reminded me that I've been playing disc sports for almost 30 years now. My home course is wooded so we don't have anything over a par 3. Driving 3 or 4 times to have a long putt was a new experience for me.

Some discussion about going to Maple Hill later this year as well so I'm looking forward to that.
 

SumnerH

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Went to play Smugglers Notch on Saturday. Did Fox Run Meadows early and Brewster Ridge after lunch, played the long tees on both courses because why not? It was in the 90s but a beautiful day and both courses deserve their high ratings in my view.

I shot 11 over on Fox Run, which I'm pretty happy with, misunderstood the OB lines a couple of times which cost me. Had a few chain outs, including for the birdie on hole 1 from edge of circle. Can't really complain too much about chain outs since I'm usually good for a couple a round. Managed my only birdie on 18, so nice to end on a high note.

Brewster was a 15 over I think. I was tired and hot but still had a good time. No official OB there, but I had a few practical OB where I kicked into jail.

Someone on my card said it was 3.5 miles of throwing and my should definitely reminded me that I've been playing disc sports for almost 30 years now. My home course is wooded so we don't have anything over a par 3. Driving 3 or 4 times to have a long putt was a new experience for me.

Some discussion about going to Maple Hill later this year as well so I'm looking forward to that.
That's awesome, what a great pair of courses to be able to play at once. Maple Hill is on my bucket list, it's near my sister so it should be pretty easy to get in eventually.
 

Import78

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That's awesome, what a great pair of courses to be able to play at once. Maple Hill is on my bucket list, it's near my sister so it should be pretty easy to get in eventually.
I live in a good location, about 2 hours from Smuggs and Maple Hill both. Looking forward to getting down there. If you can get to Smuggs I highly recommend it, it was a great way to spend a day. They have some kind of stay and play package too.

Also, they wife just got us tickets to Green Mountain Championships, never been to a live tournament but should be a good time.
 

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Went to play Smugglers Notch on Saturday. Did Fox Run Meadows early and Brewster Ridge after lunch, played the long tees on both courses because why not? It was in the 90s but a beautiful day and both courses deserve their high ratings in my view.

I shot 11 over on Fox Run, which I'm pretty happy with, misunderstood the OB lines a couple of times which cost me. Had a few chain outs, including for the birdie on hole 1 from edge of circle. Can't really complain too much about chain outs since I'm usually good for a couple a round. Managed my only birdie on 18, so nice to end on a high note.

Brewster was a 15 over I think. I was tired and hot but still had a good time. No official OB there, but I had a few practical OB where I kicked into jail.

Someone on my card said it was 3.5 miles of throwing and my should definitely reminded me that I've been playing disc sports for almost 30 years now. My home course is wooded so we don't have anything over a par 3. Driving 3 or 4 times to have a long putt was a new experience for me.

Some discussion about going to Maple Hill later this year as well so I'm looking forward to that.
Fox Run Meadows is about 9500 feet from the Golds, and Brewster Ridge is around 8000 feet so yeah, 3.5 miles is about right. It's probably over five miles of walking though. Add in the heat this weekend and the higher elevation, that's a hell of a workout. And a birdie on 18 Fox Run is awesome. Wish I could say I've gotten that one.

If you enjoyed those courses, you will definitely enjoy Maple Hill. It's more like Brewster than Fox Run in terms of the style of play (wooded, tight lanes). As tempting as it is to play the Gold course there, if you are at all concerned about losing discs on the water carries, I'd recommend playing the White or Diamond layouts. Video doesn't really do the place or the distances justice, especially with the elite players carving it up with seeming ease. The shorter options give you all the same flavor of the place (you're playing many of the same tees or basket placements) with shorter carries but the same feeling of accomplishment when you finish.
 

Sausage in Section 17

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Went to play Smugglers Notch on Saturday. Did Fox Run Meadows early and Brewster Ridge after lunch, played the long tees on both courses because why not? It was in the 90s but a beautiful day and both courses deserve their high ratings in my view.

I shot 11 over on Fox Run, which I'm pretty happy with, misunderstood the OB lines a couple of times which cost me. Had a few chain outs, including for the birdie on hole 1 from edge of circle. Can't really complain too much about chain outs since I'm usually good for a couple a round. Managed my only birdie on 18, so nice to end on a high note.

Brewster was a 15 over I think. I was tired and hot but still had a good time. No official OB there, but I had a few practical OB where I kicked into jail.

Someone on my card said it was 3.5 miles of throwing and my should definitely reminded me that I've been playing disc sports for almost 30 years now. My home course is wooded so we don't have anything over a par 3. Driving 3 or 4 times to have a long putt was a new experience for me.

Some discussion about going to Maple Hill later this year as well so I'm looking forward to that.
I was there around the same time. Played Brewster only, and was with a friend who had never played before. We went from the blue tees. Loved it there! Great pro shop, which had anything you would want for DG...discs, bags, baskets, towels...also they had a beer cooler! 3 or 4 manicured tee pads for every hole, leveled out nicely, and using paving stones. It was one of the best courses I've ever played. Took a nice dip after to cool off 5 minutes away in the Brewster River swimming spot in Morrisville.

I also played a round at Magic Mtn. in Londonderry, which was almost just as good. Taking your discs on vacation is so easy compared to almost any other sport, and courses keep popping up everywhere.
 

Import78

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I was there around the same time. Played Brewster only, and was with a friend who had never played before. We went from the blue tees. Loved it there! Great pro shop, which had anything you would want for DG...discs, bags, baskets, towels...also they had a beer cooler! 3 or 4 manicured tee pads for every hole, leveled out nicely, and using paving stones. It was one of the best courses I've ever played. Took a nice dip after to cool off 5 minutes away in the Brewster River swimming spot in Morrisville.

I also played a round at Magic Mtn. in Londonderry, which was almost just as good. Taking your discs on vacation is so easy compared to almost any other sport, and courses keep popping up everywhere.
It's a great course, both Fox Run and Brewster are in the top 10 in the country for ratings (so I'm told). Maple Hill is as well (Leicester, MA) but I haven't been there yet. Agree completely about the layouts and tee boxes. My wife plays now and then, but doesn't take it too seriously and can probably only throw 150-200 feet at the moment but she and I could go play together and both have a good time.

I liked Fox Run more than Brewster (though both were awesome) because the course I play on the most (Storrs Pond) is closer to Brewster in style. Top O'The Hill in Manchester NH is also pretty good with a decent shop, but not as good as Smuggs.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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It's a great course, both Fox Run and Brewster are in the top 10 in the country for ratings (so I'm told). Maple Hill is as well (Leicester, MA) but I haven't been there yet. Agree completely about the layouts and tee boxes. My wife plays now and then, but doesn't take it too seriously and can probably only throw 150-200 feet at the moment but she and I could go play together and both have a good time.

I liked Fox Run more than Brewster (though both were awesome) because the course I play on the most (Storrs Pond) is closer to Brewster in style. Top O'The Hill in Manchester NH is also pretty good with a decent shop, but not as good as Smuggs.
Udisc.com has annual rankings based on course ratings in their app plus a few other factors. Maple Hill has been #1 the last couple years and Brewster Ridge (#6) and Fox Run Meadows (#14) have been highly ranked as well. I think the rankings are a bit biased by reputation (courses that host top pro events) and who uses the app (typically just a fraction of total players) but the high rankings for all of those courses is very much deserved.
 

Madmartigan

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Udisc.com has annual rankings based on course ratings in their app plus a few other factors. Maple Hill has been #1 the last couple years and Brewster Ridge (#6) and Fox Run Meadows (#14) have been highly ranked as well. I think the rankings are a bit biased by reputation (courses that host top pro events) and who uses the app (typically just a fraction of total players) but the high rankings for all of those courses is very much deserved.
I’m originally from Holden and spent a couple summers like 15 years ago playing disc golf at Maple Hill and Pyramids across the street —had no idea I was playing on such an esteemed course. Haven’t played in years; I still have a bag of innova discs somewhere…
 

Import78

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I’m originally from Holden and spent a couple summers like 15 years ago playing disc golf at Maple Hill and Pyramids across the street —had no idea I was playing on such an esteemed course. Haven’t played in years; I still have a bag of innova discs somewhere…
You should dig it out, either to play or to sell. I hear some older stuff is getting collectible these days.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Yeah. Should probably be suspended for a while as well, but that's a good start. And from that statement, “According to PDGA policy, Mr. Locastro will also be referred to the PDGA Disciplinary Committee for further potential disciplinary action.“
Following up for the sake of the thread, the further disciplinary action was a 9 month suspension to be followed by a 15 month probationary period. No formal press releases about it, it just appeared on the bottom of the updated disciplinary actions list on Tuesday.
 

Sausage in Section 17

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Udisc.com has annual rankings based on course ratings in their app plus a few other factors. Maple Hill has been #1 the last couple years and Brewster Ridge (#6) and Fox Run Meadows (#14) have been highly ranked as well. I think the rankings are a bit biased by reputation (courses that host top pro events) and who uses the app (typically just a fraction of total players) but the high rankings for all of those courses is very much deserved.
I agree that these courses get more hype because of their pro tour connection. The reality is you can find amazingly fun and challenging courses almost everywhere. I've played many courses with similar layouts and challenge to Brewster. What sets it apart or possibly above those other courses are the little touches, most of which are about comfort and convenience: well kept tee boxes, good signage, trash cans and benches...beer for sale at the pro shop!

You wouldn't get all those things on a free municipal course, so you get something for your $12 when you pay for a round at Smuggs.

Edit- to me, the best places are ones where you can camp and play at the same spot. In Oregon, my buddies and I used to do disc golf weekends at places like Horning's Hideout, Whistler's Bend, or Milo McIver. Here in B.C., there's only one place where that's possible (Logan Lake), and it has been a struggle to get the Provincial Parks people to greenlight a course at one of their spots.
 
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Import78

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Watched the Fierce documentary with the wife last night. It was pretty solid, but not great. Lots of touring pros commenting on it and it felt more like a disc golf doc rather than a "Paige vanity project" which I saw somewhere. I would have liked a little more info on thought process during a round (aggression, game planning etc). They touched on that a bit, but I'd be interested in hearing more.

They also covered the family/relationship side pretty well, and they hit on the disparity between the men's and women's game as well. Her complaints seemed perfectly reasonable to me but there were some uncharitable responses to say the least. Sort of expected I guess, the three bros in sunglasses basically telling her to go away should have been surprising, but sadly was not.

Anyway, worth the watch in my opinion.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Watched the Fierce documentary with the wife last night. It was pretty solid, but not great. Lots of touring pros commenting on it and it felt more like a disc golf doc rather than a "Paige vanity project" which I saw somewhere. I would have liked a little more info on thought process during a round (aggression, game planning etc). They touched on that a bit, but I'd be interested in hearing more.

They also covered the family/relationship side pretty well, and they hit on the disparity between the men's and women's game as well. Her complaints seemed perfectly reasonable to me but there were some uncharitable responses to say the least. Sort of expected I guess, the three bros in sunglasses basically telling her to go away should have been surprising, but sadly was not.

Anyway, worth the watch in my opinion.
I purchased Fierce but haven't had a chance to watch it yet. I'm going to Iowa next week to play the US Masters major, and we're going to have a house full of golfers in an AirBNB. I expect we'll be running the doc when we're not watching replays of this week's Worlds, so I may wait until then.

I did check out the "Holy Shot" documentary that dropped last week on DGN. They did a really good job setting up the context and impact of Conrad's throw-in (and the Cat comeback as well) by diving into the history of the game before recapping the tournament day-by-day. Considering it was a PDGA production, I was really impressed with how they didn't gloss over the shortcomings and negativity that dogged the tournament right up until Conrad's shot fell. I'd almost forgotten all that went on. Worth a look if only to get amped for this week.
 

Sausage in Section 17

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As I'm sure most of us who traffic in this forum already know, it is World Championship weekend in Emporia, Kansas.

PDGA 2022 World Championships

This is a 5 round tourney, which is exceptional, as most events are 3 rounds, with a handful doing 4. If it's the same deal as the rest of the Pro Tour, you can watch the last round live on YouTube on Saturday. Usually the women are first in the morning, followed by the men in the afternoon.

On the women's side, Estonia's Kristin Tattar is the favorite, having placed Top 5 or 10 in just about every tournament she has entered this year.
Paige Pierce is a 5 time champ, looking for another shot at glory.

With the men, 5 time champion Paul McBeth is still at the top, but the field keeps getting closer to him every year, and this year, it is fairly wide open. McBeth, and 2 time champ Ricky Wysocki have the history and the pedigree, but there are a host of other guys right on their level who could easily take it home, including Garrett Gurthie, Drew Gibson, Chris Dickerson, Calvin Heimburg, Joel Freeman, Eagle McMahon, and last but not least, 17 year old Gannon Buhr, who won his first pro tour event earlier this year.

It's Tattar tied for the FPO with 2 other Europeans in the top 3, Pierce is lurking...And McBeth is tied with Goose's relative Aaron Gossage at -30, with 8 others within 5 shots to round out the top 10.
 
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SumnerH

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On the women's side, Estonia's Kristin Tattar is the favorite, having placed Top 5 or 10 in just about every tournament she has entered this year.
Paige Pierce is a 5 time champ, looking for another shot at glory.

It's Tattar tied for the FPO with 2 other Europeans in the top 3, Pierce is lurking...And McBeth is tied with Goose's relative Aaron Gossage at -30, with 8 others within 5 shots to round out the top 10.
Europe came to play.

Paige is actually shooting above her rating, but the people ahead of her are playing amazing disc golf.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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As I'm sure most of us who traffic in this forum already know, it is World Championship weekend in Emporia, Kansas.

PDGA 2022 World Championships

This is a 5 round tourney, which is exceptional, as most events are 3 rounds, with a handful doing 4. If it's the same deal as the rest of the Pro Tour, you can watch the last round live on YouTube on Sundays. Usually the women are first in the morning, followed by the men in the afternoon.
Live won't be on Youtube at all for Worlds. The final two rounds (tomorrow and Saturday) are on Disc Golf Network for free to PDGA members. Broadcast times are 10am EDT for FPO and 3:30pm EDT for MPO each day. For non-PDGA members, I believe the only option is the next day edited releases on Jomez, GK Pro, Gatekeeper, etc.

Europe came to play.

Paige is actually shooting above her rating, but the people ahead of her are playing amazing disc golf.
It really is incredible how competitive both divisions have gotten, but FPO in particular. It used to be that to beat Paige, it had to be a combo of a player shooting their very best golf and Paige being just a little off hers. Now, like you say, she can be playing better than her average and still be a few strokes off the lead 60% of the way through the tournament. This is probably the first World Championship in a decade where Paige wasn't the prohibitive favorite. Deservedly, the favorite is Kristen Tattar who has a higher rating and has had the more successful season so far.

My favorite story of the week so far is 50 year old JohnE McCray. Back in February, he had a heart attack on the course during a tournament in Florida. He was dead on the table for a couple minutes before doctors were able to revive him. They put in a couple stents and he was quickly on the road to recovery. Three months after the heart attack, he got the win in the first tournament he played. About a month after that, he won the World Championship in the 50+ division. Now he's in Emporia competing in Open, and he did this during round 1:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ryp2-JXCa78


Hell of an inspiration.
 

SumnerH

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It really is incredible how competitive both divisions have gotten, but FPO in particular. It used to be that to beat Paige, it had to be a combo of a player shooting their very best golf and Paige being just a little off hers. Now, like you say, she can be playing better than her average and still be a few strokes off the lead 60% of the way through the tournament. This is probably the first World Championship in a decade where Paige wasn't the prohibitive favorite. Deservedly, the favorite is Kristen Tattar who has a higher rating and has had the more successful season so far.
Kristen is impossible not to root for, and I'm a Paige fan.

I also like how with all of the (justifiable) chatter over the last year about the Euros and an emerging Hailey King, Kona Panis, Ella Hansen, Holyn, the Mandujanos, etc maybe being ready to challenge Paige and Cat, some of the veteran women like Missy Gannon and Ohn Scoggins have also elevated their games to hang with the new, tougher division. And seeing Juliana Korver out there has been a joy.

EDIT: Paige on hole 7 in round 3 showing off things that only Paige can do in FPO.
 
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Sausage in Section 17

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Kristen is impossible not to root for, and I'm a Paige fan.
It seems the spirit of disc golf generally, is that almost everyone roots for everyone. If there's bad blood or poor sportsmanship displayed among the pro competitors, I haven't seen or read about it. What's been your experience RHF? I wonder if it's the nature of the game, where you're really competing against yourself and the course, more so than your fellow competitors.

In FPO today, looks like Tattar found another gear. It's now hers to lose. MPO, however, is looking very tight. Tomorrow is shaping up to be quite a battle to the finish, but it will tough to top last year!
 

SumnerH

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It seems the spirit of disc golf generally, is that almost everyone roots for everyone. If there's bad blood or poor sportsmanship displayed among the pro competitors, I haven't seen or read about it
There's some on the MPO side, for sure. That's why I watch it a lot less than FPO. There are definitely some awesome guys in MPO, but there are a lot more jerks on that side (at least overtly).

Cat and Paige also used to have some bad blood, but that seems to have lessened in recent years and was probably also a bit overstated by fans because of the on-course rivalry (they generally managed to remain civil). Jessica Weese and Cat also don't get along. Actually, Cat and a lot of people didn't, but she seems to have mellowed out some recently.
 

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It seems the spirit of disc golf generally, is that almost everyone roots for everyone. If there's bad blood or poor sportsmanship displayed among the pro competitors, I haven't seen or read about it. What's been your experience RHF? I wonder if it's the nature of the game, where you're really competing against yourself and the course, more so than your fellow competitors.

In FPO today, looks like Tattar found another gear. It's now hers to lose. MPO, however, is looking very tight. Tomorrow is shaping up to be quite a battle to the finish, but it will tough to top last year!
In general, everyone does root for everyone. There are certainly varied groups and cliques off the course like you'd find in any walk of life, but I don't known there's any truly bad blood amongst touring players. Or at least, nothing bad enough to surface on the course or in public in any way.

Plus I think the community is still too small for anything really bad to last. If you're going to have to see a player week after week at every tournament (especially if you're likely to be playing on the same cards), it's not worth holding grudges or keeping up open hostilities. And when you're mostly playing in groups of four, the other players probably aren't going to tolerate poor behavior or poor sportsmanship for very long.

As for the play today, I'm impressed with Gossage. He's not a new face at this level, but he is a guy who hasn't taken down a big event yet. It's pretty rare for a player like that to emerge and seal the deal at Worlds. I think the last player to win a Worlds (MPO anyway) kinda out of nowhere was Nate Doss in 2005. The tour was way smaller then and his only real claim to fame before then was a lead card appearance at the National Tour stop at his home course (Masters Cup at Delaveaga). I hope Gossage can pull it off. Not sure there's ever been an MPO World Champ who is forehand dominant. Plenty of them with really good forehands, but no one who relies on it as his primary driving style. I think Hokom is the only forehand dominant FPO World Champ.
 

Sausage in Section 17

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There's some on the MPO side, for sure. That's why I watch it a lot less than FPO. There are definitely some awesome guys in MPO, but there are a lot more jerks on that side (at least overtly).

Cat and Paige also used to have some bad blood, but that seems to have lessened in recent years and was probably also a bit overstated by fans because of the on-course rivalry (they generally managed to remain civil). Jessica Weese and Cat also don't get along. Actually, Cat and a lot of people didn't, but she seems to have mellowed out some recently.
Who do you think the MPO jerks are? OK, besides Nikko Locastro…

But even with him, the fact that he took so much time might’ve been annoying to a lot of players, maybe even me included, but it was when he dressed down the official and got in his face that he really crossed the line in my opinion.
 

Sausage in Section 17

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Dunno how much I want to trash talk based on overt perceptions, but Josh Anthon for sure.
Yeah, he is a hard, sketchy looking dude. It makes me wonder if there’s like, a disc golf program in one of the California prisons…? I heard he was a recovering meth addict at one point, I think. Other than that I don’t really know much about him.

edit-ok, I know more now. Sounds like he’s beyond a bad sport, more like a questionable decent human. Did 4 years in prison for using his RV to kill a guy, then more recently went off with some public transphobic comments that got him kicked out of an event.
 
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Red(s)HawksFan

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Nikko's just a pain in the ass to play with on occasion, but he's never had anything personal with another player as far as I know. Same with Bradley Williams who also has a history of temper tantrum stuff during play. In both their cases, when they were suspended for poor on-course actions, they had a bunch of players voicing support and defending them (IIRC, McBeth briefly threatened to boycott over one of Williams' suspensions).

Anthon has always been a weird case. He's always leaned into that hard, thug life persona (hell, his nickname for a long time was "Thuggie") but on the course has never really done anything negative, and hasn't, to my knowledge, had any beef with specific players (though I suppose the transphobic stuff could be considered that). When he returned to (part-time) touring after his prison stint, he was welcomed back seemingly with open arms. He's clearly not a good person in general though. In addition to manslaughter and the transphobic stuff, there was some controversy over one of his tattoos a couple years ago.
 

SumnerH

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Live won't be on Youtube at all for Worlds. The final two rounds (tomorrow and Saturday) are on Disc Golf Network for free to PDGA members. Broadcast times are 10am EDT for FPO and 3:30pm EDT for MPO each day. For non-PDGA members, I believe the only option is the next day edited releases on Jomez, GK Pro, Gatekeeper, etc.
Final round is live on YouTube right now for FPO and MPO will be live later.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNZoI8YENzs
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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I stand corrected. The way I read the press release earlier this week, it didn't seem like they were doing the free Youtube broadcast.
 

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I stand corrected. The way I read the press release earlier this week, it didn't seem like they were doing the free Youtube broadcast.
I thought the same until I saw the stream pop up, the messaging was confusing.

Kristin is a stone cold assassin out there.
 

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Kristin is a stone cold assassin out there.
Do we really need to spoiler results that are broadcast live? ;)

She is absolutely an assassin. Those 40-ish foot birdie putts she put in on 13 and 14 were daggers. I mean, absolutely no let up in her even as she's up 8 with 4-5 holes left to play. Fun to watch.

Speaking of fun to watch, if you've got a DGN subscription, the network has a "featured holes" feed that's showing the tee and green of holes 16 and 18. The first MPO groups are just coming through and when you have quality players who just made the cut so are guaranteed a pay day but are totally out of the running, they try to put on a show for the gathering crowds. Guys totally hamming it up and still making great throws. Good stuff.
 

Sausage in Section 17

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Yeah, so this is just another example of why disc golfers don't like the term Frolf. :rolleyes:

Lead card for the final round of MPO just getting ready to tee off. I guess it's housework and the Worlds this afternoon...
 

Sausage in Section 17

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After calm conditions allowed for maximal scoring so far all week, it looks like the wind (which is notorious on this course) is finally picking up. This could definitely lead to a more volatile round.
 

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Here comes McBeth. It's incredible how consistent he has been in this tournament year in and year out. This is going to make 10 straight times he's either finished first or second. Nine different cities/hosts in those 10 years (Emporia is the first repeat), so it's not like he's dialed into a particular course or two. We're talking something like 22-23 different courses, with varied design styles and challenges, in every part of the country, and he's always right there.
 

Import78

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I stayed away from this thread because I didn't want to get spoilered and had to coordinate watching with my wife who goes to be way earlier than I do. We watched the first four rounds of each over a couple of days then had to wait on the fifth.

Kristin was a beast from the jump and really took all the drama out of the final round. She was just crushing everything out there. Fun to watch for sure.

Very considerate of the men's field to make is exciting right up to the end. Gossage was very impressive, I kept wondering if/when his previous inconsistency was going to bite him. It did eventually, but not that badly. Unfortunately he was going against the most consistent player on tour I think. It looked like McBeth was half a notch below his normal weather due to injury or just regular variation, but the putt on 17 covered up a lot of sins.

In terms of the coverage I liked the chase card check ins quite a lot. That bomb Barela had on 1 was crazy, and I like seeing Wysocki play. He's a lot of fun when he isn't angry at himself. Not a big fan of the live stream JoMez did, I guess they have to try to make money, but still feels a little cash grabby when the rest of the coverage is free with ads. A bit like making the Super Bowl PPV. There were a few audio problems with Uli's mike both echo and low volume. The audience was interesting too.

After that I'm super excited to see the Green Mountain Championships live in a couple of weeks.
 

Sausage in Section 17

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I stayed away from this thread because I didn't want to get spoilered and had to coordinate watching with my wife who goes to be way earlier than I do. We watched the first four rounds of each over a couple of days then had to wait on the fifth.

Kristin was a beast from the jump and really took all the drama out of the final round. She was just crushing everything out there. Fun to watch for sure.

Very considerate of the men's field to make is exciting right up to the end. Gossage was very impressive, I kept wondering if/when his previous inconsistency was going to bite him. It did eventually, but not that badly. Unfortunately he was going against the most consistent player on tour I think. It looked like McBeth was half a notch below his normal weather due to injury or just regular variation, but the putt on 17 covered up a lot of sins.

In terms of the coverage I liked the chase card check ins quite a lot. That bomb Barela had on 1 was crazy, and I like seeing Wysocki play. He's a lot of fun when he isn't angry at himself. Not a big fan of the live stream JoMez did, I guess they have to try to make money, but still feels a little cash grabby when the rest of the coverage is free with ads. A bit like making the Super Bowl PPV. There were a few audio problems with Uli's mike both echo and low volume. The audience was interesting too.

After that I'm super excited to see the Green Mountain Championships live in a couple of weeks.
Yeah, the men's competition was pretty exciting. 2 lead changes over the last 3 holes, plus a playoff. Bummer it ended with an error instead of a "winning" shot, but both players played quite well through the whole round. Gossage appeared to be over his head, and I guess some of the mid to longer range putts that had been falling for him all week started to even out.

I think the coverage is getting better and better, and is almost on par with network produced telecasts. The overhead drone shots they had, both live when following someone's drive, and the drive distance visuals from above were both new features to me, and really add a lot to the experience.

Maybe RHF has a longer term perspective on all this, but to me it's almost shocking how big and polished the pro tour has gotten over the last few years. If you'd asked me 5 years ago if disc golf would ever become popular TO WATCH, I think I'd have laughed. But between the sport semi-exploding for players during the pandemic, along with better video production, and now spectators paying for tickets to attend events live, there appears to be a ton of momentum bringing this sport up on to a much more popular and visible platform. I wonder how far it will end up going?
 

Import78

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Yeah, the men's competition was pretty exciting. 2 lead changes over the last 3 holes, plus a playoff. Bummer it ended with an error instead of a "winning" shot, but both players played quite well through the whole round. Gossage appeared to be over his head, and I guess some of the mid to longer range putts that had been falling for him all week started to even out.

I think the coverage is getting better and better, and is almost on par with network produced telecasts. The overhead drone shots they had, both live when following someone's drive, and the drive distance visuals from above were both new features to me, and really add a lot to the experience.

Maybe RHF has a longer term perspective on all this, but to me it's almost shocking how big and polished the pro tour has gotten over the last few years. If you'd asked me 5 years ago if disc golf would ever become popular TO WATCH, I think I'd have laughed. But between the sport semi-exploding for players during the pandemic, along with better video production, and now spectators paying for tickets to attend events live, there appears to be a ton of momentum bringing this sport up on to a much more popular and visible platform. I wonder how far it will end up going?
Agreed on the drive distance feature, I liked the drone shots as well. JoMez is definitely a half step or more ahead of everyone else, but the gap is shrinking. I don't watch ball golf so I don't know what they can steal from those broadcasts to improve things more, but I'm sure they are looking. I like pretty much all the commentators on GK and JoMez, the PDGS broadcast I watched wasn't quite as good, they seemed a bit flatter. Still good information, but not as interesting a presentation.

Disc golf is interesting, it's pretty accessible and has very low startup costs if there's a course anywhere near you. New courses are popping up all over and there are 2-3 times more of them near me in NH than ball golf courses. I know of a few semi-public courses as well where guys have some land and build their own, if you know the right guy you can play his course. I think it is also a natural transition from Ultimate so there's a fair number of potential players out there as well. I think there's plenty of room to grow, but it could double a few times and still be fairly small nationally I suspect.
 

SumnerH

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I like pretty much all the commentators on GK and JoMez,the PDGS broadcast I watched wasn't quite as good, they seemed a bit flatter. Still good information, but not as interesting a presentation.
Pretty much agree.

Nate Doss (one of the main PDGA announcers) is so hung up on armchair psychology that it undermines the rest of his commentary. Every misexecution is a mental failure, nobody ever has physical problems executing or just normal variance. It's a shame, because he's a former world champ and when he backs off of that and sticks to what he can see he's quite good, but he's always trying to fabricate mental breakdowns and minds of steel. Val Jenkins is similar.

Phyllo I like pretty well, he's good an analyzing form. He has a tendency to declare things “over” too early, but that's pretty minor (especially in % of the commentary that it affects). Elaine's accent isn't my favorite but she's pretty good otherwise. Ian's pleasant enough. Brian (the field reporter) is very good, IMO.

It's always interesting when they get top players in. Paige is really good. Simon, as personable as he is and with all his vlog experience, never really feels comfortable in the booth.