🌲 One of the 7 wonders of the disc golf world

Hello and welcome, this is The Players Meeting. The only newsletter that points out local routes when it’s your 1st time on the course.

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If you missed BSF’s preview, then I got you: Mr. Philobatross

Let’s get into it.

TOUR COVERAGE
Beaver State Fling (Silver)

RESULTS - 🏆EAGLE MCMAHON & JENNIFER ALLEN

Sadly, the Fling is over. Stumptown kept the tradition alive, and everyone’s bucket list course couldn’t have looked better. Here are the storylines you should remember or you may have missed:

1 - Aesthetics were popping at this throwers’ woods course.

Milo is magical. With indoor weather conditions, the wood-chipped greens and mature trees made for aesthetically pleasing golf.

It was a perfect proving ground for the new Gold layout, and its reception was positive. The luck-based par 3’s were removed and replaced by holes favored by distance throwers.

And the results made it clear... While MPO’s leaderboard had the usuals, FPO’s was taken over by the big arms who hit double digits for the course record. Next year, we’ll see new records as the layout is tweaked to improve flow and prevent 45 min backups on 15 & 17.

Since this West Coast mainstay isn’t going anywhere, let’s hope the Innova Discatcher baskets can be looked at again as they’re still having issues. Aside from last year’s Ellis incident, this year saw odd spit-outs due to stiffened chains and old, sunken pins.

2 - It was a power showdown for a 1st DGPT win.

This was an instant classic like 2022’s European Open between McMahon & McBeth. Jen Allen & Holyn Handley separated themselves from the field easily.

Handley tried everything. She played lights out with 2 eagle splash-outs and a clutch 50-footer to stay within 1 stroke, but couldn’t close it out.

Throughout the round, Allen had her foot on the gas. She even canned an unnecessary putt to secure the 2-stroke win instead of laying up.

This was an emotional win for the Tour’s mama bear who’s been dealing with the recent passing of her mother. From full-time physical therapist assistant to part-time touring, it’s been a long time coming for her 1st DGPT win.

In 2 days, Allen will go for her 3rd FP40 Major win at the Tim Selinske US Masters. Maybe she’ll add another title to her laundry list of accomplishments.

3 - It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Eagle’s Cloud Breaker.

What started as a possible shoot-out quickly developed into a rerun of LVC and Jonesboro. It became a slugfest between the heavyweights of McMahon and Heimburg with Presnell third-wheeling.

They separated from the pack and pushed each other while trading blows. But unlike Vegas or Jonesboro, it wasn’t Vinny’s turn.

McMahon’s love for Milo McIver and Portland is easily known. He’s had many victories here including twice at the Fling and at 2021’s Portland Open.

Once again, it was a fairytale weekend for him. Hitting the course like a kid on the jungle gym, he threw 600ft rollers, skyscraper shots, and big putts.

This was his 3rd win here and his 1st Silver ever. After missing cash last week, the chip on his shoulder pushed him to his first Tour win of the season.

4 - Are we seeing the next dominant forces in both divisions?

In her 2nd season on Tour, Handley is proving to be a contender. Pierce said this about her on the Tour Life podcast: “[She’s] hands down the next best player… The next time we see a dominant force it’s going to be Holyn.”

On the men’s side, there’s a teenager out there who has the potential to be big. And no, it’s not 18-year-old Gannon Buhr cause he’s already arrived.

From Seattle, WA, Carter Ahrens is 15 years old and started accepting cash 2 years ago. His Championship Sunday -12, 1070-rated course record will go down as the best round of his life for now.

But this was just the latest in his young career… In April 2020, he broke David Wiggins Jr’s U13 distance record with a 625ft bomb. Then back in October 2022, he became the youngest player to achieve a 1010 rating at 15.

He still has years to go but could easily follow in Buhr’s footsteps. Remember the name Ahrens, cause he’ll be at the top of leaderboards in no time.

HIGHLIGHT

Literally making her dream come true, Jen Allen threw the purest Hole 1 drive on Sunday. It settled in the basket and kickstarted a run of 3 birdies that eventually led her to win.

POWERED BY POWERGRIP USA
Fresh Plastic

👉 Powergrip’s Highlight: Kastaplast K1 Krut (12|4|0|4)
Translated from Swedish, Krut means gunpowder, and it’s Kastaplast’s latest to pair with your arm cannon.

Starting on Thursday (5/25) at 11AM ET, this high-speed driver will come in their iconic First Run mint green. This mold was created to replace Kastaplast’s discontinued Grym X (12|5|0|3) which suffered from consistency issues.

With that in the past, the Krut is exactly what their lineup needed and feels like other high-fade discs: Innova XCaliber or Dynamic Discs Enforcer.

But don’t let the flight numbers scare you, this isn’t an unusable meathook. The Krut can be trusted in any wind and works best for pushing hyzers or big flex shots.

So set your alarms and snag this reliable flyer in the perfect K1 plastic… Not too soft, hard, slick, or tacky. It’s the Goldilocks of premium plastic and will sell out quickly.

FORM TIPS & RARE FINDS
Random Dubs

1️⃣ It’s no secret Kevin Jones has been in a slump. Peaking with 2nd place at Las Vegas Challenge, he’s missed cash twice and hasn’t broken into the top 40 since March.

Even he admits it… In a BSF vlog, he mentioned he’s been working on his BH recently and hopes it’ll revitalize his season.

Mainly, he’s changed his grip, and it feels much cleaner than before. Before, he’s followed the age-old advice of lining the disc between your index and middle fingers (purple line).

Instead, KJ USA now gets more on top of the disc. He follows the green line with “Point A” moved slightly left. To him, it leads to a cleaner release and makes hitting his lines easier.

In your next round, test different grips instead of just relying on old advice. Everyone’s hands are different, and you might hit 2nd available instead of 1st.

2️⃣ While collecting sports cards has never gone away since the vintage baseball era, the hobby has gained traction in recent years. And yes, even disc golf has hopped on that bandwagon.

Notably, the DGPT and Brixton have released trading card sets and boxes. Some cards come with rare player signatures or “relic cards” with a pro’s disc fragment.

The 2023 DGPT set has been out in the wild for months now and will be followed soon by Brixton’s. As you can tell from past listings, Buhr’s stock is on the up and up.

Would you drop $700 for a piece of cardboard with Buhr’s signature on it?

Tweet of the Week

Thanks for reading today. Get out and hit a black ace this week!

- Charlie