2023 DGPT Championship Preview: A Record Purse for the Final Act

The last stop of the 2023 Tour.

October 11, 2023 by Justin Westfall in Preview with 0 comments

After 24 events across 18 states and 3 countries, the 2023 Disc Golf Pro Tour will come to a close this weekend with the DGPT Championship. For a fourth consecutive year, the DGPT will be awarding a record payout to their MPO and FPO tour champions, with $40,000 going to this year’s winners. In total, $322,000 — also a record sum — will be disbursed amongst the 20 FPO and 32 MPO players who qualified for the event.

This year also features a new format, inspired by the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup. The top seeded players will receive bonus strokes under-par to start the semifinal rounds, with points champions Kristin Tattar and Calvin Heimburg starting the furthest under-par. All competitors will play 36 holes over two days, with the top-12 MPO and top-8 FPO scores advancing to the final two rounds. All scores will be reset to even par for the final rounds, with no players carrying any bonus strokes.

Last year, Tattar easily advanced out of the semifinal round as the top seed and cruised through the final round with little stress. Even with an OB stroke and a three-putt double-bogey on the final hole, Tattar still won by two strokes to claim the $35,000 grand prize. In MPO, Isaac Robinson and Ricky Wysocki quickly separated themselves in the finals and spent the entire round within one stroke of each other. Robinson went into the difficult hole 18 up by one stroke, but Wysocki was able to knock down a birdie putt on the edge of the circle to force a playoff. Both players walked back to 18’s tee, where Wysocki proceeded to play the hole nearly identically, carding another birdie and taking home the trophy.

Past Winners

Three Things We’ll Be Watching

1. There is certainly an advantage to being a higher seed beyond just the bonus strokes awarded. At the end of the semifinal rounds, any tiebreakers are decided by which player has the highest seed. Last year, newly crowned USDGC champion Kyle Klein missed out on the finals despite tying Gannon Buhr in the semifinal round.

Because Buhr was a higher seed, he was able to advance and Klein’s tournament came to an end. Klein walked away with $5,500 but missed out on a guaranteed $9,000 and a chance at the $35,000 grand prize. There has been at least one instance of this every year, but with the new format, there will only be one cut midway through the tournament. As players come down the back nine to close out the semifinals, lower seeded players should be pushing to get at least one stroke above the cut line to avoid losing a tiebreaker on their seeding.

2. It appears that the MPO Player of the Year contest will be decided this weekend. A 3rd place finish for Isaac Robinson at last week’s USDGC may have pushed him right in line or slightly ahead of Calvin Heimburg, who finished one stroke worse in 5th place. A win for either player would almost certainly give them the nod, but a win for Gannon Buhr could make things very interesting. Buhr has more wins than either player but has not been nearly as consistent throughout the season.

If Gannon can win the tour championship, voters could be split on the decision. Likewise, if any of these players fail to advance into the finals, that could be enough to eliminate them from contention. Heimburg will carry a one stroke advantage over Robinson and a two stroke advantage over Buhr in the semifinals as the points champion.

3. Kristin Tattar’s “super-slam” may have been squashed by a playoff loss at last week’s Throw Pink Championship, but she still has an opportunity to make history this weekend. Tattar is the reigning tour champion, and no FPO player has ever been able to defend their title at the tour finale. A win would not only give Tattar that prestige, but also add another $40,000 to her already record-setting year, increasing her 2023 winnings to nearly $150,000. Starting the semifinals at 5-under par, Kristin should easily walk into the final rounds. UDisc gives the Estonian a greater than 99% chance of advancing to the final 8.

The Course: Nevin Park

Established in 2009, Nevin Park was one of the courses used during the 2012 Pro World Championships and is often referred to as a sister course to Hornet’s Nest. Due to a large infrastructure project at Hornet’s Nest, the DGPT was forced to find a new venue for last year’s tour finale and has once again returned to Nevin.

While 15 holes from last year’s layout remain, the order of the holes has been changed, and many holes have undergone small changes. Several mandatories have been added, as well as separate MPO and FPO specific baskets to increase or reduce the length of certain holes. Hole 1, 3, and 11 from last year’s layout will not be played this year, and holes 1, 17 and 18 on this year’s layout feature new designs.

The new layout plays nearly 1,000 feet longer in the FPO division, and nearly 1,800 feet longer for MPO. This track is now longer than the famed Northwood Black, though several holes come out of the woods and into the open fields. The FPO layout is also quite a bit longer than the nearby Regulator, which was used for the USWDGC just a few weeks ago.

2023 MPO: 10,770 Feet Par 66
2022 MPO: 9,002 Feet Par 63

2023 FPO: 9,445 Feet Par 69
2022 FPO: 8,471 Feet Par 66

Extended Forecast

A small chance of rain this weekend but otherwise warm temperatures. Heavier winds on Saturday and Sunday should add a layer of difficulty to the open holes.

• Thursday: Mostly sunny with highs near 80. Winds 5 to 10 mph.
• Friday: Mostly cloudy with shows late in the day, highs in the mid 70s. Winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
• Saturday: Showers early then partly cloudy in the afternoon, highs near 80. Winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
• Sunday: Mostly sunny with highs near 70. Winds 10 to 15 mph.