Underwhelming: European disc golf in the US

By: Lucas Miller

I can already see the Twitter comments piling up, so please …

Allow me to make myself abundantly clear:

This does NOT include Kristin Tattar in any way, shape or form.

Think back a bit, though: You remember the off-season conversations that took place with COVID (more or less) in society’s rearview mirror, right? For the first time in what felt like forever, Europe would be present on the Disc Golf Pro Tour in both the MPO and FPO fields …

And because of it, these were the kinds of takes you were seeing all over the place:

Green Splatter: Guilty as charged.

This won’t be an exhaustive list, but on the MPO side, names like Blaer Örn, Silver Lätt, Albert Tamm, Niklas Anttila, Väinö Mäkelä and Linus Carlsson were all slated to at least do something out on the Pro Tour. And don’t forget about veterans like Seppo Paju – he’d be back, as well.

It’s with the ladies, however, where things were alleged to really get intense:

  • Kristin Tattar – The No. 1-rated FPO player in the world to start the season.
  • Eveliina Salonen – The No. 2-rated FPO player in the world to start the season.
  • Henna Blomroos – The No. 5-rated FPO player in the world to start the season.

Toss Keiti Tätte in the mix, too …

She lacks the résumé, but she once did this – gotta give props where props are due:

The result of this transatlantic Hype Train, though?

For the men, through the first three Elite Series events, the average finishing position for a European comes in at 53rd – and that includes a “merciful” cut at the Las Vegas Challenge.

Anttila came in 15th at the Texas State Disc Golf Championship – a solid result for anybody. Apart from that, all Europe has to show for its time, money and lengthy plane rides is the occasional spot on OTB Tour Series Skins and Lätt’s work as a loyal caddie for Tattar.

More American than you or me, Simon Lizotte’s an aging father who rarely has time to practice or compete in tournaments, and he still might be the best “European” out on the Pro Tour …

Ouch.

Going the “average finishing position” route with the European women isn’t quite as effective: There aren’t many of them, the field is considerably smaller and the talent gap is sizable. Also, Tattar skews the numbers on that heavily – she’s a legit threat to any States-based golfer.

DGPT: Keiti Tätte

All three of Europe’s finest FPO talents have dropped in UDisc’s world rankings, however:

  • Tattar has fallen two spots – she’s now No. 3.
  • Salonen has fallen three spots – she’s now No. 5.
  • Blomroos has fallen two spots – she’s now No. 7.

This might not seem like much, but again – keep in mind that these three women were slated to completely turn the pecking order within FPO disc golf on its head. Instead, up to this point, Tattar’s literally the only one of ‘em to nab a podium finish, having failed to win, herself.

In fact, apart from Tattar’s stellar play, the most notable thing from Europe has to be Salonen’s ability to shoot a 1015-rated round during the first day of WACO – all without making a single C1X putt. Her putting’s been as close to an actual dumpster fire as you can get as a pro …

And that’s saying a lot, as THIS once happened – the timestamp’s been accounted for:

All is not lost, though …

We have to remember that these guys (and gals) are young. And while they’ve likely been to the U.S. before, this isn’t their home country. Living abroad for an extended period of time is hard. They might just need a few more weeks or months to adjust – I can understand that.

Don’t get me wrong: In both the MPO and FPO fields, the raw disc golf talent is undeniably there. But our European friends need to make a move before we forget about ‘em altogether …

It’s not the off-season anymore; we’re not starved for storylines.

Have anything to add? Take to Twitter to let us know – we’ll actually (for real) get back to you.

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Lucas Miller

Lucas Miller is the founder and editor-in-chief of Green Splatter. When he’s not out tossing a Champion Rhyno in his native Utah, he’s watching true-crime documentaries with his wife, wrestling his twin boys and praying the Oklahoma City Thunder’s rebuild passes quickly.

4 thoughts on “Underwhelming: European disc golf in the US”

  1. In their own vlog video the Finns talked a lot about grip problems when there was warm weather. The 17-22 Celsius (62-72 Fahrenheit), and not that moistured heat as it seemed to be in Texas, is the basic temperature in Finland for most tournaments.

    Give them some time. Niklas is 20 years old, first time in the US, seemed to have some grip problems too with the putter (watch how many times he tries to wipe the sweat out of his hand before putting), and was still in chase card in the final round.

    Reply

    • Topias, I wrote this thing, and couldn’t agree more …

      What’s key to realize is that this is an “to date” kind of article, if that makes sense.

      Or, in other words, up to this point, European disc golf has been underwhelming.

      Like you, there’s very little doubt in my mind that these European disc golfers will soon make their mark.

      I’m WAY more confident on this on the FPO side than the MPO side, but still: I think it’ll happen.

      Also, could you like to that “vlog video” you’re talking about?

      I’d love to check it out – LMK!

      Thanks for reading 🙂

      Reply

      • Someof the Finns are also vloggers (Väinö, Luukas Rokkanen, Niko Rättyä, and every now and then Lauri Lehtinen at least), and make content for their Finnish viewers. Actually the gang has two guys with them who are not competing but are making a documentary on the group’s first trip to the US.

        Watched Luukas Rokkanen’s vlog on the texas state, and there some of the guys were saying that weather was really hot at some point (2nd round I guess), moisture rich (in comparison with Spain where they had their “training camp”), and thus they had problems especially with putters. Moreover, Väinö Mäkelä had caught flu (not covid), which then everybody else caught from him, so part of the time they planned to prepare for the tournament went to waste as they were recovering from that one. Don’t know how much also that was shown in the standings.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZGjp9-sH08 (but this is in Finnish, but some DuoLingo will help!)

        Reply

        • Topias, awesome information – love it!

          Gonna check out these channels and (try to) brush up on my Finnish, as well.

          Love the guys and what they’re doing for the sport, internationally.

          Thanks for reading – appreciate the stellar interaction!

          Reply

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