The 2022 USDGC and Throw Pink Championship was spectacular to witness in person. I got to go with my manager Cecile and meet plenty of people whom I regularly interact with on Facebook and the Sabattus Disc Golf Twitter @PlaySDG.
Sabattus is the Maine sponsor for the USDGC and we have been for a number of years. It’s an awesome tournament, and it’s the first major I’d attended.
There’s a million cool things that happened that weekend. Here’s a highlight of some of them.
Seeing a disc golf village.
Do you know how cool it is for every tent to have disc golf related stuff being sold or promoted by disc golfers? It was like walking down a line at the fair, except I cared about every booth. I saw dyes on all sorts of discs, plastic that’s not always sold in Maine, disc golf clothes, a couple of board games, some pins, and plenty more awesome stuff.
Some tour stops have a little area to buy merch, but this was on another level. I think there were 40+ tents out there to visit. This place was packed when lead card FPO/MPO weren’t out on the course. Kids running around putting, bumping into plenty of pros, go visit it will live up to the hype.
Discussing plastic differences in flight with a pro.
Eric Oakley taking time to compare his signature Ethos Pathfinders with me from his bag was a cool minute or two. I’m a firm believer in how great the Pathfinder is, and I know from bagging both that his signature run is less stable than the Aura plastic one. It’s always reassuring when someone with knowledge like his agrees with something I feel is right. He also took some time to sign my Eric Oakley 2022 DGPT tour card and was smiling the whole time. The next time I see an EO tour series disc you can bet I’m going to snag it. I was already a fan of his, now I’m a fan for life.
Watching Anthony Barela and David Wiggins throw in the distance contest.
I’ve always talked about how when I went to spectate the 2021 Green Mountain Championship I saw Ricky Wysocki throw an Innova Pig over 300 feet with ease and I knew we were playing different games out there. I’m happy when I push a Wraith that far forehand.
Watching Barela and Wiggins throw over the water, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. They threw just… so unbelievably far. Barela hitting the 797 foot mark was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. I’ve got to invite him out here to see if he can go long on our hole on the Eagle course. Here’s some of the throws from that event. I tried to record on my phone, but they honestly just threw the disc so fast and far I couldn’t film it. And I was yelling most of the time, so no one wants to hear that. Since we were already on hole 18 to watch Gannon take down the USDGC we just had to wait half an hour or so and we got to watch that contest. Whoever came up with ending the event where pros throw discs as far as they can, bravo.
Meeting 5x Juliana Korver.
As I was looking for a coffee stand at 2:30 in the afternoon. I saw the GOAT walk past me to a tent to start selling some JK plastic. I did an about face, grabbed my DGPT Tour cards to get signed and walked over to her tent. She and I talked about how huge the tournament was, and how she was commentating instead of playing, and then she mentioned how much she appreciated the crowds following FPO. I try quite hard not to get star struck, but I absolutely fumbled my words meeting Korver. If you haven’t read why I think she’s the GOAT here’s my blog about it and my opinion on the Climo/McBeth debate.
This isn’t something that happens in other sports. I don’t just meet Zinadine Zidane and have a conversation with him about coaching soccer. Disc golf is still small, and I’m happy to be a part of our community and get to meet many of my favorite players in person at some point.
Took a perfect video of Kristin Tattar’s forehand.
Live coverage and post production is usually focused on you seeing the disc. I blame post production disc golf and the Disc Golf Network for newer players not following through on shots because they don’t see the top pros do it. Then again, their job is entertainment not education, so maybe it’s fine.
I got to see Kristin Tattar throw a forehand on Hole 5. And I was positioned in a great spot to film. I’ve already used this video twice in lessons to show her follow through. While she didn’t end up winning, it was the first time I’d gotten to see her play in person, and that was lots of fun.
If you’re looking for a form to copy, just watch this a few dozen times, practice a whole lot, and throw like a world champion.
Got to check out Another Round Disc Golf in Charlotte.
While I work in a disc golf pro shop and have for the last 4 years it’s always fun to see another shop and handle their plastic. I had heard so many great things about Another Round, so when we were a half hour away, it was somewhere I had to check out.
I loved the TV in the front with a bar that was playing the USDGC live on the Disc Golf Network. The couch and very clean bathrooms were excellent. There was a bunch of tour series plastic everywhere which I fully support as it helps out the pros.
It’s the kind of store you can walk into and before you know it you’re sitting on the couch with a friend, sipping a beer and cradling a small stack of plastic you just purchased even though you told yourself you don’t need any more discs. I wish it wasn’t 972 miles away, I’ll visit again when I’m back down there.
I’ve seen them come into the pro shop a few times. I’ve seen pros who use them and love their cooler, and they seem happy to talk about their bags. I’d also seen maybe 2-3 local players who had these bags.
Squatch seemed to be excellent quality and I’m a sucker for that olive green color they come in.
So when I saw a Squatch tent at the USDGC, I went over to see them for myself. I got to meet with Sean Gutermuth for about 20 minutes, he’s the co-founder of Squatch. We went over the bags pretty thoroughly and I was impressed with what they’ve created.
So we’re carrying Squatch Bags here in the Pro Shop at Sabattus Disc Golf!
We always want to carry great things that meet the needs of disc golfers. The reason we try to offer so many different molds, plastics, weights in our disc collections, and different bags in our bag selection is that we know everyone wants something different in disc golf.
If you’ve got a disc golf product you think we should carry let us know.
I love hearing about new disc golf products, seeing them in videos, testing them, and checking in with plenty of folks about the idea. We’ve brought in plenty of products you know and love this way. Things like the MeepMeep!, Disc Golf Max Wax, and Birdie Board Game that we’ve carried in the pro shop have all come in because someone mentioned it.
The disc golf was incredible at the USDGC and TPWDGC.
Seeing Paul McBeth throw big drives, Gannon Buhr hit big putts, and seeing Catrina Allen throw a blistering 1028 round on day 2. It’s all so amazing what these pros can do with a disc. I’ll always recommend you see them in person. While I love competing, I think I’ll make some time each year to get to a DGPT event in person and watch. I enjoyed traveling to different parts of the US, local foods, and watching great competition each time.
The crowd was bananas.
This disc golf crowd went bananas when Gannon hit that putt. They clearly turned down the roar so that way you could hear Sexton and Earhart on the coverage.
We went for most of the week, and the early days were exceptional for being able to see everything. If you wanted to see a card drive, approach, and putt you could early in the week. The last couple of days you could either see them drive or putt, because the hundreds of people made walking difficult. The method we figured out was to see everyone drive on one hole, then start walking to the next hole to see it again. If you waited, you weren’t going to see much.
I don’t know how many folks were there, but I’d imagine it was close to 1,000 following MPO that final day.
Some people would stay at one hole all day long and get a great view of everyone playing. I might try that next time so I get to see everyone.
I loved it. I’m pretty fortunate to be able to work where going to an event like this is “work.” If you’re thinking about going to see disc golf in person, here’s how I feel about it.
There’s no “if” I go back to spectate again, it’s just a matter of when.
May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397