Trek Disc Golf

Tomorrow starts the 2024 Preserve Championship connected by Microsoft Teams in Clearwater, Minnesota. This has been a stop on the Pro Tour since 2020 and is a stop that touring players seem to love. From the camping atmosphere for the weekend, the Minnesota summer, and a beautiful piece of land and course design manufactured by Cale Leiviska, the Preserve is a popular stop on the tour. To me, it reminds me of how I started to follow disc golf, high scoring, aggressive play, but fun. And that’s what the pros say, this course is fun. And honestly, why try and change something that gets so much respect from the players. I know there are the arguments about how high scoring disc golf can be, but never do I hear that it is really bad for the sport. I just think that is what disc golf is, and instead of trying to change it, lean into it. Not that I don’t think some courses need to add challenge and scoring separation, but tweaking something for the sake of scoring doesn’t seem to fit (i.e. basket changes). Anyway, that was a bit of a rant to start the preview. The Preserve, it’s awesome and I’m pumped for it to start.

The tournament will get under way on Friday, June 21st and run through Sunday, June 23rd. Coverage will begin on Disc Golf Network for the FPO field at 10:00 AM Eastern and 4:00 PM Eastern for the MPO. The main course the players will play is called the Black Bear course (hence the sick wooden black bear trophy) and it plays as a Par 66 for both fields. FPO total distance is 9,310 feet and MPO total distance is 10,743 feet. The course remains mostly unchanged, with a few tweaks on a couple holes. This is just one of those courses where I can see the hole on the Caddy Book and immediately picture the shot.

Last year the 2023 Preserve had Catrina Allen win in FPO with -20, three strokes ahead of Kristin Tattar. And on the MPO side, Ricky Wysocki won with a -37, five strokes over Cole Redalen and Calvin Heimburg. There are a handful of players missing, including Calvin and Niklas on the MPO side and a majority of the European players are missing from the FPO side. James Proctor is also not here as he already has made his way over to Europe as we saw last week at the Turku Open. I mention it because James came in 5th here last year.

On to my picks. In FPO, there are a couple names that stick out, and its basically the top contenders. Holyn Handley, Ella Hansen, Ohn Scoggins, Kat Mertsch, Hailey King, and Missy Gannon. Ohn did not play this event last year, but the rest of those players all finished in the top 10. And the one who did not, Hailey, was top 5 in the categories I put a lot of stock in (strokes gained tee to green and C1 in regulation). But regardless of the outcome last year, Holyn led the field in SGT2G and C1 in Reg, and coming off her win at the Beaver State Fling, I like Holyn to win this event to go for two in a row on the Pro Tour. In second, give me Hailey. She really shot well last year, but had 6 OB strokes that really killed her. If she can limit those, I like her chances. And finally, in third, I’ll take Ella. She throws far and has the skills to play well. I think her putting will keep her from victory. It will be interesting to see how Paige plays given her recent win and she tied Hailey here last year. But I’m going to stick with this group to land on the podium.

On the MPO, no Calvin makes it interesting because I think I would have rolled with him here. Gannon is hot, but did not play well here last year, so it begs the question, how much to I value recent results versus specific course success. It would be silly to not mention him as I said in my last post I think his game translates anywhere right now. But, I’m not picking Gannon. Ricky dominated last year and was in the top 5 in both SGT2G and C1 in Regulation, but there was a guy above him in both and than man is Eagle McMahon. Eagle coming off a good west coast swing and his game is really coming into form. He shot a scorching -14 on the final day last year and led the field with a 14.12 strokes gained statistic that was about a stroke and a half better than anyone else. All to say, I think Eagle puts it together this weekend to finish in second! Yes, second, because I like Cole Redalen this weekend. It is a bit of a risk, but Cole finished in second last year and played really well, finished in the top 5 in both SGT2G and C1 in Regulation. For Cole, if his putter is on, he’s going to score well. I love his putt. It looks effortless, but powerful, and when it’s on the pole, he’s locked in for the round. Also, coming off a solid west coast trip, I think Cole gets his second win on the Pro Tour in his young career. To round out the podium, give me Rick. He’s too solid, played too well all year, and is the defending champ. He’s going to come out and ball. Looking forward to the weekend! Let it rip!

Edit: Welp. Messed up on Eagle not being there. Thought I saw him, but I think I had the 2023 results up. Oh Well, Cole and Ricky are in the mix!