Waco Annual Charity Open Preview
The Pro Tour has officially reached it’s second event of the year and the beginning of the Texas swing. Players will be in Texas for the next 3 weekends with two Pro Tour stops and a silver series event before heading out towards Georgia for the Champions Cup. Waco is one of the longest standing events on the Pro Tour and has a history of being unpredictable. With the parity that we are seeing in the field right now, I don’t expect this year to be any different.
Grip Locked Preview Show
Course
The course that players will face this weekend is the same that we have come to know and love in the past. The Beast is a great early challenge to the players as they are faced with both open and wooded style holes that punishes players that do not come into the round dialed. The first few holes are in the “open” with scattered trees throughout the fairways before you head into the tight, unforgiving woods. Players will emerge from the woods and get to “relax” for a few holes before they are faced with a gauntlet of tough holes to finish out the round. The way that hole 17 and 18 play make it so that the tournament isn’t over until your disc is in the basket on 18. This makes for very exciting golf that keeps both fans and players on edge waiting to see what happens!
Storylines
All eyes are going to be on Waco as it is the start of Paul’s 2022 Pro Tour season. The field will be stacked but missing some notable players such as Drew Gibson and Eagle McMahon. Some other notable players that will be starting their Pro Tour season at Waco include Simon Lizotte, Mason Ford, Valerie Mandujano, and Alexis Mandujano. One of the bigger FPO stories coming into the weekend is going to be how Kona can respond to the additional pressure of being the defending champion. After an incredible off-season for her with a record breaking deal, she did not get the start she was looking for at Las Vegas. Many people online made their opinions heard about this which I am sure adds unwanted pressure going into any event, but when you add on top of it the fact that she won out here last year, things get interesting. It is going to be important for her to keep her composure and stay calm starting the tournament off. If she is able to block out the noise and focus on just playing the course, she can do well out there as she proved last year!
Keys to Victory
MPO
- Get off the tee. Players who are able to get off the tee clean and get within circle 2 consistently are going to give themselves a great chance at this event!
- Scramble Your Eggs. The woods at the Beast can be very tough. Being able to get up and down is going to be CRUCIAL for players looking to stay in the mix.
FPO
- Time to Putt. Gained putting was almost directly correlated to the top of the leaderboard last year. At Waco, strokes can be hard to come by and you cannot be giving them up on the putting green.
- Scramble, Scramble, Scramble. Anytime you are off the fairway, you have to find a way to minimize damage. The scramble percentage last year was the biggest key stat and I do not expect it to change this year!
