Toboggan is a tour staple
September 4, 2024 by Justin Westfall in Preview with 0 comments
After a brief hiatus for the PDGA World Championships, the Disc Golf Pro Tour resumes this week for the final regular season event of the year. The 2024 Discraft Great Lakes Open begins this Thursday, September 5th, in Milford, Michigan. As the final Elite+ event of the season, the tournament will consist of four rounds — all played on the Toboggan course.
DGLO joined the PDGA National Tour in 2003 and has been played on nine different courses in seven different cities. The Great Lakes Open dates all the way back to 1983, though the event itself actually began in 1982, as a memorial for a deceased hamster named Weenie. The 1st Annual Weenie Memorial was played on August 29th, 1982, and one year later Discraft stepped in to sponsor the event, and the name was changed to the Great Lakes Open. After falling off the National Tour schedule for several years, DGLO became a part of the DGPT in 2018 and has been a part of the schedule ever since. In 2021, Discraft hired Ledgestone Tournament Director Nate Heinold to run DGLO as well.
Last year, Simon Lizotte and two-time DGLO champion Eagle McMahon entered the final round tied for the lead. Lizotte quickly gained a two-stroke advantage with a birdie on hole one after McMahon’s tee shot went out of bounds, leading to an early bogey. Their scorecards remained nearly identical until hole 16, a tricky downhill par 3 onto a small green that’s lined with OB. McMahon had the tee first and came up short OB, forcing him to the drop zone with a difficult putt for par. By rule, the drop zone was optional if the tee shot crossed in bounds at any point. Taking advantage of this, Lizotte proceeded to send a driver well out of bounds, but directly over the back of the green, leaving himself an extremely short putt for par. McMahon would go on to bogey, and Lizotte was able to coast in with a three-stroke victory.
In FPO, Ohn Scoggins came into the final day with a six-stroke lead on Ella Hansen. Despite a good final round from Hansen, she was only able to grab four strokes on Scoggins, who played conservatively due to her lead. The win marked Scoggins’ first career Elite series win, and she averaged a 1000 event rating in the process.
Past Winners
| PDGA Tier | MPO Winner | FPO Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | DGPT | Simon Lizotte | Ohn Scoggins |
| 2022 | DGPT | Calvin Heimburg | Natalie Ryan |
| 2021 | DGPT | Eagle McMahon | Kristin Tattar |
| 2020 | DGPT | Eagle McMahon | Paige Pierce |
| 2019 | DGPT | Paul McBeth | Paige Pierce |
| 2018 | DGPT | Paul McBeth | Sarah Hokom |
| 2017 | A | Ziggy Bierekoven | Krystal Fromm |
| 2016 | A | Reid Frescura | Catrina Allen |
| 2015 | A | Ben Callaway | Catrina Allen |
| 2014 | A | Tyler Horne | Catrina Allen |
| 2013 | NT | Ricky Wysocki | Sarah Hokom |
| 2012 | A | Jon Perry | Catrina Allen |
| 2011 | B | Tyler Horne | n/a |
| 2010 | B | Mike Raley | Des Reading |
| 2009 | A | Mike Raley | Elaine King |
| 2008 | A | Al 'Sugar' Schack | Angela Tschiggfrie |
| 2007 | NT | Cale Leiviska | Des Reading |
| 2006 | NT | Josh Anthon | Des Reading |
| 2005 | NT | Scott Martin | Juliana Korver |
| 2004 | NT | Cam Todd | Des Reading |
| 2003 | NT | Barry Schultz | Juliana Korver |
| 2002 | A | Shawn Sinclair | Leslie Herndon |
| 2001 | A | Scott Martin | Elaine King |
| 2000 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 1999 | A | Ken Climo | Juliana Korver |
| 1998 | A | Ken Climo | Elaine King |
| 1997 | A | Ken Climo | Elaine King |
| 1996 | A | Ken Climo | Anni Kreml |
| 1995 | A | Ken Climo | Becky Powell |
| 1994 | B | Jeff Malton | Elaine King |
| 1993 | B | Steve Kohman | Molly Morrow |
| 1992 | A | Dan Ginnelly | Sharon Jenkins |
| 1991 | C | Steve Wisecup | Elaine King |
| 1990 | C | Dan Ginnelly | Sharon Jenkins |
| 1989 | C | Slate Paul | Elaine King |
| 1988 | C | Joe Eagan | Elaine King |
| 1987 | C | Steve Wisecup | Elaine King |
| 1986 | C | Bob Huston/Kevin Stewart | Gail McColl |
| 1985 | C | Bob Harris | n/a |
| 1984 | C | Joe Eagan | n/a |
Four Things We’ll Be Watching
1. Since becoming the first ever 1000-rated woman in PDGA history, Kristin Tattar has seen her momentum grind to a halt. One year removed from a sweep of the Major schedule, Tattar came away with just one Major victory this season, and it mostly came as a result of the players ahead of her performing poorly in the final round. Tattar finished the World Championships in 3rd place with a 990 event rating and had several uncharacteristically shaky moments early in the tournament. The Estonian picked things up a tad last weekend at the CCR Open, where she finished second to Ohn Scoggins and averaged a 997 event rating. While some may look at her 1041-rated second round as a positive step forward, it’s also another example of inconsistent play from a player who has been anything but over the last few years. Tattar now returns to the site of her first career DGPT win back in 2021, where she put up a terrific performance in a close battle with Paige Pierce. In many ways that event marked a passing of the torch, as Tattar has dominated the FPO division ever since. With just five events remaining, we’ll be eager to see if Kristin can return to form late in the season, or if inconsistent play will continue to plague her.
2. Last year’s event offered a showdown between two of the sport’s most popular players and a pair of close friends in Simon Lizotte and Eagle McMahon. Lizotte has already defended one title this year at the Music City Open and now has the opportunity to repeat his other victory from last season. Simon has finished in the top 10 at this event each of the past three years and is coming off a solid performance at the World Championships, where he finished in 7th and just four-strokes off of 2nd place. McMahon’s 2024 campaign has been rough from the start, and prior to Worlds he had averaged under a 1010 rating in three of his prior four events. Things seem to be looking up for McMahon after a podium finish at Worlds and averaging a 1051 rating through the final four rounds. With two wins and one second place finish at this event, it might be difficult to pick against McMahon despite his struggles this season. Expect strong performances from both players, and if things go well, we could see yet another battle between the MVP teammates.
3. Reigning champion Ohn Scoggins seems to be in good form after defeating Kristin Tattar at last week’s CCR Open. Scoggins also has a recipe for success at Toboggan despite the course length and extreme elevation changes. She has led the field in strokes gained putting each of the past two years and carded the lowest number of OB strokes. If that remains the case this year, Scoggins will have a great opportunity to repeat as champion. One player that should be looking to mimic that game plan is Holyn Handley, who is coming off a devastating loss at the World Championships. Handley threw the disc OB 12 times during the final round of Worlds and struggled to make any putts from outside of the circle. Handley has struggled to close several times in her short career, and Worlds was a difficult reminder that those demons have not yet been vanquished. She’s an extremely talented player who is going to continue finding herself in close battles down the stretch and needs to find a way to handle that pressure going forward.
4. As the final event before the playoffs begin, time is quickly running out to move up the standings and secure a spot in the DGPT Championship. Only the top 32 MPO players and top 20 FPO players are eligible to play in the tour finale, with exemptions given to lower seeded players who have won an Elite or Major event this season. Currently sitting in 29th is Luke Taylor, who just put on an incredible performance at the World Championships. As a Michigan-native, Taylor is very familiar with the Toboggan course and will need a couple more weeks of consistent play to secure his spot. The biggest MPO mover this weekend could be Eagle McMahon, who is currently on the outside looking in at 37th place. On the FPO side, Stacie Kiefer currently sits as the last player in and well back of 19th place Hailey King. Eliezra Midtlyng, Hanna Huynh and Stacie Rawnsley currently sit just outside and need strong performances over the next few weeks to push themselves inside the top 20.
Course Changes
Originally designed in 2000 for the PDGA World Championships, Kensington Toboggan is a temporary course that sits on rolling hills used for sledding in the winter months. The Toboggan is a long course with lots of open shots and extreme elevation changes. The Toboggan has hosted the U.S. Amateur Disc Golf Championships since 2002 and began hosting the pro side of the Great Lakes Open in 2013.
This year’s layouts have seen the fewest number of changes since DGLO joined the pro tour. After several big alterations last year, the most notable change to this year’s layout is the expansion of hole 16’s green, and a rule change that now makes the drop zone mandatory for any tee shot that lands OB. This is the latest in a long history of Simon Lizotte’s gameplans forcing course designers to redesign a hole.
Hole 7 will also have OB running down the entire left side of the fairway, and the alternate pin position on hole 1 will not be used this year. That leaves hole 2 as the only alternating position on the FPO layout, while the MPO side will keep its longer position on hole 11 as well. The A positions will be played on Friday and Saturday for rounds 2 and 3, and the B positions will be used on Thursday and Sunday for rounds 1 and 4.
2024 MPO A: 10,882 Feet Par 65
2023 MPO A: 10,866 Feet Par 65
2024 MPO B: 111,002 Feet Par 65
2023 MPO B: 10,957 Feet Par 65
2024 FPO A: 9,119 Feet Par 68
2023 FPO A: 9,088 Feet Par 68
2024 FPO B: 9,169 Feet Par 68
2023 FPO B: 9,109 Feet Par 68
Extended Forecast
Likely rain and some possible thunderstorms in round two should bring in some colder weather and moderate winds for the final two rounds.
Thursday: Sunny with highs in the mid 80s. Winds 5 to 10 mph.
Friday: Rain and thunderstorms with highs in the lower 70s. Winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Saturday: Showers early leading to afternoon clouds, highs near 60. Winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Sunday: Partly cloudy with highs in the mid 60s. Winds 10 to 15 mph.
