DGLO Recap: Ohn Finally Gets One, Simon Back on Top

The
People’s
Championship.

August
22,
2023
by


Kingsley
Flett
in

Analysis,

Recap
with
comments

Ohn
Scoggins’
win
this
past
weekend
at
the
Discraft
Great
Lakes
Open
on
the
Kensington
Toboggan
Course
near
Milford,
Michigan,
was
her
first
in
FPO
in
an
Elite
Series
or
Major
after
46
starts.
The
long
wait
may
make
it
seem
like
a
bolt
from
the
blue,
but
this
win
has
been
years
in
the
making.
Since
April,
the
Californian
pro,
a
member
of
the
Lao
American
Sports
Hall
of
Fame,
has
only
stepped
off
the
podium
once,
and
that
was
for
fourth
at
the
Silver
Series
Beaver
State
Fling
in
May.

The
steady
build
towards
her
maiden
FPO
win
included
an
FP40
world
championship
in
July
and
has
been
forged
on
the
back
of
some
relentless
consistency.
Take
a
first
pass
over
Scoggins’
UDisc
statistics
for
the
tournament
and
nothing
jumps
out
apart
from
her
tournament-leading
92%
putting
from
C1X.
Off
the
tee,
she
ranked
6th
for
fairway
hits
at
68%
and
12th
for
holes
parked
at
10%.
But
the
story
of
her
win
in
the
DGLO
was
told
by
how
many
times
Scoggins
went
out
of
bounds:
five
in
total
for
the
four
rounds
at
Toboggan.
Next
best
was
4th
place
finisher
Missy
Gannon,
who
crossed
the
rope
7
times
with

Ella
Hansen
(2nd)
raising
the
spotter’s
red
flag
10
times
and
Kat
Mertsch
(3rd)
13
times.

An
indication
of
Scoggins’
steadily
improving
recent
form
is
that
her
five
OB
throws
in
72
holes
at
the
DGLO
was
below
her
season
average
of
6.2
this
year,
a
rare
feat
on
a
course
with
so
much
treachery
on
the
fairways.
Of
the
top
contenders,
it
was
only
Scoggins
and
Hansen
who
managed
to
throw
out
of
bounds
less
than
their
season
average.

In
short,
it
was
an
astute
and
conservative
performance
that
would
have
tested
Scoggins’
trust
in
her
own
game
as,
time
and
again,
she
walked
the
steep
and
wide
Toboggan
fairways
to
mark
her
drives
well
short
of
where
her
longer
throwing
cardmates
had
landed.
She
regularly
disced
down,
threw
a
placement
shot,
and
trusted
herself
to
get
up
and
down
from
there.

Scoggins
foreshadowed
the
approach
in
the
pre-tournament
press
conference.
“On
this
course,
you
can
throw
as
far
as
you
can
but
if
you
go
OB,
it
doesn’t
matter,”
she
said.
“For
me,
if
I
can
be
safe
then
throw
another
safe
shot,
then
I
can
get
the
same
score
as
the
people
who
throw
far.
Placement
and
playing
smart
on
this
course
is
very
important,
especially
as
they’ve
added
a
lot
of
OB
this
year.”

Scoggins
made
something
else
work
in
her
favor,
too:
from
the
middle
of
round
one,
the
others
were
chasing
her,
encouraging
the
big
throwers
to
take
more
risks
to
reel
her
in.
In
the
first
round,
she
made
only
three
errors:
leaving
an
approach
short
on
hole
1,
and
then
throwing
OB
and
failing
to
get
up
and
down
on
hole
16.
Otherwise,
she
logged
nine
birdies
en
route
to
a
three
stroke
lead
over
Kat
Mertsch
and
Norway’s
Lykke
Lorentzen.
She
shot
seven-under
par
in
round
2
to
stretch
her
lead
to
six
throws
over
Hansen
and
repeated
the
dose
in
round
three,
with
Hansen
matching
her
score
to
keep
the
gap
at
six
going
into
Sunday.

“I
really
like
this
number,”
Scoggins
said
after
the
round.
“This
is
probably
the
first
time
on
this
course
that
I’ve
shot
seven,
seven,
seven.
Normally
I’m
a
bit
up
and
down,
but
I
guess
maybe
it’s
my
lucky
number.
I’m
going
to
stick
on
my
game.
No
one
can
change
my
game.
I
know
exactly
what
I’m
going
to
do.
I’m
going
to
stick
on
it.
So
far
it’s
worked
well.”

On
her
chances
of
chasing
Scoggins
down
in
the
final
round,
Hansen
said,
“If
Ohn
keeps
doing
what
she’s
doing…what
am
I?
Six
strokes
back?
It’s
going
to
take
13
or
14
under.
But
there’s
eagles
out
there
in
this
course
and
I
think
it’s
doable.”

That
possibility
grew
in
the
back
nine
of
the
final
round.
On
hole
13,
when
Scoggins
had
a
20-foot
putt
hit
the
chains
high
right
and
fall
out,
the
lead
was
down
to
four.
Then,
on
15,
Scoggins
pulled
her
backhand
approach
right,
where
it
clipped
branches
and
fell
short
well
outside
the
circle.
When
Hansen
parked
her
upshot,
Scoggins
faced
an
uphill,
38-foot
putt
to
avoid
losing
another
stroke.
Ohn’s
putt
just
kissed
the
front
chains
as
it
lobbed
into
the
basket,
and
she
gave
a
fist
pump
as
she
ran
to
collect
the
disc,
knowing
she
had
a
four
stroke
lead
with
three
to
play.

We
can
all
look
back
in
wonder
at
the
child
we
once
were
and
think
about
what
kind
of
life
that
kid
had
in
store.
But
then
think
of
that
kid
growing
up
in
a
village
in
rural
Laos
and
wonder
if
she
had
any
idea
that
she’d
one
day
be
a
champion
in
a
sport
she’d
never
heard
of
in
a
strange
land
far
from
home.
There
have
been
some
emotional
wins
on
the
DGPT
this
year,
as
some
first
timers
have
transcended
the
marginal
existence
and
grind
of
tour
life
to
being
a
tour
winner,
only
for
the
feelings
of
the
big
moment
to
be
overwhelming.
But
Ohn
Scoggins
took
in
the
win
the
same
way
she
plays
the
game,
with
an
infectious
joy
and
a
big
smile.

“Finally,
I
got
one!”
she
shouted
to
the
same
crowd
she’d
greeted
and
chatted
with
at
every
tee
pad
and
who
she’d
brought
with
her
around
the
course.
“So
many
times,
I’m
close
and
finally
I
got
one.
Thank
you,
it
means
a
lot
to
me.”

“I
almost
cried,”
she
confessed
after
the
win.
“It
means
a
lot
to
me.
I’ve
worked
so
hard.
I’ve
never
taken
a
day
off.
Finally,
my
game
came
together.
I
was
hoping
my
disc
would
be
in
bounds
on
the
last
hole
so
I
would
have
a
seven
under
to
go
with
the
other
rounds,
but
it
is
what
it
is.
I’ll
take
the
win
and
I’m
super
happy.
My
game
just
came
together,
and
I
made
little
mistakes.
I
mean
it’s
hard
to
perfect
and
you’ll
make
mistakes
here
and
there
but
when
it’s
your
week
it’s
your
week.”

Simon
Comes
Through

The
DGLO
marked
the
beginning
of
the
DGPT
playoffs,
with
places
in
the
final
tournaments
and
DGPT
Championship
on
offer.
Critics
have
called
this
concept
somewhat
of
a
contrivance,
but
the
performances
of
the
top
contenders
and
the
jostling
for
positions
at
the
top
gave
the
event
the
distinct
feel
of
a
pro
sports
season
coming
to
its
pointy
end.

Eagle
McMahon
shared
the
lead
with
Kevin
Jones
after
round
one
at
8-under
par,
and
these
two
were
followed
by
no
less
than
10
players
three
strokes
back
at
5-under.
McMahon
and
Jones
stayed
in
step
in
round
two,
both
shooting
-6
to
keep
the
lead
over
Chris
Dickerson
and
Anthony
Barela,
the
latter
of
whom
had
moved
up
to
two
strokes
back.
The
big
mover
in
round
three
was

Simon
Lizotte,
whose
11-under
54
sprung
him
off
the
chase
card
and
into
a
share
of
the
lead
with
McMahon.

Lizotte’s
hot
round
impressed
almost
everyone
except
the
man
himself.
He
was
asked
after
the
round
how
close
to
his
top
level
of
performance
the
provisionally
1075
PDGA-rated
round
felt.
“Actually,
surprisingly
not
close,”
Lizotte
said.
“I
made
all
my
putts,
but
none
of
them
went
exactly
where
I
wanted
them
to
go,
so
nothing
felt
good,
but
it
was
all
just
good
enough
and
sometimes
in
golf,
good
enough
is
exactly
that,
good
enough.
I
feel
like
round
one
I
was
throwing
the
best,
but
my
score
doesn’t
reflect
that.
Today,
I
got
away
with
some.”

The
Disc
Golf
Network
has
already
caught
on
to
the
reality
that
being
on
the
top
card
is
far
from
a
guaranteed
win
in
the
2023
DGPT,
so
they
spread
their
coverage
wide
in
preparation
to
roll
with
whoever
goes
on
a
hot
streak.
This
final
round
offered
up
one
of
the
most
enticing
battles
of
the
year:
the

Crush
Boys,
Lizotte
and
McMahon,
head-to-head
and
no
longer
throwing
the
same
discs,
with
a
top
seven
that
was
only
separated
by
five
strokes
and
bristling
with
contenders
who
have
taken
down
big
tournaments.

Lizotte,
after
putting
in
an
early
bid
for
title
of
‘people’s
champion’
by
handing
out
a
stack
of
discs
to
the
gallery
surrounding
tee
one,
started
in
similar
fashion
to
round
three:
on
a
birdie
streak.
This
time,
it
was
only
four
holes,
but
it
was
enough
to
establish
a
two
stroke
buffer.
Lizotte
had
calmly
slotted
a
50
foot
putt
into
the
hole
one
basket
and
held
his
finger
aloft
as
he
trotted
to
retrieve
the
disc
before
McMahon,
putting
from
much
closer,
hit
the
hexagonal
sponsor’s
sign
surrounding
the
pole
and
somehow
rolled
out
of
bounds.

The
pair
then
put
on
a
show
as
they
matched
each
other
with
6
birdies
over
the
next
10
holes,
followed
by
back-to-back
one
throw
swings
and
two
more
birdies
before
arriving
at
hole
16
with
the
two-throw
buffer
from
hole
one
still
intact.

The
fireworks
weren’t
confined
to
the
top
card,
though,
with
Calvin
Heimburg
twice
throwing
in
from
beyond
275
feet
to
eagle
holes
6
and
10
and
push
to
within
two
throws
of
the
lead
before
finishing
with
three
bogeys
in
the
last
four
holes
and
dropping
to
a
share
of
5th
place.

Hole
16
gave
the
tournament
both
its
crux
moment
and
its
major
talking
point.
There
had
been
grumbles
about
the
island
green
all
week,
with
some
pros
voicing
disapproval
about
the
fairness
of
its
design.
Teeing
off
first,
McMahon’s
drive
seemed
to
hold
its
hyzer
angle
for
too
long
instead
of
flipping
straight,
caught
an
early
tree,
and
fell
short
of
the
island.
Knowing
that
McMahon
was
two
strokes
back
and
facing
a
likely
bogey,
Lizotte
tried
yet
another
Simon
line
–
just
not
the
one
you’d
normally
expect.

Giving
the
course
designers
at
Toboggan
12
months
to
think
about
how
to
stop
him
doing
this
next
year,
and
producing
a
chorus
of
“What!
What!
What!
What!
What!
Why!
Why!
Why!”
from
Nate
Doss
and
Nate
Sexton
on
DGN,
Lizotte
threw
high,
straight,
and
deliberately
long
over
the
back
of
the
island.
Lizotte
knew
crossing
over
the
green
would
leave
him
marked
no
further
than
10
feet
from
the
basket.
The
rest
of
the
card
missed
the
island,
too,
but
they
threw
from
a
drop
zone
outside
circle
one
and
facing
OB,
with
more
penalties
in
store
if
they
missed.

“I
was
in
the
fortunate
situation
where
I
got
Eagle
to
throw
first.
Eagle
was
only
two
back
and
I
just
told
myself
that
if
Eagle
goes
OB,
then
the
smartest
play
is
just
to
try
and
throw
as
hard
as
I
can
at
the
basket
and
try
to
go
OB
long,
because
you
get
a
drop
basically
from
like
10
feet,”
Lizotte
said
in
his
post
round
interview.
“I
never
thought
of
that
game
plan
before
I
stepped
up
to
that
hole
but
in
the
moment
it
all
came
together,
and
I
think
it
was
the
right
play.”

With
a
three
throw
lead
and
two
holes
to
play,
Lizotte
played
for
par
and
cruised
to
his
second
Elite
Series
win
of
the
year.
The
camera
crew
were
ready
for
him
this
time,
and
we
got
a
follow
cam
view
of
Lizotte’s
run
around
the
ring
of
the
gallery
high
fiving
anyone
who
would
stick
out
a
hand.

“This
course
is
such
a
huge
mental
battle,”
Lizotte
said.
“On
top
of
that,
it’s
probably
the
most
physical
battle
that
we
have
all
year.
With
the
heat
today,
and
the
battle
with
Eagle
over
four
days,
I’m
just
so
proud
of
how
played
today.
It
was
amazing.”

Original source