Trek Disc Golf

Apologies for the delay again in the recap, I was on vacation. But with the Music City Open coming up this weekend, I knew that I wanted to get my recap up today before the preview tomorrow morning. Let’s start in FPO.

As predicted, Kristin Tattar got back to her winning ways this DGPT event and won at Jonesboro with relative ease. She finished at -22, beating out Holyn Handley in second at -13 and Evalina Solonen in third at -12. Nine strokes ahead of her next closest competitor. It was one of those events where Kristin simply outclassed the field from the start. In Round 1 she shot a -10 and Evalina was -4. It was over. Kristin with that lead is just insurmountable in my mind because when you see her on, you know she is just going to be on for the weekend. She has all the shots, she’s too consistent, and I have to imagine, it’s tough as competitors against her to see that and feel like you have a chance. Dominant. As we’ve been saying, I don’t think this result will be indicative of the season, I think there are too many FPO players playing too well for Kristin to continue this every weekend, but this was one of those weekends where no one stood a chance. And as a sidenote, 1016 event rating for Kristin. Good news for her chase to get to 1000 rated.

On the MPO side, wow. What a weekend. I watched live on Sunday afternoon and watched all of Jomez coverage, and it really did not disappoint. Anthony Barela won at -24, with Ben Callaway, Calvin Heimburg, and Ezra Aderhold all in second at -23. There is so much to go over in the final round, so much happened, and yet the best player in the world right now still came out on top.

Let’s pick it up from the start of the final round, where we at Isaac Robinson and AB tied going into the round at -18. Calvin and Simon Lizotte rounded out the rest of the card. But on chase card, you had Ben Callaway, Gannon Buhr, Ezra Aderhold, and Albert Tamm all in the mix. Unfortunately for Isaac, it was just not his day. Some unlucky breaks, missed putts, but nothing was working for him today and he dropped off pretty quick. Simon was in this conversation for so long, but an OB stroke on 16 led to a bogie that dropped him out of the conversation late. But man, was he streaking towards something. Albert and Gannon midway through the round were really in contention. But Gannon had a brutal spit out on 14 for birdie that really felt like a round ender from his body language. And Albert played solid, bogie free golf, it was just never good enough.

Now for the contenders, AB, Calvin, Ezra, and Ben were all in this until hole 18. Let’s start with Ezra and work our way up for the dramatics. Ezra got off to an insanely hot start, birding 5 of of the first 6 holes in the windy conditions to really put him into position to win. He was 10/10 in C1X putting and played great all the way through. Watching the coverage, my one question on his game was on hole 14, par 5, a very eagle-able hole, he ended up pinched on a tree. From a standstill, squared off hips to the basket, he tried a forehand. I don’t know if his intention was a skip shot, but he threw a shot the directly entered the water. No chance. He proceeds to the drop zone and takes a par. I get going for it, but in that position, knowing what the shot requires and the level of difficulty, and the ability to fairly easily take a birdie, I don’t understand the push for the green. Percentage golf, I didn’t agree with it there. That said, Ezra was in it until hole 18. He made his way to the green on the difficult par 3, but unfortunately missed his C2 putt, that proved to be not enough to get him to a playoff.

Ben. I was really rooting for him in this tournament. Felt like he had it and it just slipped away from him. I didn’t think he could repeat his success here from last year, but he proved me wrong and really played well enough to win. His round had so many great moments, but key moments that took this victory away from him. Let’s start where the tournament really picked up for him and that felt like Hole 11. He was in at and absolutely parked the hole (old hole 1). From just outside of the bullseye, he put the disc on the pole and it came back out. Absolutely brutal moment that cost him a stroke. Move on to 14. Ben played the hole great, giving him an outside C1 look at the eagle. He chooses to lay up for the birdie. This is an interesting moment. On Jomez, Paul Ulibarri did not agree with the decision, looking at it as an uphill put from about 40 feet for the eagle. Take a shot. Watching live, I was fine with the choice, as it looked like the wind was bothering Ben before the putt. It’s tough, because in hindsight, its easy to question the choice. In the moment, you guarantee the birdie, but something that makes you think. Next hole, 15, Ben puts it on the island. And as he lines up this putt, its high left and the wind definitely carries it a bit too. Off the chains and out. Par. However you look at it, there are several strokes left out there. And still, he has a chance to win in the last two holes. 17 he hits the tree early and is forced into a 350-400 foot upshot to save the birdie. He nails this angle and shot, but it skips long. Brutal result from an impeccable shot, but Ben clutches up and nails the putt to save par. Onto 18 where he can still win, but unfortunately, this is the worst shot I saw from Ben. Never gave the hyzer a chance to get back into play and he is forced to the drop zone. Misses. Bogie. End of tournament. So tough for Ben, but a great showing.

Calvin. I did not give him a chance. Thinking he had no forehand, I thought there was no way he could keep up. But Calvin keeps reminding me how good he is with the backhand. On holes 3 and 9, with is DX AviarX3, he absolutely dots the baskets on turnover lines. Incredible shots, truly incredible. Worst hole for Calvin was 10, a hole that he has dominated the field on over the past 4 years. But this time, he hits early, can’t get out of the woods on his initial shot, and ends up taking a double bogey. The hole sets him back, but its Calvin, so he finds away to be in it until the end. Tied with AB going into 18, knowing Ezra and Ben are out of it, AB is on the green in C2, Calvin has a shot to put the pressure on…

AB was mediocre for the first 12 holes of this round. A bad rollaway on 6 leading to a bogey, missed putts, including a couple that led to a bogey on hole 12. And at that point, he was even par for the round and I thought, he is not winning this one. But he gets the birdie on 13 with a nice bounce back and then clutches up for the eagle on 14. It sets off a firestorm of birdies, 15, 16, and 17. 15 just makes the island, but finishes off the easy birdie. 16 absolutely bombs his drive, leaving a shot chip shot to the green for birdie. And 17, after essentially doing the same thing Ben did, AB grabs his Athena and parks the basket for his birdie. Incredible shot. And then 18, AB puts the disc on hyzer out over the water and lands it on the green, putting the pressure on Calvin.

Tied on 18, with AB in bounds. Calvin steps up and is looking at that same hyzer line to get in bounds for the birdie look. Out of his hand, you could tell it was tight to the tree line. And as the camera switched to the catch cam near the basket, it was clear it wasn’t getting there. Calvin’s disc gets caught up in the OB area and he proceeds to the drop zone. Needing to hit it to put any pressure on a putt for AB, Calvin steps up, and misses. AB lays up from where his drive landed, and then drops in for the par. Winner.

AB has just been incredible this season. So dialed in, so consistent. It’s been really impressive to watch him finally put it all together. Looking forward to this next weekend to see if he can continue this torrid run.