An upgraded Mill Ridge track.
April 6, 2023 by Justin Westfall in Preview with 0 comments
After a long Texas swing and the first break in the Disc Golf Pro Tour season, the Elite Series will resume in Nashville, Tennessee, this weekend for the Music City Open. The MCO has been elevated this year from a Silver to an Elite event, after holding a spot on the former PDGA National Tour in 2021. The redesigned course at Mill Ridge Park features a healthy dose of trees, tunnel shots, and OB on nearly every hole.
Whether it’s keeping a hot streak alive, or digging themselves out of an early slump, everybody should be looking to fine tune their game as we gear up for the first major of the year in just two weeks. For any players not participating in the Silver event next weekend, this will be their last chance to get some valuable reps in before heading to Appling for the Champions Cup.
Past Winners
| Year | Tier | Open | Open Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | DGPT | Simon Lizotte | Kristin Tattar |
| 2022 | DGPT Silver | Chris Dickerson | Missy Gannon |
| 2021 | NT | Mason Ford | Hailey King |
| 2020 | A | Alden Harris | Holly Finley |
| 2019 | A | Chris Dickerson | Catrina Allen |
| 2018 | A | Chris Dickerson | Madison Walker |
| 2017 | A/B | Chris Dickerson | Sara Lamberson |
| 2016 | B | Todd Bagwell | Kelly Tucker |
| 2015 | B | Simon Lizotte | Paige Pierce |
| 2014 | B | Will Schusterick | Kelly Jenkins |
| 2013 | A | Matt Orum | Paige Pierce |
| 2012 | B | Cam Colglazier | Ketley Rarick |
| 2011 | B | Will Schusterick | Catrina Allen |
| 2010 | B | Ken Climo | Amanda Duncan |
Four Things We’ll Be Watching
- Calvin Heimburg has been on a tear to start the season, racking up wins in Las Vegas and Houston alongside a pair of podium finishes in Waco and Austin. Heimburg currently leads all players in fairway hits, circles in regulation, birdie percentage, and is putting as well as he ever has. Calvin has only played the MCO one time back in 2019, finishing in 2nd place behind Chris Dickerson. All eyes will be on Vinny this weekend to see if he can continue this level of play coming off the first break in the season.
- After a short trip home, Kristin Tattar will be back on tour this weekend in Nashville. Despite a win in Waco, Tattar’s season has been a bit down from the highs of her brilliance in 2022. While she leads the division in birdie percentage, her scramble percentage has dropped significantly from 2022, and those mistakes are leading to extra strokes on the scorecard. It’s worth noting that Kristin did not pick up a win until the Jonesboro Open last year, so a win this weekend would quickly make her early season struggles seem much less relevant.
- Chris Dickerson has played the MCO six times in his career, and won the event four times. Dickerson played just two events in Texas, finishing 22nd in Waco and 19th in Austin. The Tennessee native has not earned a win since the Champions Cup last year, which was his 3rd win in just six events to start the year. Chris was averaging a 1050 rating to that point in the season, but has averaged just a 1037 rating since then. Perhaps a familiar course is exactly what he needs to get his game back to a high level.
- It’s yet another week of #WysockiWatch, as Ricky Wysocki continues to rehab an inflamed wrist. On Monday, Wysocki posted to Instagram and made it seem as if he was doubtful to play the MCO, but quickly followed up with another video saying the wrist is improving and he hopes to play. On Tuesday, Ricky played a full practice round and said he hopes to be 100% by the weekend, so things seem to finally be trending in the right direction. On The Upshot on Thursday in an interview recorded Wednesday, Wysocki said he would decide Thursday afternoon on whether or not to play. Wysocki dropped out of the Open at Austin last month and later said he rushed his return, so we’ll be anxious to see if the 2022 Player of the Year can not only play in Nashville but perform up to his standard.
Course Changes
The layouts at Mill Ridge have been completely revamped for this year’s event. While 13 holes from the new layout were played last year, many of them have been modified, and none of the hole numbers match up with the 2022 layout. The short and technical hole 1 has been eliminated, and instead competitors will start their rounds with a longer par 4 that previously played as hole number 3. Similarly, the previous hole 18 has been eliminated and players will finish their round on the old hole 2, which plays as a Par 4 in the MPO division and Par 5 in the FPO division. The new layouts are both longer and more difficult than previous iterations. One thing that hasn’t changed is the punishing rough, which is dense and full of thorns (though it has been cleaned up quite a bit), giving players a little extra incentive to keep the disc in the fairways.
2023 MPO: 9,977 feet Par 65
2023 FPO: 8,733 feet Par 66
2022 MPO: 9,292 feet Par 64
2022 FPO: 8,261 feet Par 65
Extended Forecast
With rain falling Wednesday and Thursday, conditions are slick and, in some places, swampy. Keep an eye out for some potentially slippery fairways when players hit the course for round one this Friday.
Friday: Overcast with highs near 60. Winds 10-15mph.
Saturday: Showers early with highs in the mid 60s. Winds 5-10mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Sunday: Partly cloudy with highs in the lower 70s. Winds 5-10mph.
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