2023 LWS Open at Idlewild Preview: Welcome to the Woods

The
final
Elite
Series
stop
before
the
playoffs.

August
10,
2023
by


Justin
Westfall
in

Preview
with
comments

For
a
seventh
straight
year,
the
Disc
Golf
Pro
Tour
has
made
its
way
to
Burlington,
Kentucky,
for
the
LWS
Open
at
Idlewild.
This
will
be
the
final
standard
Elite
Series
event
of
the
year,
with
the
playoffs
beginning
next
week
at
the
Great
Lakes
Open.
Coming
off
two
rounds
at
Northwood
Black
for
last
week’s
Ledgestone
Open,
players
will
look
to
keep
their
woods
game
strong
on
yet
another
long
and
tightly
wooded
course.

While
this
event
was
historically
dominated
by
Paige
Pierce,
the
5-time
World
Champion
will
not
compete
this
year
as
she
continues
to
recover
from
a
broken
ankle.
The
MPO
division,
on
the
other
hand,
has
never
seen
a
repeat
winner
and
in
recent
years
has
provided
a
platform
for
young
up
and
coming
players
to
showcase
their
skills.

Last
year,
Isaac
Robinson
had
his
breakout
performance,
averaging
a
1064
rating
to
defeat
Chris
Dickerson
by
four
strokes.
Robinson
also
finished
10
strokes
ahead
of
3rd
place
finisher
Kyle
Klein.
Paul
McBeth
later
said
that
Robinson
played
so
well
at
Idlewild
that
nobody
in
the
field
had
a
shot
at
beating
him.
In
the
FPO
division,
Catrina
Allen
edged
out
Missy
Gannon
and
Ohn
Scoggins
by
two
strokes
to
pick
up
her
first
career
win
at
the
event.

Past
Winners

Four
Things
We’ll
Be
Watching

1.
For
the
past
several
years,
Idlewild
has
seen
breakout
performances
from
several
young
MPO
players.
In
2021,
both

Kyle
Klein
and

Andrew
Marwede
made
a
splash
when
they
went
to
a
2-hole
playoff
to
decide
the
winner.
In
2020,

Eagle
McMahon
established
himself
as
a
major
force
in
the
sport
when
he
won
his
second
consecutive
Elite
Series
event
at
Idlewild
from
the
chase
card.
The
year
prior,

Kevin
Jones
picked
up
his
first
career
Elite
Series
win
in
Burlington,
before
going
on
to
have
a
very
successful
2020
season.

A
whole
host
of
previous
Elite
Series
winners
come
to
mind
as
players
who
can
perform
very
well
on
this
track.
If
history
repeats
itself,
however,
don’t
be
surprised
if
an
emerging
talent
hoists
the
trophy
come
Sunday.

2.
After
a
spring
and
early
summer
that
features
many
open
courses,
the
final
stretch
of
the
Disc
Golf
Pro
Tour
season
is
focused
around
woods
golf.
Northwood
Black,
Idlewild,
Brewster
Ridge,
and
Maple
Hill
will
all
be
played
in
just
a
six
week
span
to
close
out
the
summer.
Last
week,
we
saw
players
like

Andrew

Marwede,

Ezra
Robinson,
and

Casey
White
make
the
lead
card,
not
to
mention
first
time
Elite
Series
winner

Cole
Redalen.

In
the
FPO
division,

Missy
Gannon
was
able
to
pick
up
her
first
win
of
the
year,
closely
followed
by

Ohn
Scoggins
and

Sarah
Hokom.
Expect
to
see
a
little
shakeup
in
terms
of
the
players
frequently
finishing
inside
the
top
5
and
top
10
over
the
next
month,
as
certain
players
perform
better
on
the
more
demanding
woods
courses.

3.
With

Kristin
Tattar
at
home
in
Estonia
and

Paige
Pierce
laid
up
with
an
injury,
the
FPO
division
feels
more
open
than
it
ever
has.
Pierce
and
Tattar
have
won
more
than
half
of
all
Disc
Golf
Pro
Tour
Elite
Series
events
all-time,
and
that
doesn’t
just
account
for
Tattar’s
recent
ascension
and
Pierce’s
dominance
in
the
early
years
of
the
tour.
Over
just
the
past
three
seasons,
they
still
account
for
over
half
of
all
wins
on
the
Elite
Series.

Ohn
Scoggins
and

Missy
Gannon
are
now
the
two
highest
rated
players
competing
in
the
division,
and
they
demonstrated
why
with
back-to-back
1st
and
2nd
place
finishes
at
the
Ledgestone
Open
last
week.
Last
year,
Gannon
and
Scoggins
finished
T-2nd
at
Idlewild
and
now
feel
like
the
two
favorites
coming
into
this
tournament.
It’s
certainly
hard
to
discount
reigning
champion
Catrina
Allen,
even
with
a
somewhat
poor
showing
last
week.
Sarah
Hokom
also
feels
like
a
candidate
for
a
strong
finish
at
Idlewild,
as
does
Cascade
Challenge
winner

Kat
Mertsch.
Gannon
has
a
chance
to
make
a
big
statement
with
yet
another
win
this
week.
As
for
Scoggins,
who
has
six
runner-up
finishes
on
the
Elite
Series
in
just
the
past
two
seasons,
she’s
beyond
due
for
her
first
win.

4.
After
a
season
with
four
playoffs
and
a
record
low
average
margin
of
victory,
the
MPO
division
has
suddenly
seen
three
consecutive
events
decided
by
five
strokes.
It
is
the
first
time
in
Disc
Golf
Pro
Tour
history
that
three
consecutive
MPO
Elite
Series
events
had
a
5+
stroke
margin
of
victory,
and
only
once
have
two
consecutive
events
had
a
5+
stroke
MoV.
The
FPO
division,
on
the
other
hand,
is
experiencing
a
record
low
average
MoV,
averaging
2.83
on
the
Elite
Series,
well
ahead
of
the
current
record
of
4.0.
It’s
not
surprising
to
see
the
FPO
division
getting
more
competitive,
and
it’s
led
to
more
exciting
finishes
than
the
MPO
tournaments
in
recent
weeks.
While
some
have
attributed
this
to
the
tour
utilizing
“birdie
or
die”
courses
like
Lake
Eureka,
Isaac
Robinson’s
performances
at
last
year’s
Idlewild
Open
and
this
year’s
Champions
Cup
show
that
more
technical
courses
can
still
allow
for
dominant
wins.

The
Course

Designed
by
Robert
Herbert
and
International
Disc
Golf
Hall
of
Fame
inductee
Fred
Salaz,
Idlewild
ranked
#20
on
UDisc’s
best
disc
golf
courses
of
2023,
down
from
#15
in
2022.
The
nearly
10,000
foot
track
features
tight
woods,
water
hazards
on
more
than
half
of
the
course,
and
iconic
retaining
walls
outlining
several
of
the
greens.

Only
a
few
major
changes
have
been
made
to
the
layout
this
year.
Most
notably,
hole
2
will
now
have
a
separate
FPO
basket
that
plays
about
100
feet
shorter.
Last
year,
only
three
FPO
players
were
able
to
card
a
birdie
on
the
hole,
all
in
round
1.
Hole
6
has
also
been
changed
for
the
FPO
division;
previously,
it
was
a
long
par
3
that
was
only
birdied
twice
last
year.
This
year,
the
FPO
division
will
now
play
the
same
par
4
layout
as
the
MPO
division.
Hole
12’s
basket
has
been
moved
about
80
feet
closer
this
year
for
both
the
MPO
and
FPO
divisions.

2023
MPO:
9,629
Feet
Par
69
2022
MPO:
9,709
Feet
Par
69

2023
FPO:
9,205
Feet
Par
71
2022
FPO:
9,248
Feet
Par
70

Extended
Forecast

Burlington
should
be
warm
with
low
winds
throughout
the
weekend,
with
a
chance
of
rain
on
Saturday.

Friday:
Partly
cloudy
with
highs
in
the
mid
80s.
Winds
5
to
10
mph.
Saturday:
Scattered
thunderstorms
and
showers
with
highs
in
the
mid
80s.
Winds
10
to
15
mph.
Chance
of
rain
50%.
Sunday:
Mostly
sunny
with
highs
in
the
mid
80s.
Winds
5
to
10
mph.

Original source