🌳 Dominance at the cathedral of disc golf

Hello and welcome, this is The Players Meeting. The only newsletter that has a permanent spot in your inbox like the Sexton Firebird has in your bag.

Email Read Time: 5 Minutes & 29 Seconds

If you missed Champs Cup’s preview, then I got you: Tradition Unlike Any Other

Let’s get into it.

PDGA CHAMPIONS CUP

RESULTS - 🏆ISAAC ROBINSON & KRISTIN TATTAR

For 4 days, the crowd echoed through GA’s tall trees as performances of the year were made. Here are the storylines you should remember or you may have missed:

1 - Spring has sprung at the International Disc Golf Center

With immaculate conditions, players stepped into the halls of a cathedral and up to their opportunity of winning the 1st of 4 Majors this season.

But even as discs were shredded and the course got torched, the phenomenal play had to fight for attention against the poor cell signal. The coverage quality suffered in the “OUT there out there” Wildwood Park.

The outpouring of social media complaints ranged from boycotts to defending DGN and their efforts with the best they got. Regardless, this Major has plans to stay at this property indefinitely.

Improvements to coverage quality will be made, and it’s something that live viewers will have to accept in exchange for exciting woods golf. This course is one of the hardest but fairest on Tour for both divisions.

As a result, it has a knack for allowing big leads and this weekend was no exception. Two individuals gave us nearly perfect performances and claimed the biggest win of the year so far.

2 - FPO history will continue to be made by Kristin Tattar.

At home in these woods, Tattar is at the top of her game and absolutely boatraced the field. She dissected the course with precision, power, and clinical putts.

Here are her heavy-hitting stats:

• Ending on Sunday’s Hole 4, her 74-straight bogey-free streak was the longest ever on Tour. She’s the definition of consistent

• Her 14-stroke victory was the largest win ever at an FPO Major with 30+ players

• Since Pierce’s 2017 Aussie Open win, this was the 1st time an FPO player went wire-to-wire with the hot round each day

• She’s now won back-to-back Majors by 8+ strokes. Would you bet against her getting the grand slam?

The numbers don’t lie, and Tattar is breaking the game. She’s demonstrating what it means to be a true professional and is setting an example for future superstars.

Now, for the biggest question on everyone’s mind… 1000 rated when? Currently 987, she’s on track to be the 1st to do it (Pierce hit 996 in 2021), but she still has to average over 1000 through August to achieve it.

3 - The home-state hero deserved the win.

Like Tattar, Isaac Robinson was at home. He had his dad on the bag, his family on the grounds, and his friends cheering him on.

This weekend, the woods were not the great equalizer. Robinson was playing unconscious and duplicated his Idlewild dominance last year.

Blowing past the predicted -34 winning score, he strung together 2 record rounds and averaged -10 per day. Even though they tried, no one stood in the way of his 1st Major win.

Fun fact: He and his brother (Ezra) were introduced to the sport by their dad as babies. To this day, their dad can be seen speed-running his home course with 1-2 discs in under an hour. Isaac’s fast-delivery playstyle runs in the family.

4 - It’s a who’s who of top players every week.

Is this the coming of a new era? Probably not… But the field has finally caught up, and those who were predicted to shoot well fell flat.

If you take away the winners, these players still weren’t within striking distance:

• 7th Gannon Buhr - 7 strokes off McMahon & Anttila in 2nd

• 11th Chris Dickerson - 8 strokes

• 13th Simon Lizotte - 9 strokes

• 16th Calvin Heimburg - 10 strokes

• 20th Paul McBeth - 12 strokes

• 24th Paige Pierce - 25 strokes off Scoggins in 2nd

Meanwhile, Champions Cup was kind enough to shine a light on others:

• 2nd Niklas Anttila - 21 years old, 2x Finnish Champ, and not a stranger to performing well at Majors

• 4th Silas Schultz - “A younger Lizotte”, Instagram extraordinaire, 2018 Next Gen Champ (won a Jeep Renegade), and on his 2nd year of touring

• 7th Aidan Scott - TN native, 18 years old since Friday, turned pro last year, and currently in his rookie year

• 11th Ali Smith - Ultimate player from MSU, 2021 AM World Champ, and got her 1st DGPT top-10 at MCO this season

HIGHLIGHT

It was too good to be true... Throwing the perfect line, Silas Schultz was on his way to writing a comeback story for the ages. But the near ace didn’t stick, and his dream round slowed down soon after.

FRESH PLASTIC

Sponsored by Powergrip USA… A PRETTY GOOD disc golf shop.

👉 Powergrip’s Highlight: Clash Discs Steady Fudge Proto (2|3|0|2)
sniff sniff. You smell that…? It’s the sweet smell of a brand-new disc drop from the tastiest lineup.

The Finnish manufacturer’s 1st beaded putter will release this Friday (4/28). If you’re familiar, the Fudge is quite like their beadless Popcorn except with a small lip on its underside - the bead.

Dropping in their premium Steady plastic, “This thing is slow but trustworthy as it goes straight and then left” per Scott Withers. If you’ve been looking for a new throwing putter, then the Fudge hits the spot.

For comparison, it falls in the Prodigy PA-3, DD Judge, and Gateway Wizard ballpark. With any of these discs, your approaches and short drives will thank you.

RANDOM DUBS

1️⃣ Here’s your weekly “The More You Know” moment… There are drivers that have what is considered a bead on their wing.

The infamous Innova Teebird is one of the main molds with this. It’s actually what makes its flight desirable enough to be cloned by every manufacturer.

Apollo Disc Golf broke down the uniqueness of beaded wings. When it comes to putters and mids, a bead on the bottom of the rim is obvious and can make you choose one mold over the other based on comfort.

As for higher speeds, like a Teebird (7|5|0|2), the bead can show up on the wing, not the bottom rim. In theory, this creates more drag and results in fade sooner in the flight.

There’s a reason why Teebird clones don’t all fly exactly the same:

• TSA Votum (7|5|0|3) has a rounded wing with no bead that allows for it to hold anhyzer longer

• Discraft Athena (7|5|0|2) has a similar wing bead and acts like a Teebird

So remember, for some molds (besides Prodigy) it’s a feature not flashing.

2️⃣ Everyone has their own preference on the course. Some blast heavy metal while others enjoy peace and quiet. But we all experience the same thing during a tournament round - distractions.

It’s not easy to practice these situations, but Raven Newsom found a way. On the Chain Clankers podcast, he explained how he blasts irritating noises on his headphones.

He does this while practice putting and has it loud enough so he can’t hear the chains. Give it a try during your next session, and putting will feel like a walk in the park afterward.

Example playlist: Irritating Noises, Vol 1. (dog barking, ambulance, etc.)

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Thanks for reading today. Get out and follow your dreams this week!

- Charlie