February 7, 2022 by Jesse Weisz and Bogi Bjarnason in Preview, Profile with 0 comments
This is the third post in our European Re-Open series that highlights European disc golfers as international travel reopens in 2022.
Before COVID-19 launched a full world tour in March 2020, a select few European players had left their mark with sporadic sojourns into the fray of the United States. The most indelible of marks on the highest tier of touring was left by one Birgitta Lagerholm at the 2004 Worlds in Des Moines, and while not earned on American soil, Jesper Lundmark’s European Open win in 2009 makes him the only European yet to take down that Major title.
The man who ushered in the current era after KJ Nybo bridged the gap (Simon Lizotte is, of course, the standard bearer for European disc golf, but we left him out of this because he’s lived in the US for many years) was Finland’s Seppo Paju. Then, during that short window in early 2020 when the pandemic was warming up before launching into hyper drive, a slew of teens native to the Nordic countries tested their mettle on the windblown fairways of the Southwest with remarkable results. Eveliina Salonen and Henna Blomroos went on a tear during the first month of the tour, and Oskari Vikström and Knut Håland shot hot enough to land themselves on post-produced coverage at LVC. Then we all saw what Kristin Tattar was capable of this past summer when she won multiple Elite Series events on her short stint in the States.
Let’s take a look now at the Europeans that will be coming over to play early events on Tour in the US to start the 2022 season, with bios provided by resident European disc golf expert Bogi Bjarnason.
Kristin Tattar
Age Going into 2022: 29
Country: Estonia
Disc Sponsor: Latitude 64
Player Rating: 976
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Paige Pierce, Hailey King
Important Career Wins: 2021 Preserve Championship, 2021 Discraft’s Great Lakes Open, 2021 Clash at The Canyons, 2019 United States Women’s Disc Golf Championships, 2019 Canadian National Disc Golf Championships
2022 Early Season Tour: LVC, Memorial, WACO, Belton, Texas States
Bogi’s Bio: Kristin Tattar you will know. She has gone to great lengths to make sure of that, and in return she has been richly rewarded. She does not balk at spending a fruitless fortnight evading pandemic protocol in an Eastern European airport for the mere opportunity to bump you a notch down the leaderboard. This kind of dedication comes with a $500K price tag, and unless you get your putting on point and sharpen your sidearm to near Estonian levels of accuracy, your win rate will crash the minute she boards the plane to Vegas. Her notable wins don’t need listing: she’s ranked #1 in the world by UDisc.
Henna Blomroos
Henna BlomroosAge Going into 2022: 21
Country: Finland
Disc Sponsor: Innova
Player Rating: 973
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Hailey King, Sarah Hokom, Catrina Allen
Important Career Wins: 2021 Finnish Nationals, 2021 European Disc Golf Championship, 2020 Finnish Nationals, 2019 Finnish Nationals, 2018 European Disc Golf Championships, 2018 Finnish Nationals, 2014 Finnish Nationals
Early Season Tour: LVC, Memorial, WACO, Texas States, Music City, Champions Cup
Bogi’s Bio: Blomroos had only two PDGA wins in 2021. Those came at Finnish Nationals and the European Disc Golf Championships in Konopiste, where she was the defending champ. That adds quite the patina of luster to a season previously lacking any. For reasons unknown, Blomroos keeps getting left out of conversations conducted by keyboard warriors with superficial knowledge of things that take place outside of America. Maybe it’s because Salonen has a couple DGPT wins and a Major trophy resting on her mantelpiece, whereas Blomroos has none. But momentum is on Henna’s side: she has surpassed Eveliina by a single ratings point, and Major title or not she can still steal Paige Pierce’s lunch money on any given weekend.
Eveliina Salonen
Eveliina SalonenAge Going into 2022: 22
Country: Finland
Disc Sponsor: Innova
Player Rating: 972
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Hailey King, Sarah Hokom, Catrina Allen
Important Career Wins: 2020 WACO Charity Open, 2019 Memorial Championship, 2018 Konopiště Open, 2017 Finnish Nationals, 2016 European Disc Golf Championships, 2016 Finnish Nationals, 2015 Finnish Nationals
Early Season Tour: LVC, Memorial, WACO, Texas States, Music City, Champions Cup
Bogi’s Bio: Eveliina Salonen speaks softly and carries a long distance driver. That driver has earned her four Finnish Nationals titles, a European Championship win, a Major trophy, and two pieces of easy DGPT silverware. A normal day in the life of Salonen looks like this: Wake up, have breakfast and crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentations of their teammates. Followed by dinner and a movie.
Keiti Tätte
Keiti TätteAge Going into 2022: 26
Country: Estonia
Disc Sponsor: Latitude 64
Player Rating: 937
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Holly Finley, Juliana Korver, Madison Walker, Deann Carey, Maria Oliva
Important Career Wins: 2021 Baltic Disc Golf Championships, 2019 Alutaguse Open, 2019 Baltic Disc Golf Championships
Early Season Tour: LVC, Memorial, WACO, Belton, Texas States
Bogi’s Bio: All you need to know about Keiti Tätte is one notable win: the 2021 Estonian Nationals title. Kristin Tattar is Estonian as well. She was not at home sick that weekend. Actually, scratch that. There are two things you need to know about Tatte. Here’s the second one.
Lykke Lorentzen
Lykke LorentzenAge Going into 2022: 29
Country: Norway
Disc Sponsor: Prodigy
Player Rating: 923
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Vanessa Van Dyken, Des Reading, Callie McMorran, Zoe Andyke, Stacie Rawnsley
Important Career Wins: 2020 StovnerPutten, 2020 Norwegian Championship, 2019 Norwegian Championship
Early Season Tour: LVC, Jonesboro Open, DDO
Bogi’s Bio: Little is known about Lykke Lorentzen prior to her 2017 PDGA membership sign-up. Was she a champion Olympic weightlifter? Maybe an aspiring Instagram influencer? Or is she perhaps a valkyrja sent down from Valhalla to collect the souls of her fallen frisbee foes so that they may play all day on the fairways of the gods and feast the night away with mead in hand, only to rise with the sun and do it all over again? Valid questions all. What we do know is that she was crowned Champion of Norway a mere two years after having joined the PDGA, and she did it twice in a row to prove to Simon Lizotte that it wasn’t pure luck the first time around. Lorentzen has slain all foes in 29 of the 61 battles she’s fought thus far, but her 923 rating says she’ll have to smuggle a way bigger sword through TSA come February if she wants to maintain that percentage on the Disc Golf Pro Tour.
Linus Carlsson
Linus CarlssonAge Going into 2022: 22
Country: Sweden
Disc Sponsor: Latitude 64
Player Rating: 1035
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Kevin Jones, Drew Gibson, Cale Leiviska, James Conrad, Nate Sexton
Important Career Wins: 2021 Swedish Championships, 2021 Heatland Open, 2020 Swedish Championships, 2019 Swedish Open
Early Season Tour: LVC, Memorial Championship, W.A.C.O, Texas States, Open at Belton, Music City Open, Jonesboro Open, DDO
Bogi’s Bio: Carlsson’s rating-to-notoriety ratio is off the charts! Unless you’re a disc golf hipster savant, you had not heard of this guy prior to EDGC Konopiste. I would bet many of you are reading his name for the first time right now. If you compete in Sweden, however, you probably wish you’d never heard of him.With his 1091 rated third round outing at Konopiste, Carlsson was the only man left standing between Niklas Anttila and a final round victory lap. ‘Nuff said! Now go watch him ace in Ricky’s face for the second time in two rounds.
Niklas Anttila
Niklas AnttilaAge Going into 2022: 20
Country: Finland
Disc Sponsor: Discmania
Player Rating: 1032
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Mason Ford, Nikko Locastro, Joel Freeman, Andrew Presnell
Important Career Wins: 2021 European Disc Golf Championship, 2021 Kuopio, 2021 Keisari Open, 2020 Finnish Nationals, 2020 Tampere, 2020 Helsinki
Early Season Tour: Texas States, Music City, PDGA Champions Cup, Jonesboro, DDO
Bogi’s Bio: The strength of the MPO field at Finnish Nationals is similar to a DGPT Silver Series event: Anttila won that title at age 19. His Discmania teammate Kyle Klein is inarguably the top teen prospect in the US. He won Idlewild Open last year at age 19. Their average round ratings were 1047 and 1048, respectively. Anttila followed that up by edging out Swedish hopeful Linus Carlsson by one stroke in a battle for the ages at the European Disc Golf Championship in Konopiste this year. His ratings average? 1053 over four rounds. Anttila is where the smart money goes on Skipace this year.
Lauri Lehtinen
Lauri LehtinenAge Going into 2022: 19
Country: Finland
Disc Sponsor: Latitude 64
Player Rating: 1028
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Andrew Marwede, Nathan Queen, Jeremy Koling, Paul Ulibarri, Gregg Barsby
Important Career Wins: 2021 Heinola, 2021 Tampere, 2020 Wild Card Open, 2019 Nokia Open, 2019 Tampere
Early Season Tour: WACO, Texas States, Music City, Champions Cup, Belton, Texas State, Music City, Jonesboro, DDO
Bogi’s Bio: “Slow and steady wins the race” could be Lehtinen’s motto, as he keeps racking up decent sized wins while suffering no shocking defeats. That Lehtinen could rise to a 1028 rating without any very notable wins to his name speaks volumes about the depth of the field in Europe generally and Finland specifically.
Väinö Mäkelä
Väinö MäkeläAge Going into 2022: 23
Country: Finland
Disc Sponsor: Prodigy
Player Rating: 1027
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Gregg Barsby, Gannon Buhr, Thomas Gilbert, Gavin Rathbun, Nathan Queen
Important Career Wins: 2021 Finnish Nationals, 2021 Turku, 2021 Helsinki, 2020 Kuopio, 2019 Oulu, 2018 Turku, 2018 Oulu
Early Season Tour: Texas States, Music City, PDGA Champions Cup, Jonesboro, DDO
Bogi’s Bio: Once hailed as The Great Finnish Hope, Väinö Mäkelä’s stateside track record has been a bit spotty during the few event appearances afforded him during the pandemic, aside from a fourth place finish at the Arizona Hyzer Olympics. Although coming into EDGC Konopiste as a favorite last year, Makela somewhat underperformed with a sixth place finish. Two weeks later, he bounced back for the Finnish Nationals win that most thought would’ve come his way much sooner. At 1027 rated with 22 career wins, Makela’s performance has still been outstanding by most measures, but he’s perhaps fallen victim to excess public expectations. I, for one, will be waiting for him to come into his own right about when Champions Cup rolls around.
Luukas Rokkanen
Luukas RokkanenAge Going into 2022: 22
Country: Finland
Disc Sponsor: Prodigy
Player Rating: 1022
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Zackeriath Johnson, Ezra Aderhold, Chandler Fry, Casey White, Colten Montgomery
Important Career Wins: 2020 Valkeakoski Open, 2018 Nahkiala Open
Early Season Tour: Texas States, Music Open, Champions Cup (if qualified), Jonesboro, DDO
Bogi’s Bio: Luukas Rokkanen was one of the few European players to make it over to the US last year: he finished 37th at the USDGC after nabbing a top 10 finish at the Music City Open. He’s clearly among the better players in Europe — he was ninth at the ’21 Euro Champs — but has yet to take down a truly big event.
Mikael Häme
Mikael HämeAge Going into 2022: 27
Country: Finland
Disc Sponsor: Innova
Player Rating: 1021
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Zackeriath Johnson, Ezra Aderhold, Chandler Fry, Casey White, Colten Montgomery
Important Career Wins: 2019 Helsinki, 2017 Prodiscus Easter Open
Early Season Tour: Waco, Belton, Texas States
Bogi’s Bio: Mikael Häme, a.k.a The Lion of Lahti, is a 1021 rated player who’s sponsored by Innova Champion Discs. With a bio like that, I bet he kills it on Tinder.
Albert Tamm
Albert TammAge Going into 2022: 23
Country: Estonia
Disc Sponsor: Latitude 64
Player Rating: 1017
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Eric Oakley, Austin Hannum, Aaron Gossage, Terry Rothlisberger, Connor O’Reilly
Important Career Wins: 2020 Alutaguse Open, 2018 Riga Open
Early Season Tour: LVC, Memorial, Waco, Texas States, Music City, Champions Cup, Belton, Texas State, Music City, Tallahassee, Jonesboro, DDO
Bogi’s Bio: Albert Tamm bazooka-ed his way into the competitive consciousness in 2019 by tying with Ricky Wysocki for third place at the European Open in Nokia. But unlike Wysocki, Tamm did not ride that momentum to Peoria, and he sank his shot at Worlds straight into the bottom of Lake Eureka with a 31st place finish. He briefly bounced back a week later with a 7th place at the Delaware Disc Golf Challenge, his best ever result at an NT or DGPT event to date. At USDGC that same year, he took an impressive 10th place. Like his countrymate Kristin Tattar, Tamm showed vigor when testing the mysterious ways of US Immigration by sneaking in through the Croatian corridor in 2021. Yet that sojourn netted him a best placing of 16th at the NT/DGPT level, with a disappointing 33rd in Ogden and 42nd on the hallowed grounds of Winthrop. This colorful character oozes confidence and charisma from every gland in his throwing hand, but out of his impressive 21 PDGA wins, the only one achieved outside of his native Estonia came in neighboring Latvia. Was Tamm a rising star that got caught in the crossfire of COVID? Maybe, maybe not. Only time will tell whether he’s a flash in the pan or a resounding crash of the chains.
Øyvind Jarnes
Øyvind JarnesAge Going into 2022: 25
Country: Norway
Disc Sponsor: Latitude 64
Player Rating: 1017
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Eric Oakley, Austin Hannum, Aaron Gossage, Terry Rothlisberger, Connor O’Reilly
Important Career Wins: 2021 Norwegian Championship, 2020 StovnerPutten, 2019 Ale
Early Season Tour: LVC
Bogi’s Bio: Øyvind Jarnes is the reigning Norwegian Champion. His protestant work ethic will not allow him to tour full time in the US in 2022, but the little demon on his shoulder convinced him to hit up Las Vegas. Beyond LVC, look for him to make waves in Europe this year and to press home court advantage at PCS Sula Open.
Seppo Paju
Seppo PajuAge Going into 2022: 27
Country: Finalnd
Disc Sponsor: Prodigy
Player Rating: 1016
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Luke Humphries, Aaron Gossage, Terry Rothlisberger, Connor O’Reilly, Jordan Castro
Important Career Wins: 2020 Turku, 2018 The Challenge @ Goat Hill Park, 2014 European Championships, 2011 Finnish Championship
Early Season Tour: LVC
Bogi’s Bio: With his elite level distance and Locastro-like ability to shape shots, the only tool missing in Paju’s arsenal was a confident putt from must-make range. While this aspect of his game was improving, Paju somehow got swept under the rug of COVID and lost the niche he’d carved out on tour. Will Suomi Simon reappear in 2022? Here’s his 2022 tour schedule. He’s only planning to play at Las Vegas Challenge stateside.
Knut Håland
Knut HålandAge Going into 2022: 22
Country: Norway
Disc Sponsor: Innova
Player Rating: 1015
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Luke Humphries, Aaron Gossage, Terry Rothlisberger, Connor O’Reilly, Jordan Castro
Important Career Wins: 2020 PCS Open, 2020 Norwegian Championship
Early Season Tour: LVC, Memorial, Waco, Belton, Texas States, Music City, Tallahassee, Jonesboro, DDO
Bogi’s Bio: Knut Håland is your 2020 Norwegian Nationals champ. That same year, he also took down the PCS Open. Catch him here alongside Oskari Vikström on 2020 LVC 3rd round, third card coverage, which is probably the most relevant sample of European performances captured on tape going into the 2022 LVC season opener.
Peter Lunde
Peter LundeAge Going into 2022: 21
Country: Norway
Disc Sponsor: Innova
Player Rating: 1013
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Luke Humphries, Aaron Gossage, Connor O’Reilly, Jordan Castro, Luke Samson
Important Career Wins: 2019 Norwegian Championship, 2018 Norwegian Championship, 2017 Norwegian Championship
Early Season Tour: LVC, Memorial, WACO, Belton, Texas States, Music City, Tallahassee, Jonesboro, DDO
Bogi’s Bio: Peter Lunde won Norwegian Nationals three years running. But more importantly, he’s more fun than a box of kittens and a laser beam pointer. Buy him a beer and a bowl of oatmeal if you run into him on tour. You won’t regret it.
Blær Örn Ásgeirsson
Blær Örn ÁsgeirssonAge Going into 2022: 19
Country: Iceland
Disc Sponsor: Innova
Player Rating: 1008
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: AJ Carey, Zach Melton, Lance Brown, Nate Perkins, Gavin Babcock
Important Career Wins: 2021 PCS Sula Open, 2021 Belgian Open, 2019 Open de España, 2018 British Open, 3x Iceland National Champion
Early Season Tour: LVC, Memorial, WACO, Texas States, Belton, Texas State, Music City, Tallahassee, Jonesboro, DDO
Bogi’s Bio: At the tender age of 19, Blær Örn has already raided the shores of England, Belgium, and Spain for the British Open, Belgian Open, and Open de España titles. And when he heard that the Norwegians had left a USDGC spot unattended, he set sail in his longboat to take the PCS Sula Open title away from his brethren on their home turf. Although heavily skewed by being stuck in Iceland during COVID, Blær does sport a 48% win rate in 56 tournaments. As he achieved a career high of 1021 last summer, his current rating might be deceiving: look for him to push your favorite local pro out of the cash when the tour drops by your neck of the woods this season.
Silver Lätt
Silver LättAge Going into 2022: 27
Country: Estonia
Disc Sponsor: Latitude 64
Player Rating: 1007
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: AJ Carey, Zach Melton, Lance Brown, Nate Perkins, Gavin Babcock
Important Career Wins: 2019 EuroTour tour winner
Early Season Tour: LVC, Memorial, WACO, Belton, Texas States
Bogi’s Bio: Silver Lätt has a better sidearm than you or anyone you know. He used that weapon to take down the entire EuroTour in 2019. Blink and he might do it again.
Niko Rättyä
Niko RättyäAge Going into 2022: 24
Country: Finland
Disc Sponsor: Discmania
Player Rating: 1005
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Alan Wagner, Lance Brown, Levi Hancock, Nate Perkins, Gavin Babcock
Important Career Wins: 2021 Road to Kärkkäinen Open, 2014 Toppila Open
Early Season Tour: Texas States, Champions Cup (if qualified), Music City, Jonesboro, DDO
Bogi’s Bio: Niko Rättyä is a 10 year PDGA veteran with multiple US appearances under his belt. He did place a very respectable 13th at EDGC Konopiste last year, so he might just surprise us all with a top 20 finish on tour when he’s hitting his lines and lady fortune smiles upon him. This is an actual low cost, high yield dark horse pick for when you’ve wasted/invested a bunch of the ratings cap picking Ricky to win everything inside the great state of Texas.
Max Regitnig
Max RegitnigAge Going into 2022: 27
Country: Sweden
Disc Sponsor: Discmania
Player Rating: 1001
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Alan Wagner, Lance Brown, Micah Groth, Noah Fiveash, Nate Perkins
Important Career Wins: 2021 Heatland Pennybridge Open, 2021 Lund, 2021 Bluebell Woods Open
Early Season Tour: LVC, Memorial, WACO, Texas States, Belton, Texas State, Music City, Tallahassee, Jonesboro, DDO
Bogi’s Bio: Max has the sexiest beard on tour, according to DiscGolfer Magazine. He might not make a run at the podium, but Mr. Regitnig has a more extensive tour schedule than 2019 Emerson Keith, so make sure to sleep with one eye open in 2022.
Kristo Raik
Kristo RaikAge Going into 2022: 29
Country: Estonia
Disc Sponsor: DGA
Player Rating: 1000
WATCH
Closest American Player Rating Equivalents: Alan Wagner, Lance Brown, Micah Groth, Noah Fiveash, Nate Perkins
Important Career Wins: 2021 Vooremäe, 2020 Järvakandi
Early Season Tour: Texas States, Music City, Tallahassee, Jonesboro, DDO, Masters Cup, OTB
Bogi’s Bio: Raik’s bio is lifted straight out of his own Facebook intro: “Whatever it takes, I’ll make it, I’ll do it! I’m looking for growth, always growth.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
