2023 Discraft’s Great Lakes Open Preview: Playoffs!

The
DGPT
playoffs
are
here!

August
15,
2023
by


Justin
Westfall
in

Preview
with
comments

After
6
months
and
13
Elite
Series
events,
the
Disc
Golf
Pro
Tour
playoffs
begin
this
Thursday
with
the
Discraft
Great
Lakes
Open
in
Milford,
Michigan.
Originally
not
a
part
of
the
2023
DGPT
schedule
because
the
Champions
Cup
was
set
to
take
place
at
Toboggan,
DGLO
rejoined
the
Pro
Tour
after
the

PDGA
announced
that
the
spring
Major
would
remain
at
their
headquarters
in
Appling,
Georgia.

Now
a
playoff
event,
DGLO
will
offer
1.5x
the
normal
Elite
Series
points
and
will
be
a
four-round
tournament
for
the
first
time
since
becoming
a
regular
stop
on
the
tour
in
2018.
With
nearly
$70,000
in
spectator
tickets
already
sold
and
Barbasol
signed
on
as
a
sponsor
throughout
the
playoffs,
players
could
see
a
record-setting
purse
this
week.
For
most,
this
will
also
be
their
final
event
before
heading
to
Vermont
for
the
World
Championships.

Even
with
five
consecutive
wins
from
the
great
Ken
Climo,
nobody
has
won
this
event
more
than
nine-time
champion
Elaine
King,
who
first
won
the
event
back
in
1987
and
most
recently
in
2009.
Since
1983,
this
tournament
has
been
played
on
nine
different
courses
in
seven
cities,
and
has
grown
from
a
C-tier
to
the
National
Tour,
gone
back
down
to
a
B-tier,
and
now
holds
a
familiar
spot
on
the
Elite
Series.

Last
year,
Corey
Ellis
was
able
to
grab
a
stroke
on
Calvin
Heimburg
during
each
of
the
final
two
holes
in
regulation
to
force
a
playoff.
Ellis
threw
his
playoff
tee
shot
long
and
out
of
bounds,
allowing
Heimburg
to
layup
for
par
to
earn
his
second
Elite
Series
and
playoff
win
of
the
season.
In
the
FPO
division,
Natalie
Ryan
earned
her
first
career
Elite
Series
win
by
two
strokes
over
Ohn
Scoggins
and
Emily
Beach.
As
the
second
stop
on
the
newly
formed
United
Series,
Ryan
will
be
present
and
attempting
to
defend
her
title
this
week.

Past
Winners

Four
Things
We’ll
Be
Watching

1.

Calvin
Heimburg
has
been
the
#1
player
in
the
world
this
season,
but
he
suddenly
finds
himself
in
a
precarious
position.
Despite
averaging
a
finish
of
2.92
on
the
Elite
Series,
well
ahead
of
any
other
player
in
the
field,
he
now
has
one
less
Elite
Series
and
one
less
Silver
win
than

Gannon
Buhr.
Buhr’s
average
finish
comes
in
significantly
lower
at
13.75,
but
at
the
end
of
the
day,
wins
trump
all.

Heimburg
now
has
six
consecutive
podium
finishes,
but
has
not
earned
a
win
since
the
Jonesboro
Open
back
in
April.
A
repeat
win
at
DGLO
would
immediately
reseat
Calvin
as
the
obvious
Player
of
the
Year.
If
he
continues
to
come
up
just
short
of
matching
other
players’
great
performances,
however,
voters
may
begin
to
lean
in
favor
of
Buhr,
especially
if
the
wunderkind
picks
up
his
2nd
career
Major
before
the
season
wraps
up.

2.

Valerie
Mandujano
is
officially
back
after
a
win
in
Idlewild
last
week,
her
3rd
Elite
Series
win
over
the
past
two
seasons.
Since
Mandujano’s
win
at
WACO
last
year,
only

Kristin
Tattar
and

Paige
Pierce
have
more
Elite
wins
than
her.
Valerie
also
has
the
largest
average
margin
of
victory
for
players
with
more
than
one
career
DGPT
ES
win.
With
Paige
Pierce
likely
out
for
the
remainder
of
the
year
and

Catrina
Allen
coming
off
the
two
worst
finishes
of
her
career,
Mandujano
could
be
Tattar’s
toughest
competition
once
she
returns
for
Worlds
and
the
remainder
of
the
season.
The
Toboggan
course
sets
up
well
for
Valerie’s
game,
and
notching
back-to-back
wins
would
be
an
enormous
boost
going
into
Worlds.

3.
With
likely
the
biggest
celebrity
appearance
in
disc
golf
history,
comedian
and
podcaster

Bert
Kreischer
will
be
in
attendance
at
DGLO
and
taking
part
in
a
charity
fundraiser
for
the
Paul
McBeth
Foundation
on
Wednesday.
Bert
first
played
disc
golf
in
college
and
in
recent
years
has
rediscovered
the
sport,
discussing
his
love
for
the
hobby
in
appearances
he’s
made
on
programs
like
the
Rich
Eisen
Show
and
the
Joe
Rogan
Experience.

Kreischer
has
over
6
million
followers
on
Instagram
and
TikTok
combined,
and
his
feature
film
“The
Machine”
has
grossed
over
$10
million
since
its
release
earlier
this
year.
The
VIP
zone
at
DGLO,
which
has
already
sold
out,
will
be
renamed
to
“The
Bert
Zone”
with
additional
bleachers,
tents,
and
a
large
video
board.
Discraft
will
also
be
selling
exclusive
Bert
Kreischer
discs
onsite.

4.
For
the
first
time
since
2019,
Japanese
player

Manabu
Kajiyama
will
be
competing
in
the
United
States
this
week.
At
1056,
Kajiyama
is
currently
the
highest
rated
player
in
the
world
by
PDGA
rating.
Manabu
has
122
career
PDGA
wins
over
210
events;
all
but
10
of
those
wins
have
come
in
Japan.
While
his
PDGA
rating
is
almost
certainly
inflated
as
a
result
of
mostly
competing
in
one
region,
we’re
excited
to
see
how
Kajiyama
fares
on
the
Toboggan
course
against
top-level
competition.

Course
Changes

The
Toboggan
course
has
seen
changes
each
year
since
becoming
a
part
of
the
pro
tour,
and
2023
will
be
no
different.
Tournament
Director
Nate
Heinold
has
once
again
made
the
course
longer
and
more
difficult
for
both
the
MPO
and
FPO
divisions.
There
are
changes
on
over
half
of
the
course
this
year,
but
the
most
notable
and
anticipated
change
is
alternating
pin
positions
on
several
holes.
Holes
1
and
2
will
have
an
‘A’
position,
used
for
rounds
2
and
3,
and
a
‘B’
position,
used
for
rounds
1
and
4.
Hole
11
will
also
have
an
alternate
pin
position,
but
this
will
only
be
used
in
the
MPO
division.

Hole
3
will
now
have
much
tighter
OB
lines,
and
the
optional
drop
zone
has
been
removed.
A
tall
grass
area
short
of
the
green
that
used
to
be
a
very
common
landing
zone
is
now
in
OB
territory.
Hole
7
had
OB
added
along
the
right
side,
while
holes
8
and
14
now
have
OB
surrounding
the
entire
hole.
Hole
14
used
to
have
a
shorter
FPO
teepad
but
now
will
play
from
the
MPO
teepad
to
a
separate
shorter
basket.

Hole
9’s
MPO
pin
has
been
removed:
the
hole
is
now
89
feet
shorter
and
plays
the
same
as
the
FPO
layout.
Hole
16
will
play
as
an
island
green
this
year,
with
a
drop
zone
just
outside
the
green
for
any
tee
shots
that
do
not
land
inside
the
island.
Lastly,
hole
18
has
been
redesigned
from
a
Par
3
into
a
much
longer
Par
4,
with
OB
surrounding
the
entire
hole.

2023
MPO
A:
10,866
Feet
Par
65
2023
MPO
B:
10,957
Feet
Par
65
2022
MPO:
10,763
feet
Par
64

2023
FPO
A:
9,088
Feet
Par
68
2023
FPO
B:
9,109
Feet
Par
68
2022
FPO:
8,955
feet
Par
67

Extended
Forecast

Rain
and
strong
winds
are
likely
for
round
1,
but
the
weather
should
improve
to
near
ideal
conditions
as
the
week
progresses.

Thursday:
Cloudy
early
with
showers
likely
in
the
afternoon.
Highs
in
the
mid
70s.
Winds
15
to
25
mph.
Chance
of
rain
90%.
Friday:
Sunny
with
highs
in
the
low
70s.
Winds
10
to
20mph.
Saturday:
Sunny
with
highs
in
the
upper
70s.
Winds
5
to
10mph.
Sunday:
Partly
cloudy
with
highs
in
the
mid
80s.
Winds
5
to
10mph.

Original source