Both
players
cruised
home
in
the
final
six
holes
September
22,
2023
by
Kingsley
Flett
in
Analysis,
Recap
with
comments
Orum
at
the
2023
MVP
Open.
Photo:
DGPT
All
course
designers
are
in
the
business
of
risk
and
reward,
trying
to
draw
as
fine
a
line
as
they
can
between
pleasure
and
pain.
At
Maple
Hill,
this
line
is
a
razor’s
edge.
Hole
after
hole
presents
tantalizing
spaces
to
fly
discs
through.
Shots
that
clear
the
water
and
follow
the
fairways
are
as
pleasing
to
watch
as
they
must
be
satisfying
to
throw.
But
then
there
is
also
death
by
early
tree
on
nearly
every
hole,
sometimes
death
by
middle
and
late
tree
too,
followed
by
roll
aways
and
death
putts
into
the
water
on
others.
It
is
not
enough
to
play
with
skill
at
Maple
Hill.
Ricky
Wysocki
calls
it
momentum;
others
say
it
is
about
‘going
unconscious’
or
being
‘in
the
zone,’
while
the
psychologists
call
it
‘flow’.
Name
it
how
you
like,
but
whoever
has
won
the
MVP
in
recent
years
has
done
so
on
the
back
of
a
hot
streak
where
they
stopped
over-thinking
it
and
surrendered
their
game
to
the
combination
of
instinct,
skill,
and
luck
that
lifted
them
from
the
scrum
into
victory.
With
last
year’s
final
round
10-under-par
50
from
Simon
Lizotte
still
on
everyone’s
mind,
we
wondered
who
would
ride
the
razor’s
edge
this
year.
After
round
one,
we
were
no
closer
to
finding
out.
Mathew
Orum
and
Ben
Callaway
took
a
share
of
the
lead
at
eight-under-par,
with
Kevin
Jones
one
stroke
adrift
and
the
quartet
of
Bradley
Williams,
Eagle
McMahon,
Andrew
Marwede
and
Luke
Taylor
sharing
fourth
place.
As
the
wind
rose
during
round
two,
it
was
this
year’s
best
player
Calvin
Heimburg
who
looked
like
he
might
have
found
the
flow
as
he
tore
up
the
course
to
be
11-under-par
by
hole
15,
looking
at
an
outside
chance
to
give
Paul
McBeth’s
45
in
2013,
one
of
the
great
rounds
in
the
history
of
the
sport,
a
run
for
its
money.
But
Calvin
had
an
upshot
knocked
down
on
hole
16
and
threw
OB
on
18
to
finish
9-under-par
for
the
round,
which
was
still
good
enough
to
lift
him
from
20th
place
to
the
lead.
As
we
have
seen
all
year
in
MPO,
the
lead
card
seems
to
swap
out
each
round,
and
after
round
two,
it
was
only
Kevin
Jones
who
kept
his
spot
as
Orum,
Callaway,
and
Bradley
Williams
all
slipped
down
the
board.
Thanks
to
Hurricane
Lee,
round
three
was
more
a
matter
of
survival
and
limiting
the
bleeding
than
going
on
a
hot
streak.
On
his
local
course,
Simon
Lizotte
mastered
the
conditions
better
than
most
to
shoot
six-under-par
and
climb
off
the
second
card
into
a
share
of
the
lead
with
Heimburg.
McMahon
kept
his
spot
in
the
top
four
while
Wysocki
and
Jones
lost
their
spots
to
Lizotte
and
Callaway.
The
chase
card
was
a
real
threat,
though,
with
Orum
moving
back
up
into
fifth
place
and
only
two
strokes
back
from
the
lead,
while
Aaron
Gossage
and
Wysocki
were
still
in
striking
distance.
As
much
as
the
romance
of
the
idea
that
Lizotte
might
repeat
the
win
in
his
home
tournament
appealed,
it
had
been
six
years
since
the
leader
at
Maple
Hill
heading
into
Sunday
won
the
tournament.
That
was
Ricky
Wysocki
over
Paul
McBeth
and
Eagle
McMahon
in
2017.
Beware
the
chasers
playing
loose
and
riding
their
luck.
The
two
leaders,
Lizotte
and
Heimburg,
fell
off
the
pace
with
early
bogeys,
letting
McMahon
take
the
lead
by
hole
three.
By
the
time
the
chase
card
had
finished
hole
9,
it
was
Aaron
Gossage
who
had
surged
to
the
lead,
on
the
back
of
five
straight
birdies,
while
Orum
had
climbed
a
share
of
second
place
with
McMahon,
Lizotte,
and
Heimburg.
It
was
on
the
back
nine,
though,
where
someone
found
the
flow.
By
the
time
the
lead
card
was
ready
to
start
hole
10,
the
chase
card
had
finished
hole
12
with
Gossage
leading
Orum
by
one
stroke
with
six
holes
to
play.
Lizotte
seemed
like
the
only
one
who
could
catch
them,
three
strokes
off
the
lead
but
with
the
whole
back
nine
to
weave
his
magic.
The
stage
was
set
for
Lizotte:
it’s
just
that
nobody
told
Matty
O.
On
hole
13,
Orum
hit
a
38-foot
birdie
putt
to
catch
Gossage
and
share
the
lead
at
19-under-par.
On
hole
14,
he
threw
low
over
the
lake,
had
his
disc
take
a
slight
air
bounce
towards
the
water
before
checking
up
16
feet
from
the
pin
to
take
a
one
throw
lead
over
Gossage.
Soon
after,
back
on
hole
11,
Lizotte
had
a
birdie
putt
roll
outside
circle
two
and
he
airmailed
the
comebacker
to
drop
back
to
a
share
of
third
and
to
be
four
strokes
adrift
of
Orum
with
seven
holes
to
play.
On
hole
15,
Orum
gave
some
early
trees
a
shave
before
landing
just
inside
the
circle
then
hitting
his
fifth
birdie
putt
in
a
row.
It
was
a
two
stroke
swing
over
Gossage,
who
had
hit
an
early
tree.
On
the
476-foot
hole
16,
Orum
threw
a
low
drive
that
wove
its
way
through
every
tree
to
land
at
circle’s
edge
and
give
him
his
sixth
birdie
in
a
row
and
another
two
stroke
swing
on
Gossage.
Then
it
dawned
on
everyone.
Matty
O
was
going
to
win.
His
lead
over
Gossage
was
five
strokes
with
two
holes
to
play.
Barring
a
disaster
on
the
relatively
easy
hole
17,
Orum
had
given
himself
the
luxury
of
being
able
to
lay
up
on
the
dangerous
hole
18.
He
was
also
forcing
the
lead
card
to
birdie
every
remaining
hole
to
even
hope
to
catch
him.
The
delight
in
the
voices
of
DGN
commentators
Terry
Miller,
Nate
Doss,
and
Nate
Sexton
was
only
matched
by
the
delirious
roar
of
the
crowd
with
every
Matty
O
drive
and
putt.
This
singular
character,
a
true
original
from
Alabama
with
the
rhythmic
speech
of
a
beat
poet
who
seems
to
talk
through
his
fingertips,
who
has
had
12
podium
finishes
and
60
top
10
finishes
in
elite
series
events
over
20
years
without
a
win,
was
going
to
take
it
down.
Orum’s
drive
on
hole
17
turned
over
early
and
trimmed
some
leaves
before
making
it
to
the
edge
of
the
fairway.
Matty’s
anhyzer
approach
didn’t
turn
enough
and
was
headed
out
of
bounds
before
hitting
a
rock
and
kicking
back
to
just
outside
the
circle.
That
lucky
break,
combined
with
his
skip
onto
the
green
off
the
water
on
hole
8,
proving
that
the
disc
golf
gods
wanted
him
to
win
too.
With
a
car
alarm
blaring
in
the
background,
Orum
hit
the
38-footer
for
his
seventh
birdie
in
a
row
to
seal
the
win.
Back
on
hole
14,
McMahon
and
Lizotte
both
needed
a
birdie
to
stay
in
the
conversation
and
when
their
drives
skipped
wide
into
the
gallery,
that
conversation
was
over.
Just
as
they
chanted
“Simon!
Simon!”
last
year,
the
Maple
Hill
crowd
serenade
Matty
O
up
on
to
the
hole
18
green
with
“Matty!
Matty!”
where
he
tapped
in
for
his
par.
The
series
of
heartfelt
hugs
Orum
received
from
other
pros
on
the
walk
to
the
green
suggested
that
Matty
O
isn’t
just
a
fan
favourite.
It
was
a
35-minute
wait
before
Orum
got
to
host
the
trophy
as
the
lead
card
played
out
their
holes.
But
nobody
was
in
any
doubt
who
would
win.
Then
came
the
post
round
interview
we
had
all
been
waiting
for.
“I
hate
saying
this
because
I
watch
so
much
sports
and
everybody
says
this
but
I’m
really
at
a
loss
for
words,”
Orum
said.
“I
just
turned
into
a
different
person
out
there.
On
hole
12,
something
came
over
me.
I
just
felt
so
relaxed.
I
tried
not
to
make
eye
to
eye
contact
with
nobody
but
my
caddy
and
just
tried
to
stay
in
the
zone.
I
just
think
it
all
comes
full
circle
because,
like,
everybody
said,
‘you
need
to
get
that
win,’
but
people
don’t
realize
how
much
sleep
I
lost
when
I
could
have
won
this
tournament
in
2010
when
I
first
came
here
and
I
lost
the
tournament
on
the
last
hole.
I
could
have
easily
got
rid
of
it
then.
But
I
thought
about
it
the
whole
way
up
this
last
fairway
because
nobody
but
Steve
Dodge
and
Barsby
remembers
that
I
lost
on
the
last
hole
of
this
tournament,
and
I
said
‘I
gotta
change
it.
I
gotta
change
it.’”
A
teary
Matty
O
then
thanked
everyone
from
his
late
father
to
Ken
Climo,
then
a
long
list
of
names
and
everyone
down
to
his
dog
before
conducting
the
crowd
in
another
rendition
of
“Matty!
Matty!”
It
is
hard
to
think
of
a
more
popular
winner
of
a
DGPT
event
in
recent
times.
Even
at
the
start
of
Sunday,
it
seemed
like
something
special
was
in
the
air
for
Matty
O.
“I’m
not
gonna
cry,”
he
said
as
he
received
the
spirit
award
from
MVP
Open
Tournament
Director
Steve
Dodge
early
on
Sunday
at
Maple
Hill.
“But
I
will
tell
you
one
thing.
My
Dad
started
the
Southern
Nationals.
The
first
award
he
ever
gave
away
was
called
the
Wally
Free
award.
Before
he
ever
had
the
player
of
the
year
or
the
volunteer
of
the
year,
he
had
the
Wally
Free
sportsmanship
award,
and
it
was
the
biggest
deal
to
him.
So,
knowing
that
it
comes
full
circle
and
that’s
what
my
dad
always
loved.
My
Dad
was
a
big
Ken
Climo
and
Crazy
John
Brooks
fan,
and
he
told
me
‘Always
be
like
crazy.’
Unfortunately,
he
kind
of
got
his
wish.
So,
this
is
for
Dad.”
King
Waits
for
Her
Moment
to
Strike
In
the
parlance
of
wrestling
entertainment,
the
rest
of
the
FPO
field
in
the
Disc
Golf
Pro
Tour
have
been
trying
to
tag-team
Kristin
Tattar
for
most
of
2023.
The
two-time
World
Champion
has
battled
a
revolving
cast
of
rivals
that
have
included
Sai
Ananda,
Ella
Hansen,
Kat
Mertsch,
Ohn
Scoggins,
Hailey
King,
and
Catrina
Allen.
Through
the
European
swing
and
the
World
Championships,
it
was
Missy
Gannon;
then
at
Maple
Hill,
Gannon
tagged
out
for
the
trio
of
King,
Eveliina
Salonen,
and
Scoggins.
In
round
one,
it
was
Salonen
and
King
who
made
the
early
running,
with
Salonen
slipping
away
to
a
two
stroke
lead
late
in
the
round
on
the
strength
of
two
booming
drives
on
holes
17
and
18.
Salonen’s
six-under-par
54
was
to
be
the
hot
FPO
round
of
the
tournament.
The
Finnish
star
was
asked
after
the
round
what
part
of
her
game
the
Maple
Hill
course
was
testing.
“I
think
everything,”
she
said.
“You
have
to
hit
your
lines
and
you
have
to
have
the
touch,
but
you
also
have
to
throw
far.
Then
also
putting
because
there
are
a
couple
of
scary
greens.”
Winds
from
the
outer
edge
of
Hurricane
Lee
began
to
make
their
presence
felt
in
round
two.
Although
the
lead
card
had
begun
to
distance
itself
from
the
rest
of
the
field,
King
threw
one
shot
worse
than
round
one,
Scoggins
four
worse
and
Salonen
five
more
strokes
than
the
day
before.
Only
Tattar
seemed
to
cope
well
with
the
conditions.
She
improved
on
round
one
by
four
strokes
to
shoot
a
five-under-par
55
that
was
second
best
for
the
week
and
left
her
one
stroke
back
from
the
co-leaders
in
Salonen
and
King.
Despite
sharing
the
lead,
King
was
particularly
frustrated
with
her
round.
“I
felt
like
every
opportunity
I
had
to
capitalize
I
couldn’t,”
she
said.
“It’s
getting
really
annoying.”
If
Tattar’s
four
birdies
in
the
back
nine
of
round
two
seemed
ominous,
then
the
way
she
began
round
three
seemed
to
come
from
the
pages
of
an
eerily
familiar
script.
As
winds
ripped
across
the
course,
Tattar
moved
to
a
share
of
the
lead
by
taking
a
stroke
on
the
card
with
par
on
hole
one.
Then
Tattar
shot
three
birdies
in
the
next
five
holes,
Salonen
and
King
threw
four-over-par
in
the
same
stretch,
and
in
what
seemed
like
the
blink
of
an
eye,
Kristin’s
lead
was
out
to
six
strokes.
King’s
triple-bogey
on
hole
five
seemed
especially
crushing.
Spectators
and
commentators
alike
settled
in
for
another
Tattar
victory
parade.
Then
it
was
like
someone
took
that
script,
tore
it
up,
and
scattered
it
in
the
wind
that
was
wreaking
havoc
around
Maple
Hill.
Tattar
bogeyed
the
difficult
hole
7
after
hitting
an
early
tree.
Then
on
hole
8,
the
across
the
water
shot
that
has
troubled
Tattar
every
time
she
has
played
at
Maple
Hill,
her
disc
kicked
the
tree
guarding
the
left
side
of
the
island
and
rolled
into
the
water.
Trying
to
save
par
from
the
drop
zone,
Kristin’s
putt
skipped
off
the
top
of
the
basket
and
again
rolled
OB.
The
double
bogey
kicked
off
a
run
of
seven
over
par
in
nine
holes,
dropping
her
back
to
where
she
started
the
round,
one
throw
behind
the
two
leaders.
“I
feel
like
the
wind
wasn’t
as
big
of
a
factor,
at
least
for
me,”
said
Tattar
after
the
round.
“It
didn’t
really
bother
me
that
much,
but
it
was
just
a
couple
of
holes
broke
me.
Right
now,
I’m
happy
I’m
still
in
the
mix.
It’s
unexpected.”
Salonen’s
6-over-par
66
dropped
her
back
to
fourth
place.
It
was
Ohn
Scoggins
though
who
seemed
impervious
to
the
conditions,
shooting
a
three-under-par
57,
one
of
only
four
players,
including
Holly
Finley
(-2),
Valerie
Mandujano
(-2),
and
Kat
Mertsch
(-1)
to
shoot
under
par
on
the
day.
While
the
wind
seemed
to
make
others
withdrawn,
Scoggins
instead
became
more
extroverted:
playing
to
the
crowd,
sharing
wisecracks,
and
asking
for
their
input
on
whether
she
should
run
putts
or
not.
Symbolic
of
that
confidence
was
Scoggins
edge-of-circle
death
putt
for
birdie
on
hole
14,
looking
straight
at
the
water.
Mercifully,
Sunday
at
Maple
Hill
dawned
fine,
mild,
and
calm.
The
friendlier
conditions
produced
some
fireworks
as
King,
Scoggins,
and
Tattar
all
drained
birdie
long
birdie
putts
to
keep
the
pressure
on
each
other.
Yet
again,
Tattar
shot
to
an
early
lead
that
looked
like
it
would
be
decisive.
By
hole
eight,
she
had
a
one
stroke
lead
over
Scoggins
and
a
four
stroke
lead
over
King.
A
double
bogey
on
hole
9
slowed
Tattar’s
momentum
slightly
and
briefly
gave
Scoggins
the
outright
lead.
Then
a
Scoggins
triple-bogey
on
hole
11
seemed
to
end
her
run
for
the
title.
The
tournament
looked
to
be
down
to
a
battle
between
Tattar
and
King.
When
Kristin
sank
a
16-foot
birdie
putt
towards
the
water
on
hole
14
to
go
three
ahead
with
four
holes
to
play,
it
seemed
that
she’d
bag
one
of
the
few
big
titles
that
have
eluded
her.
But
as
big
tournaments
often
do,
this
one
came
down
to
three
decisive
moments.
The
first
was
on
hole
15
when
Hailey
hit
a
60-foot
birdie
putt
to
show
that
she
wasn’t
going
down
without
a
fight.
“On
the
tee
of
15
I
had
a
look
at
the
scores
because
Kristin
had
picked
up
another
birdie
on
14
and
I
knew
that
I
had
to
run
it,”
said
King.
“I
knew
that
if
I
was
running
it,
it
was
going
to
go
far,
so
I
just
put
everything
I
had
into
it
and
committed.”
The
lead
was
down
to
two
strokes.
Then
on
hole
16,
jump
putting
from
the
rough
to
save
par,
Tattar
inexplicably
caught
some
branches
right
in
front
of
her.
Tattar’s
bogey
reduced
the
lead
to
one
stroke
with
two
holes
to
play.
All
players
cleared
the
tight
gap
off
tee
17,
but,
crucially,
King’s
drive
was
twenty
feet
longer,
giving
her
a
straight
look
down
the
slope
to
the
elevated
basket.
Tattar
was
forced
to
shape
a
hyzer
forehand
approach
that
finished
to
the
right
and
left
her
with
a
slightly
cramped
putting
stance
against
a
tree.
Then
everyone
was
left
scratching
their
heads
as
Kristin’s
25-foot
putt
barely
flicked
the
right-side
chains
before
rolling
down
to
circle’s
edge
below
the
basket.
Tattar
missed
the
comebacker
and
suddenly
it
was
King
with
the
one
throw
lead
going
into
hole
18.
We
had
all
written
off
Scoggins
too
soon
as
well:
her
birdies
on
holes
14,
15
and
17
brought
Ohn
back
to
a
share
of
second
place
with
Tattar.
Scoggins
and
Tattar
brought
the
pressure
on
the
final
hole.
Both
players
got
off
the
tee
clean
and
then
landed
forehand
upshots
near
the
bullseye,
leaving
King,
the
closest
to
the
pin
and
the
last
to
throw,
with
no
option
but
to
go
for
the
green.
Like
she
had
on
hole
17
though,
Hailey
had
thrown
her
drive
wide,
with
a
relatively
straight
path
to
the
basket.
She
parked
her
forehand
upshot
on
the
woodchips
to
the
roar
of
the
gallery,
a
tap-in
birdie
and
a
first
time
win
at
Maple
Hill.
“I
am
extremely
proud
of
myself,”
King
said
when
reflecting
on
her
win.
“I
held
to
a
game
plan
that
I
generally
don’t
like
–
playing
boring
golf
–
then
I
forced
myself
(to
think)
every
day,
‘par
is
fine,
let
other
people
mess
up
and
move
on,’
and
I
feel
really
good
that
I
stuck
with
that.”
King
couldn’t
have
asked
for
a
better
warm
up
for
her
title
defense
at
the
United
States
Women’s
Disc
Golf
Championships
in
Charlotte
this
weekend.
With
that,
Maple
Hill
had
delivered
yet
another
fable
to
weave
into
the
rich
mythology
of
disc
golf
at
this
end
of
the
season.
