MPO leader Daniel Davidsson. Photo: Joosep Martinsson
FPO leader Heidi Laine. Photo: Joosep Martinsson
FPO
The day dawned radiant, with 20 degrees Celsius and no wind but, curiously, several players told us that the increasing humidity influenced their game, both at the level of disc flight (humid air is less dense and is equivalent to gaining height), in the clothing comfort and the discs grip: Disc Golf is a complex sport!
Who said that double digits were only for MPOs? Finland's Heidi Laine maintains her stellar form and scores a 10-under-par round of 1016 on the Mäetaguse course at the PDGA EuroTour — Lone Star Disc Alutaguse Open.
She told us in the interview that, despite being a player with a great distance, she had saved the last percentage of power to improve her accuracy and make sure to play from the fairway. If we add 73% accuracy from inside 10 meters and even an eagle on hole 2 we have an extraordinary round!
Heidi Laine was keeping her lead throughout the last round, but Silva Saarinen never gave up and, with birdies on 15, 16, 17 and 18, she put a pressure on Heidi, who had an eagle putt, but missed and had to go to a tiebreaker with Silva.
Eveliina Salonen leads by three after the first round at the PCS Open. Photo: Disc Golf Pro Tour
FPO
All the players, and ourselves,had in mind Paige Pierce, who slipped and suffered a fracture that takes her away from the biggest competitions of the season in the worst possible way.
The number of high-level players was on display from the start of the round, and in fact it was the third card that started to make very good scores: Sarah Hokom, with one under par, took advantage of her forehand flex lines with stable drives to navigate the demanding fairways of Øveras Disc Golf Park.
What a battle we have lived through in the PDGA Euro Tour Skellefteå Open FPO final round! We were working at the excellent press area, went down to take a coffee (Sweden is the 2nd highest per-capita consumer in the world), and crossed in front of the clubhouse with Jenny Larsson. Something in her eyes said she was super-focused. We took a look at UDisc Live and found out why: she was smashing the course record! Rushing to the interview set to get her impressions on that -6 (which would stay at -4 after a double bogey on the 18th).
No one is spared from "accidents" on the difficult Swedish course of Skellefteå, as shown by Hannele Määttä (Finland), provisionally fifth; she is the player who has scored the fewest bogeys with 4, so it is important to know how to reset the mind at the start of each new hole.
Czech Nikola Moravcováwill give up her place on the leader card to play in the chase card after two double bogeys dropped her to sixth.
Nikola Moravcová on Friday. Photo: Johannes Fidemo / IG: jfidemodiscgolf
FPO
An interesting leading card with the stellar presence of Ella Hansen, the American player with a rating 25 points higher than her immediate pursuer, raised the expectation for the first day of the women's category at the PDGA EuroTour #5 — Skellefteå Open presented by Latitude 64°.
However it was, once again, Finland's Silva Saarinen who achieved the best score but, this time, the distances were much smaller, with the first four players being separated by only three strokes.
Ahead of the Skellefteå Open, PDGA Europe Media and Marketing Manager Calixto García, who is on-site at the 5th PDGA Euro Tour stop of the season, gave us a report on how things are looking headed into this weekend’s competition.
Practicing From Sun up to… Sun Up?
There are people playing on the course at 23:00. We come back at 06:00, and there are people playing in the course.. How is it possible? First, it’s training day at a PDGA Euro Tour event, and people from all over the world are trying to improve their performance. Second, we’re in the north. Very much north! As much as 64 Latiitude North- sounds familiar? And we enjoy 21 hours of sunlight per day to play disc golf!
Is it possible to keep out of your mind the fact that you are leading an international tournament on the last day with an 8-stroke gap over your pursuers?
Imperial Anttila! As if it were Miron's discus thrower, the young Finnish player has delighted us with an impeccable game at the PDGA EuroTour — Swedish Open presented by Kastaplast, with moments of the highest quality such as the "almost ace" on the 11th hole: a very high turnover that even reminded us a bit of the "Holy Shot" of James Conrad.
Sweden's Dennis Augustsson had the hot round to open the 2023 EuroTour — Swedish Open. Photo: PDGA Europe
MPO
These four first events of 2023 PDGA Euro Tour have shown us a great variety of Disc Golf terrains: the thick woods of Pro Forester, the extra wide fairways of Konopiste, the ever-present OBs of Krokhol and now the narrow fairways and root ground of Swedish Open presented by Kastaplast.
On the MPO side, all of the EuroTour champions so far in 2023 — Paul McBeth, Niklas, Anttila and Bradley Williams — are in the field. In FPO, two champions — Marianne Must and Silva Saarinen — will compete this weekend in Sweden.
The action takes place at Ymergårdens Discgolfcenter in Boras, Sweden beginning Friday. Fifteen countries will be represented in MPO and eight in FPO.
So far, the PDGA EuroTour has delivered incredible action on beautiful courses throughout Europe with every second covered.
Elias Lukkonen and Paul McBeth talk during round two of the Krokhol Open.
MPO
Youth to power!
It was not difficult to assume that two experienced American players of a very high level, such as Paul McBeth and Bradley Williams, would be on the leader card of the PDGA Euro Tour Krokhol Open (Norway), but that they are accompanied by two young 18-year-old Finns such as Elias Lukkonen and Miro Ryhänen is a clear example of the extensive reserve that European disc golf has in general and Finnish disc golf in particular.
Silva Saarinen leads the Krokhol Open after the first round.
FPO
Top players told us in Thursday's press conference that the level of the FPO field is rising and there are more and more players able to win a tournament.
And on this occasion, it has been the Finnish Silva Saarinen, who is steadily improving her game this season, off to a great 3-under round to lead by three strokes at the PDGA Euro Tour #3 — Krokhol Open.
Idyllic? Amazing? A paradise for disc golf? These are some of the first sentences that came to mind when we arrived at the Krokhol Disc Golf Club on the outskirts of Oslo, Norway.
An undulating landscape with coniferous and birch forests dotted with small lakes and large granite slabs is home to the Krokhol Golf and Disc Golf Clubs that coexist in perfect harmony and and benefit from mutual synergies.
British Rachel Turton has finally established herself – if there was any doubt about it - among the top elite FPO European players after convincingly winning the Konopiste Open presented by Discmania, second stop of the 2023 PDGA Euro Tour in the beautiful Czech woods.
Disc golf tournaments are not like highways, with twists, turns and ups and downs…
Anneli Tõugjas-Männiste (Estonia), Sofie Björlycke (Sweden) and Kristi Unt (Estonia) each had their share of ups and downs during round two, each scoring +2. This brought which brought yesterday’s leader, Tõugjas-Männiste, to second place while Sofie and Kristi went down to fourth.
Players from 24 countries are playing in the thick forests of Varaždin at the Pro Forester presented by Vall Tours in a clear proof that many players from Central and Southern Europe are willing to join PDGA Euro Tour.
Marianne Must extends her lead into the final round. Photo: PDGA Media
The demanding course just outside of the Croatian city, by the Drava river, is more demanding than ever: summertime is making vegetation grow and the local organizing team has had to make an extra work to clear up the fairways and players to find the lines.
The signage effort has been considerable and the course has players are delighting in the opportunity to play in such a professional looking course.
A European-level robotics contest in Varaždin Arena has attracted hundreds of visitors that are discovering disc golf in the holes around it.
