Dickerson and Walker return to defend titles on monster Ravenwood layout
August 2, 2019 by Bennett Wineka in Coverage, Preview with 0 comments
Nashville seems primed to become a tour standard.
The area’s premier event, the Music City Open, has grown over the past several years, and 2019 is ratcheting up the hype.
There are more pros in attendance than ever before. MPO has 24 players rated 999 or better and more than half of the 17 player FPO division is 900-rated or higher. And to add to the atmosphere, 400 players in all are playing the event across four separate courses.
Both Open and Open Women fields will be playing all three rounds for the first time at the temporary course at Ravenwood Golf Course. You may remember Ravenwood from last year’s final round MCO coverage from Central Coast Disc Golf, but it’s going to be looking much different.
Measuring in at close to 10,000 feet in 2018, Ravenwood was never short. The 2019 edition, however, has been redesigned by Shawn Sinclair and added more than 3,600 feet to the Open tees and 1,400 feet to Open Women. With only five par 3s on the course, the Disc Golf Strong shoulder warm-ups will be relied on heavily over the weekend.
Chris Dickerson is back to defend his playoff win over James Conrad, who will not be in attendance. By his standards, Dickerson is on a bit of a cold streak, having not notched a win in almost a month, placing second at back-to-back A-tiers before a 23rd place showing at the Idlewild Open. Calvin Heimburg and Austin Hannum will be playing MCO for the first time and have the arms to keep up on the long track.
Madison Walker closed out a win last year over Elaine King with a 968-rated final round on the old Ravenwood, and Walker, but not King, is in Nashville to challenge for the title again. Catrina Allen is the highest-rated player in the division by 30 points and is looking for her first solo win since the Santa Cruz Masters Cup in May. She’ll have a distinct advantage distance in Nashville.
