The 2022 Memorial Championship is done – and in more ways than one …
For starters, the 2022 version is done. For the seventh time in his career, Paul McBeth took the thing down. And in convincing fashion. He led from wire-to-wire, shooting an 1108-rated first round for a 16-under-par 40. Three strokes back, Anthony Barela nabbed second place.
More importantly, though, as a whole, the Memorial Championship is done …
No, not “done done,” but as far as any widespread, public attention is concerned?
*forgets that the memorial is going on
— Trevor Staub (@FDG_trevor) March 5, 2022
*checks the live scoring
“oh my”
Yeah, it’s done.
This isn’t anything I’m pumped about. Years back, the Memorial signaled the true start of the professional disc golf season – not the Gentlemen’s Club Challenge, now known as the “Las Vegas Challenge.” Emotionally, the Memorial just hit different …
Nostalgia to the max:
- Hole No. 1 has 380-ish feet of terrifying water carry.
- Circle teepads are everywhere – and they’re crazy-slick, too.
- Man-made geysers make for plenty of Instagram-worthy photo-ops.
- Picnicking park-goers try and enjoy a meal, while dodging discs of death.
- Yelling “fore” at gaggles of geese in fairways. The trash birds are everywhere.
The obvious oddities of the event are one thing, but some seriously cool stuff has gone down at the Memorial. Insane, foot-deep flooding in 2014, for starters. In 2015, both McBeth and Jeremy Koling hit a pair of nutty putts to force a playoff. Koling would claim the title one hole later.
And my personal favorite, that same year during the final round, Nate Doss’ first-hole ace. This would be the first time disc golf appeared on “SportsCenter.” It wouldn’t be the last, either.
Simply put, if it can happen on a disc golf course, Fountain Hills has seen it.
But you know who hasn’t?
Literally anybody trying to find live (sorry, Terry) coverage of the event in 2021 and 2022 …
And probably 2023, 2024, 2025, etc.
The reason for this one’s pretty simple: Back in 2021, the Memorial Championship was dropped from the Disc Golf Pro Tour. The only event removed from the 2020 calendar, in fact. But for as much as I love the Memorial, the biggest reason for the fat-trimming move is obvious …
Disc golf outgrew Fountain Hills.
Endless spike hyzers and tap-in birdies lose their charm when so many of them happen that shooting 10-down isn’t enough to land you on lead card. And yes, that happened this weekend. Fifteen years ago, the course worked. In 2022, it’s a mere pitch-and-putt for the game’s best.
Fond memories are great for old-timers. But for the legions of new disc golfers following the professional scene, sorry – they couldn’t care less. If JomezPro and the rest of their coat-tail counterparts don’t show up with cameras, is the event really even happening?
Nope.
The Memorial as you’ve come to know it is dead – on to Waco for now and forever.
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Nailed it again Lucas, well done!
Thanks, Donovan – you’re the best!