I’m far from becoming a professional disc golfer …
REALLY far – like, however far you’re thinking, double it.
I guess that’s why I’m hooked on the sport at the highest level: I enjoy watching men and women do things in disc golf that, regardless of the time and energy I put in, I’ll never be able to do.
It’s a joy to watch Simon Lizotte huck a backhand 550-plus feet like it’s nothing. It’s a delight to watch Kristin Tattar generate so much pace from a straddle stance. It’s a pleasure to watch Ricky Wysocki forehand a putter from a standstill farther than I can 360-throw an Aerobie …
And there’s more admiration where that came from: These disc golfers are absolute freaks.
On the MPO front, though, ALL of that changed at the 2022 Dynamic Discs Open (DDO) …
The aforementioned “freaks” were humanized – here’s the formula that made it happen:
25-Plus MPH Winds + Tons of Artificial OB = Instant Humility
Emporia: Ricky Wysocki just laid up from inside the circle.
— Green Splatter (@GreenSplatter) April 30, 2022
For example, Paul McBeth won last year’s four-round DDO by six strokes over Wysocki – his official scorecard had him in the clubhouse at 42 strokes under par. This weekend, through three rounds of play, McBeth shot 16 strokes over par. He missed the cut by one stroke and served as a mere spectator on Sunday: That’d never happened before; I’m confident it won’t happen again.
It wasn’t just McBeast, however …
If you wanted a professional disc golf tournament without the whole "bogey or bust" vibe, the Dynamic Discs Open has been right up your alley, thus far.
— Green Splatter (@GreenSplatter) April 30, 2022
The MPO division showed up to Emporia with a 116-golfer field. Come Sunday afternoon, only nine of them would finish under par – last year, 85 of 137 golfers accomplished the painfully pedestrian feat. Take a look at the DNF list, too – there are some “household” names on it:
- Matt Bell
- Matt Orum
- Clint Calvin
- Paul Ulibarri
- Tristan Tanner
- Gavin Rathbun
- Noah Meintsma
- Philo Brathwaite
- Colten Montgomery
* Note: Some of the above dropped out, due to positive COVID-19 tests – click here for more.
Seriously, think back to how many times you heard Terry Miller or Nate Doss mention the names “Calvin Heimburg” or “Chris Dickerson” in any kind of meaningful capacity – they didn’t. No, neither had an embarrassing showing, but hardcore “meh” performances, by their standards.
The 2022 DDO was HARDLY a bust, though …
Hands down, my favorite part of this past weekend was the lengthy list of lesser-known MPO golfers who got their fair share of camera time on the Disc Golf Network – names like Väinö Mäkelä, Aaron Gossage, Logan Harpool, Jason Hebenheimer and G.T. Hancock.
They saw an opportunity to showcase their skills – instead of pouting, they pounced.
I hope you enjoyed the 2022 DDO, too, because you won’t see this kind of showing from the MPO field in a really, really long time – McBeth and his buddies won’t be caught out again.
Also, don’t get a big head about you: No matter how “MA2” many of the MPO scores looked this past weekend, you and I are still chopped liver compared to ‘em – we’ve got work to do.
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