All-Star Skills Event Summary

Day one of the Disc Golf Pro Tour All-Star Weekend is in the books! We got to see some long throws, great putts, and accurate shots from some of the top MPO and FPO players in the world. This weekend also gives us a quick glimpse into some of the player’s new bags with their sponsor changes. The skills challenges highlighted some of that, but as we head into the singles and doubles play we will really get to see what they are throwing with a new brand on their backs!

Scores through day one

After all 3 challenges, Team Pierce has a 2-1 lead over Team Allen. This lead was built on their Distance and Putting with Catrina’s team able to avoid a sweep with a rather dominant accuracy performance. One of the most impressive performances out there today was Heather Young on the putting green. She was able to help push Team Pierce to a 34 point win in the putting competition and set the bar at a level that wasn’t broken until late in the MPO competitions.

On the MPO side, Team McMahon was able to come out on top with a 2-1 lead over Team Heimburg. This lead was built through their narrow margin of victory in the accuracy and great performance on the putting greens. Two of the more exciting moments, however, came from the losing teams in the respective events. First, we had GG having to throw 680 feet in order to land a comeback victory in the distance which he was just shy of accomplishing. He put one out there about 660′ first and then on the final shot with all the pressure on him he was able to have the longest throw of the day at 661′ but it just wasn’t quite enough to top what Calvin and Ezra were able to do. Then on the putting green, James Conrad lit it up from outside the circle hitting 5 45′ putts in a row in electric fashion but again his performance overall just wasn’t quite enough to top what Eagle, Chris, and Gannon were able to do.

My Thoughts on Day 1

Going into the weekend, we all knew that day one was going to be the hardest to keep entertaining. Capturing a round of disc golf is what the Disc Golf Network is used to doing and the fans are used to consuming. Breaking it up into skills challenges was going to be a challenge, but it was what the fans wanted last year. Overall, I enjoyed watching it! I think there were times where it felt a little slow or like some music behind could have helped the pacing, but at the end of the day, the Pro Tour did a good job with it.

I had two critiques that I think might have made it a little bit better, but as I said for what it was I think they did a pretty good job and kept it relatively entertaining throughout the broadcast. First, I think an event like this really highlights the need for the commentary team to be on the ground at the event. The energy from the players and the good time that they were having just didn’t always translate to the booth. I think a big part of this comes from the booth being in Oregon and the players having a great time in Arizona. During rounds throughout the season, I notice it here and there but for the most part, they do a good job. An event like this really highlighted it and at times made me feel a little more separated from the event than it would have if they were on the grounds in the action as well. I thought Jamie Thomas did a good job keeping it light and transitioning between events on the ground and that certainly helped the feel and flow of the event.

The second critique I had was a small one which was the planning of the event. Watching the FPO end at 5 and then have an hour of downtime before the MPO started just felt a bit weird with this style of event. If you follow me on social or listen to our podcasts, you know I am a big supporter of separate streams and giving the spotlight to both divisions equally, but this event felt like an opportunity to bring them together and have it be a little bit faster paced and higher energy. Again I think part of the higher energy could have been accomplished with more hot mics for the player back and forth as well as some music to help carry the broadcast between throws or stations.

How to follow

Days 2 and 3 will consist of some doubles and singles action and give us our first glimpse at these players for the year. If you’re not already, it is a great time to sign up for the Disc Golf Network and catch it going down live! It all kicks off with the FPO round at 10 am eastern!