The 2023 season is here

Welcome. You’re In The Circle. The newsletter that helps you be the most informed disc golfer at your league or tournament this weekend.

📝 On today’s card:

• Las Vegas Challenge

• 2023 Disc Golf Growth Report

• Prodigy v Buhr update

Read time: 5 minutes

LAS VEGAS CHALLENGE

The 2023 Disc Golf Pro Tour officially started yesterday as players competed in round 1 of the Las Vegas Challenge.

The MPO feature card consisted of Drew Gibson (2022 Winner), Calvin Heimburg, Eagle McMahon, and Simon Lizotte.

The FPO feature card had Catrina Allen (2022 Winner), Eveliina Salonen, Paige Shue, and Henna Blomroos

IMPORTANT DETAILS

• Ricky Wysocki, Kristin Tattar, and Paige Pierce will all miss the season opener. Ricky (wrist) and Kristin (elbow), the 2022 Players of the Year are recovering and waiting until Texas for their 2023 season debuts.

• Eagle McMahon is back on tour after spending most of the 2022 season rehabbing his shoulder

• Paige Shue will be touring full-time again after taking a hiatus from tour life. She left Dynamic Discs and signed with Discraft this past off-season.

COURSE UPDATES

The tournament is hosted at the Wildhorse Golf Club and will utilize three different courses on the property, Innova, Infinite, and Millennium.

There were design changes to all three courses at the event. Most of the changes are minor and include added O.B. and a slight shifting of basket locations. Course Millennium experienced the biggest overhaul. Holes 7 and 18 underwent a complete redesign, teepads and baskets were moved on both holes. Hole 18 was shortened by 230 feet and the pars for MPO and FPO were each lowered by one to a par three and four.

ROUND 1

• James Proctor, Scott Withers, and Anthony Barela are tied for 1st place with a score of -8.

• Catrina Allen leads at -3 with Rebecca Cox in a close second at -2.

ROUND 2

Round 2 of the tournament is already underway, FPO players began teeing off early this morning and the first MPO card is set to tee off at 4:48 EST. Both MPO and FPO divisions will be competing on Course Innova.

• Simon Lizotte will join Proctor, Withers, and AB on the lead card for round 2 with a score of -7. All four players on the lead card are repping new sponsorships this year. The most notable is Simon Lizotte, now with MVP Disc Sports. Making his way to lead card at the first Elite Series event of the year should help silence any haters about the new plastic he’s throwing.

• Catrina, Rebecca, Holly Finley, and Henna Blomroos will make up the FPO lead card for round 2.

View the live scores below.

2023 DISC GOLF GROWTH REPORT

UDsic released the 2023 disc golf growth report. The report was packed full of interesting stats and information about the growing sport of disc golf. Here are some of the most notable stats.

• 500 million people live within 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) of a disc golf course.

• 4.3 new courses were installed each day in 2022. There were 5.28 new courses built each day in 2021.

• Ney York City doesn’t have a single disc golf course. Sorry for the 8.5 million people that live there.

• In the U.S., there are 9,465 disc golf courses (likely 9,469.3) by the time you’re reading this. That is not too far off from pickleball, 10,724, one of the fastest-growing sports in the world.

• 90% of disc golf courses are free to play.

• Of the 195 countries on the planet, 81 of them have a disc golf course.

In the report, there are numerous other stats and fun examples of how disc golf continues to grow. The sport is well on its way to topping 15,000+ total courses worldwide.

PRODIGY V BUHR UPDATE

The legal battle between Gannon and Prodigy continues. If you missed the context of what’s going down, check it out here.

As part of their bigger lawsuit, Prodigy filed a motion for a temporary restraining order against Gannon. The restraining order would be used to force Gannon to comply with his contractual obligations, therefore not allowing him to sign with another disc manufacturer. The request for a restraining order has not been granted as of yet. Additional hearings on the matter will be taking place in the coming weeks.

Gannon gave an interview with Foundation Podcasts hosted by Brodie Smith and Paul Ulibarri. Gannon could not say much regarding detail about the lawsuit. However, he did say that he would be “throwing Prodigy until further notice.”

Unfortunately for Gannon, the pro tour stops for no one. The first DGPT tournament, the Las Vegas Challenge, is already underway. Gannon placed second in this tournament last year and will have to stay focused if he wants a repeat performance, or better yet, to win.

WEEKLY PRO RANKINGS - TOP 10

LATEST PLASTIC

The PDGA approved twelve new discs this past week.

• Benny and Harrier from Lone Star Disc

• Tuohi and Puro from Exel Discs

• Houdini, G-ONE, Amphibian, Warlock GE (variant), Speed Demon GT (variant), Blade V2 (variant) from Gateway Disc Sports

• Ambush from Goliath Discs

• Raze from Infinite Discs

Total PDGA-approved models: 1,712

CIRCLE’S EDGE

• The DGPT announced updates to the Tour Championship format and end-of-season awards. The championship maintains the stroke play format but adds two distinct halves, a semifinal and a final.

• Natalie Ryan and her lawyers filed a complaint on Wednesday against the PDGA and DGPT. The complaint argues the recent PDGA policy change violates her civil rights and California discrimination laws.

• The PDGA updated its points criteria for the 2023 Player of the Year selection process. The updates add more emphasis on wins and steeper depreciation of points for subsequent finishing positions.

RULE OF THE DAY