👑 Return of the king

Blockbuster, Flagship, and Poetry

August 16, 2022

Hello and welcome. This is The Players Meeting, the newsletter you can depend on like Innova sending you green or brown F2 discs.Email Read Time: 5 Minutes & 15 Seconds

If you missed the LO primer, then I got you: Is it Time for new rules?

Let’s get into it.

Ledgestone Open

RESULTS - 🏆RICKY WYSOCKI & MISSY GANNON

Through long rounds and mental tests, Ledgestone weeded out the weak and let the strong shine. There were many “best shot ever seen on this hole” paired with players taking big numbers at “Oh Man Corner.”

MPO/ Carrying last week’s momentum, Gannon Buhr smashed hyzers and long putts ending Round 1 in the lead. His -11 (1086 rated) round was the highest-rated in his career.

Only a few strokes behind, Anthony Barela had a dream start in Round 2. He quickly caught up but Buhr & Ricky Wysocki maintained to share a 3-way tie for 1st.

In the windy Round 3, it looked like Wysocki was going to feast, but the young guns showed off impressive woods play staying within 1. And like death and taxes, it was certain that the Final Round was going to be anyone’s game with high winds and McBeth only 3 back.

Wysocki started slow but remembered that he owns this event and turned on “blackout mode.” He easily separated from Buhr, AB, & McBeth who tried pushing but were rewarded with bad breaks.

Even with stabbing back pain, Wysocki was relentless until the end. He proved his dominance at these courses by completing the 3-peat (2020-2022) and winning 4 strokes over McBeth in 2nd.

FPO/ As if she never left, Kristin Tattar finished in the lead after one round (-5, 1003 rated). Her nerve pain didn’t seem to bother her much except for a few missed putts.

But once play switched to Sunset Hills, Missy Gannon and Paige Pierce popped off. Pierce shot the hot round of -9 (1018 rated) followed by a -7 (1001 rated) to join her BFF in the lead with 1 round of Northwood to go.

Then on Sunday, the battle of the besties lost its momentum by hole 10. Pierce fell off, and Gannon defiantly won by 6 strokes over Ohn Scoggins. While not her biggest victory, she was consistent and averaged a 988 rating.

STANDOUT PLAYER

After one amazing round, Kevin Kiefer made his name known with a -8 (1065 rated). He couldn’t follow it up, but his performance earned him a player spotlight with the PDGA and JomezPro.

With one look at his form, it’s clear he’s been throwing a disc his whole life. This year he started touring full-time at age 23 and just earned his 1st USDGC invite.

HIGHLIGHT

There were so many aces this weekend… Emerson Keith, Ezra Aderhold, Chandler Fry, GT Hancock, Erika Stinchcomb, Matt Bell, & Buhr’s drop zone throw-in.

Instead of picking one, Holyn Handley’s Hol-batross (333ft) on Sunset Hills Hole 6 is the highlight. It may be the 1st FPO albatross ever captured on film.

FIERCE

In case you’re saving up for a new bag and didn’t pay DGN, here’s what you need to know about “FIERCE: A Disc Golf Documentary” (1h47m).

The Good:

  • Effectively intros the sport to those unfamiliar without dumbing it down

  • Beautifully captures a snapshot of the 2021 season

  • Gives you the fly-on-the-wall perspective of Paige’s emotions and vulnerable moments

The OK:

  • It’s a bit scattered with the layering of several storylines

  • The movie wasn’t made for disc golfers exactly

On The Upshot, Paige said it cost almost $300k to produce the film with her out-of-pocket expenses being 6 figures. Her sole purpose was to create something that gets an audience hooked and wanting more in the end.

If the DGN sales perform the way she hopes, then the film could be picked up by Netflix/Hulu and be the way she can share our love of disc golf to the world.

Bottom line is if you’re reading this, then you’ll thoroughly enjoy all 107 mins. So skip the upcoming “Raptor Eye” Slammer, and consider watching Fierce on DGN.

Fresh Plastic

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

👉 Powergrip’s Highlight: Discmania Cloud Breaker (12|5|-1|3)Releasing tomorrow (8/17), Discmania’s flagship driver is now part of their Creator Series. Cool… so what?

It’s not the prototype your buddy got in his 2018 mystery box. It’s not the CB3 with the birdman stamp. It’s a new mold specifically different than stock DD3s.

Eagle McMahon describes it as a “culmination of all the runs.” It will be the go-to driver every player bags - combining considerable speed and effortless glide.

The Special Blend S-line plastic is relatively soft and purposefully close to the original prototype’s. Some say it’s similar to Royal Grand plastic from Latitude 64°.

This will be the people’s Cloud Breaker. McMahon and other pros tested them as slightly US bombers. The average arm will use them as more than headwind discs.

Grab the out-of-the-box bomber without breaking the bank and use code PLYRSMTGAUG22 for 10% off your Powergrip order.

Random Dubs

1️⃣ After some backlash, the PDGA announced the Champions Cup (Major) will be forever held at WR Jackson barring any changes by the local county. It was initially planned to be moved to the Toboggan course in MI next year.

A permanent location (especially this course) will allow the prestige of this tournament to grow year after year. Now Worlds will be the only Major to change its venue.

2️⃣ What’s the longest roller you’ve ever thrown?

This Redditor didn’t break the world record of 3800ft but got close with a 2500ft on film. It’s a real nail-biter (6m44s).

Tweet of the Week

Thanks for reading today. Get out and create poetry this week!

- Charlie

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