The 2016 tournament season is really beginning to heat up. In the past two weeks we have enjoyed two PDGA National Tour events, both taking place in Kansas. And Event #2 of the Disc Golf World Tour – the Konopiste Open, was held in the Czech Republic. Of course there were tons of other events around the world providing players, and fans, with a ton of fun to kick off the season.
The DGWT standings shuffled substantially in Konopiste, as expected. With many American players opting to play on the PDGA National Tour, the door was open for players like Simon Lizotte , Nate Sexton, and KJ Nybo to move up in the rankings. Simon came roaring back to force a sudden death playoff between Nybo and Paul McBeth, which he would go on to win in dramatic fashion.
Lizotte’s win vaulted him from 8th place in DGWT standings to a tie for 2nd place with Nybo. McBeth continues to hold down the DGWT #1 ranking but Lizotte is arguably playing as well as anyone at the moment. It should be an exciting race to the finish with three DGWT events still to go, two of which will take place on European soil. This may be just the advance European stars like Lizotte and Nybo need to take down America’s best.
Action on the National Tour was not quite as intense in Kansas City. The KC Wide Open pro divisions were won handily by Ricky Wysocki and Catrina Allen who won by 7 and 8 shots respectively. Congrats to Rick and Cat on their outstanding performances!
Team Innova had its share of highlights in Kansas City as well. George Smith and Brian Schweberger finished 1st and 2nd in Masters. Valarie Doss picked up a nice 3rd place finish in Open Women. And in MPO, Philo Brathwaite and Alex Geisinger finished in a tie for 6th place.
One of the other team highlights of this past weekend was at the Orlando Open . Calvin Heimburg picked up another nice Open Division win, his 7th already this season! Considering Calvin is a full-time student at the University of Florida makes that accomplishment even more impressive. Calvin’s effort in Open was backed up by Jess Hill who won Open Women, Gregg Hosfeld who won Grandmasters, and Stan Hubbard who won Senior Grandmasters.
Other top team performances include:
Christian Dietrich – Down River Open, 1st Place Open
Melodie Bailey – Down River Open, 1st Place Open Women
Steve Brinster – The Mighty Gaw, 1st Place Open
Craig Cutler – The Mighty Gaw, 2nd Place Open
Martin Hendel – The Christie Lake Spring Fling, 1st Place Open
Karina Nowels – Creekside Open, 1st Place Open Women
Two more exciting weekends are ahead. Among many other fantastic events are the highly anticipated Women’s Global Event this coming weekend, followed by the next stop on the PDGA National Tour – the Masters Cup in Santa Cruz. The WGE is comprised of nearly 70 individual tournaments held simultaneously around the world on May 14th. Scores will be gathered from all of those events and be presented on a single WGE 2016 Leader Board .
Innova would like to encourage all ladies to get out and play and to bring a friend! WGE events are fun and memorable for women and girls of all ages. You will not be disappointed! If you are unable to compete on May 14th, please consider helping us promote women’s disc golf by following and sharing social media content featuring the hashtag #2016WGE.
Then the following weekend we will see you atop the world in beautiful Santa Cruz, California. That event is always a blast because it attracts many of the game’s best, where they compete on a course where almost anything can happen. DeLaveaga Park is one of the most highly rated courses in the world; notorious for it’s hills, thrills, crazy tree bips, and treacherous greens that produce some of the most epic rollaways you have ever seen.
Spring (and golf discs!) are in the air everywhere. Whether you are a hardcore tournament competitor, a weekend warrior, or just looking for one of best walks in woods out there, get outside and have some disc golf fun.
