The Top 10 Storylines of the 2023 LWS Open at Idlewild

From
the
desk
of
Owl
P.
Jackson,
Esq.

August
15,
2023
by


Owl
P.
Jackson,
Esq.
in

Opinion,

Recap
with
comments

If
you
squint
just
right,
you’ll
see
them.
There—illuminated
by
the
light
of
the
moon—sit
storylines.
We
have
a
return
to
the
top,
a
battle
of
the
year’s
best,
and
a
good
weekend
for
the
old
dudes.
In
my
opinion,
these
are
the
top
10
storylines
of
the
*takes
deep
breath*
2023
LWS
Open
at
Idlewild
presented
by
Dynamic
Discs
and
the
Nati.
Bring
a
flashlight.

1.
Long
road
back
for
Valerie
Mandujano

“We
have
clearance,
Clarence.”

Last
year,

Valerie
Mandujano
was
beginning
to
be
mentioned
with
the
likes
of

Kristin
Tattar,
Paige
Pierce,
and

Catrina
Allen
as
a
weekly
contender.
That
quickly
stopped
in
January,
when
Val
suffered
a
serious
ankle
injury.
What
she
thought
might
sideline
her
for
four
weeks
and
the
All-Star
event
ended
up
sidelining
her
until
Dynamic
Discs
Open
in
mid-June.
Well,
Val
is
back.

“It
feels
unbelievable,”
she
said.
“It
feels
like
I’m
dreaming
right
now.”

Could
Val
challenge
Kristin
when
she
returns
to
the
states?
Someone
needs
to.

2.
Gannon
Buhr
gets
his
third
elite
win
of
the
season

“I
need
the
best
man
on
this.
Someone
who
knows
that
plane
inside
and
out
and
won’t
crack
under
pressure.”

Talking
in
his
post-win
interview,

Gannon
Buhr
remarked,
“I
think
starting
the
tournament
hot
and
hitting
my
gaps
early
helped
a
ton…I
always
say
the
goal—especially
when
you’re
on
a
lead
card—is
to
make
the
other
players
scared.
It’s
not
fun
and
games
out
here.
We’re
trying
to
win
tournaments.”

Gannon
certainly
started
hot
on
day
3,
going
6-for-6
to
start
and
8-under
through
the
front
9.

Calvin
Heimburg
did
his
best
to
track
him
down,
but
it
was
too
little,
too
late.
Even
a
hole
18
spit
out
wasn’t
enough
to
slow
down
the
young
superstar.
Buhr
said
that
he
wanted
to
prove
that
he
could
win
in
the
woods,
and
not
just
on
open
courses.
Point
proven.
The
kid
has
it
all.

3.
The
case
for
Calvin

“I’m
doing
everything
I
can…
and
stop
calling
me
Shirley!”

The
biggest
talking
point
coming
out
of
this
tournament
is
going
to
be
MPO
Player
of
the
Year
picks.
There
are
two
clear
candidates.
Let’s
make
their
case
in
100
words
or
less.

Calvin
has
been
insanely
consistent
this
year.
Sure,
it
has
been
a
while
since
Calvin
grabbed
his
two
early
season
Elite
wins
and
an
early
season
Silver
win.
However,
the
results
speak
for
themselves.
Calvin
is
leading
all
MPO
and
FPO
in
cash
earnings.
Calvin
has
only
missed
the
top
10
once
this
season
and
hasn’t
missed
the
top
4
since
Portland.
Calvin
in
currently
dropping
T-3rd
finishes
from
his
DGPT
points
total.
This
week’s
2nd
place
Elite
finish
earned
him
a
measly
13
points.
Calvin
is
the
Player
of
the
Year.

4.
The
case
for
Gannon

“What
mountains?
We’re
over Iowa!”

Plain
and
simple,
Gannon
Buhr
wins
more
than
anyone
else.
So
far,
he
has
tallied
Elite
wins
at
the
Open
at
Austin,
Des
Moines
Challenge,
and
LWS
Open.
He
has
also
added
two
Silver
wins
at
the
Blue
Ridge
Championships
and
Kansas
City
Wide
Open.
Sure,
Gannon
has
missed
the
top
20
five
times
this
year.
However,
everyone
is
going
to
remember
that
Gannon
won
Idlewild.
No
one
is
going
to
remember
that
Calvin
took
2nd.
Gannon
is
the
Player
of
the
Year.

5.
My
Player
of
the
Year
rankings

“Looks
like
I
picked
the
wrong
week
to
quit
sniffing
glue.”

Well,
the
time
has
come
for
me
to
take
a
stand.
Here
are
my
player
of
the
year
rankings…so
far.

FPO
1.
Kristin
Tattar
2.
Everyone
else

MPO
1.
Calvin
Heimburg
2.
Gannon
Buhr
3.
Isaac
Robinson
4.
Ricky
Wysocki
…
…
…
42.
Parker
Welck
(Seriously
though—still
crazy
to
think
this
happened.)

6.
MPO
Top
10

“I
won’t
deceive
you.
We’re
running
out
of
time.”
“Surely
there
must
be
something
you
can
do.”

MPO
Top
10
was
filled
with
the
usual
suspects…from
2014.
These
players
aren’t
actually
old.
But
when
the
last
two
Elite
Series
winners
have
been
18
years
old,
they
are
comparatively
ancient.
Shout
out
to
Paul
Ulibarri
who
followed
up
a
solid
Ledgestone
with
a
4th
place
finish
at
Idlewild.
He
is
trending
in
the
right
direction
as
the
tour
heads
towards
more
Uli-friendly
courses
on
the
East
coast.
Nikko
Locastro
(6th),
Matt
Orum
(T-7th),
and
Jeremy
Koling
(T-10th)
also
deserve
a
little
late
career
recognition.
Big
Jerm,
in
particular,
gave
us
a
ton
of
circle
2
highlights
throughout
the
tournament.
Thanks,
big
guy!

7.
What
happened
to
Catrina
Allen?

“First
time?”
“No,
I’ve
been
nervous
lots
of
times.”

Catrina
Allen
finished
in
a
tie
for
33rd
place
this
weekend.
Not
shocked
yet?
Let’s
put
it
this
way
then.
Catrina
Allen
lost
by
28
strokes.
Still
not
surprised?
Let’s
take
the
historical
view.
Catrina
Allen
has
only
missed
cash
in
FPO
one
other
time
in
the
last
almost
11
years.
Catrina
still
sits
at
#3
in
the
Pro
Tour
standings,
but
she
has
been
trending
in
the
wrong
direction
over
the
past
two
tournaments.
She
needs
to
figure
things
out
quickly
if
she
wants
to
be
a
Tattar-challenger
at
Worlds.

8.
The
dark

“Captain,
maybe
we
ought
to
turn
on
the
searchlights
now.”
“No…
that’s
just
what
they’ll
be
expecting
us
to
do.”

I’m
not
even
sure
this
is
really
a
storyline,
but
it
sure
was
memorable.
As
darkness
set
in
on
day
2,
play
was
suspended
for
the
MPO
lead
card
with
only
a
few
holes
to
go.
The
horn
sounded,
Terry
Miller
walked
off
the
course,
and—wait
a
minute…they
are
still
playing!
Sure,
the
picture
quality
was
terrible,
but
the
viewing
experience
was
great.
Gavin
Babcock
with
a
glow
disc,
Gannon
using
a
flashlight
to
find
the
right
disc
in
his
bag,
and
a
screen
darker
than
the
battle
of
Winterfell—little
moments
like
this
are
actually
part
of
the
reason
why
I
love
disc
golf.
Grow
the
sport?
Sure.
But
don’t
go
changin’!

9.
Dynamic
Discs
baskets

“Listen,
and
you
listen
close:
Flying
a
plane
is
no
different
than
riding
a
bicycle,
just
a
lot
harder
to
put
baseball
cards
in
the
spokes.” 

I
know,
I
know…just
make
the
putt.
Stop
complaining.
Play
the
course.
But
c’mon…you
can’t
have
one
basket
that
is
clearly
much
worse
than
all
the
other
baskets
on
tour.
These
things
make
Prodigy
baskets
look
like
Jerry
Rice.
It
will
be
interesting
to
see
if
the
DGPT
moves
towards
some
sort
of

basket
standardization.
I
know
sponsors
want
their
baskets
on
screen,
but
does
Dynamic
actually
want
people
seeing
this?
Just
chuck
an
“Emporia
Knows
Disc
Golf”
sticker
on
a
Discatcher
and
call
it
a
day.

10.
Postseason
disc
golf

“You’d
better
tell
the
Captain
we’ve
got
to
land
as
soon
as
we
can.”

DGLO
brings
the
first
playoff
event
of
the
year…but
does
anyone
really
understand
these
playoffs
yet?
The
event
designation
lacks
any
real
gravitas
when
96
MPO
and
48
FPO
players
are
invited
to
compete.
96
and
48?
That
is
everyone
you’ve
ever
heard
of
and
tons
you
haven’t.
Also,
you
can
theoretically
take
last
place
or
skip
the
event
entirely
and
still
easily
make
the
cut
for
the
next
playoff
event.
However,
there
are
more
points
available
to
be
won
in
the
playoffs
and
making
the
Pro
Tour
finale
is
a
major
goal
for
many
players.

So,
let’s
take
a
look
at
the
finale
bubble
to
see
who
needs
these
bonus
points
most.
In
MPO,
players
like
Nikko
and
Garrett
Gurthie
are
just
inside
the
top
32.
Currently
just
outside,
but
close—Uli,
Robert
Burridge,
Eric
Oakley,
and
Brodie
Smith.
In
FPO,
it’s
Paige
Pierce,
Sai
Ananda,
Rebecca
Cox,
and
Henna
Blomroos
who
are
holding
onto
top
20
spots.
Notably,
Paige
and
Henna
will
not
be
competing
at
DGLO.
Lisa
Fajkus
and
Hanna
Huynh
look
eager
to
move
into
their
spots
with
a
solid
finish
next
week.
Keep
an
eye
on
all
of
these
players
as
we
make
the
final
push
of
the
season,
and
remember
that
winning
an
Elite
Series
event
gets
you
an
auto-qualification.

Thanks
for
reading,
everyone!
Let
me
know
the
storylines
you
think
I
missed.
See
you
at
Toboggan!

Original source