From the desk of Owl P. Jackson, Esq.
March 25, 2025 by Owl P. Jackson, Esq. in Opinion, Recap
I peer out from beneath the brim of my finest Stetson…and what do I see? Two blown leads—that, and the worst scoring hole of all time. In my opinion, ladies and gentlemen, please—congratulations to the top 10 storylines, this year…for MVP’s…the Open at Austin, presented by Flight Factory. Congratulations.
1. Niklas runs it back
“If your callin’ ’bout the car, I sold it.”
Feeling like déjà vu? Once again, it all came down to the final hole in Austin with Niklas Anttila and Kyle Klein neck-and-neck. This time, there was a little more daylight, but the result was same—the Finnish Cowboy donning his latest trophy atop his head.
Niklas shot the hot round 12-under en route to a playoff with Klein. On fire from the jump, Niklas never seemed to put his putter on the ground. From shockingly accurate rollers to his signature buttery backhand, he slowly marched his way to the top of the leaderboard. His two closing drives on 18 were beautifully laced down the fairway, and it all felt eerily similar as he tossed in the winning putt from a familiar stance along the wood line.
The crowd congratulated Finland’s finest, chanting, “Niklas! Niklas! Niklas.” He told DGN’s Nate Perkins after the round, “It felt like a home crowd.” The Finnish Cowboy is back!
2. Kyle Klein lets one slip away
“If this is Tuesday night, I’m bowlin’.”
As much as Niklas deserves credit for the win, Klein let this one slip through his fingers. He led the field after each of the first three rounds and went into Sunday with a 5-stroke lead over Anttila. You could sense the frustration on the putting green. From Kyle’s Instagram, “It truly felt like an out of body experience around the basket. It felt like no matter how I tried to adjust my putt, nothing felt comfortable.”
Kyle is one of the most underrated and easily forgotten winners on tour. It could be that he is always the third guy at Discmania—first behind Simon and Eagle, and now behind Buhr and Anttila. Either way, he hasn’t brought home a win since 2023’s USDGC, and I guarantee he is hungry and eager to prove he deserved to be mentioned with the rest of the big boys.
3. Holyn hangs on
“If you’ve got somethin’ to sell, you’re wastin’ your time. I’m not buyin’.”
As the final putt fell, Holyn let out a visible sigh of relief. Like Klein, she had watched her considerable lead evaporate over the course of 18 holes. She went into Sunday with a 6-stroke lead, and Kristin Lätt was really the only person remotely close enough to challenge her. On the first hole, she extended that lead to eight and it felt like time to turn off the broadcast.
What followed, however, was a stunning round where Holyn seemed to hand the tournament to Kristin, but Kristin wouldn’t take it. Every time you felt the momentum swinging in one direction, it would fizzle out. It all made for a highly entertaining—and stressful for Holyn—final stretch. Wearing her trophy, she finally exhaled, “Year-ago-me would have probably crumbled in the woods there and wanted to give up on it, but there was no question I wanted to keep fighting.”
4. Kristin falls short
“If it’s Friday night, I’m at the ball game.”
Even after two horrible blowups on hole 18 at Sprinkle Valley (+6, +5), I still thought Kristin was going to claw her way back to a win. She never seemed to get it rolling, though. Her signature upshot skills were not nearly as crisp as they usually are. And yet, she still almost hit a 60-footer to force a playoff. Kristin later wrote, “I tried to make a push in the final round, but I feel like my game continued to be up and down and just wasn’t quite in ‘beast mode’ enough to take the title.”
5. Hole 18
“And first thing Saturday, if it don’t rain, I’m headed out to the lake and I’ll be gone all weekend long.”
Kristin wasn’t the only person who struggled on hole 18 at Sprinkle Valley. The FPO field averaged more than 3 strokes over par—a very scary number, especially for a course with “sprinkle” in the name. From coverage, it was a little difficult to understand why the men and women struggled so much with this hole. Was it more of a blind shot to the green than it appeared? Was the island green too small? Couldn’t they just “pull a Simon” and throttle it 100 feet past the pin to get to the drop zone?
It seems like it can’t possibly be a good hole design when the scores are that bad across the board. As they say, the proof is in the pudding. However, I have a feeling that if Kristin got par both days, people would just blame it on the rest of the FPO. So, what to do with hole 18? Honestly, I hope they just keep it as is—warts and all. Disc golf holes don’t need to average par. If we end up back at Sprinkle Valley next year, I, for one, will love hole 18 menacingly lingering in the distance. It is the most memorable part of the course besides the Sprinkle Valley sign. Plus, some of the best sports memories come from watching people fail—whether it’s A.B. at the European Open or the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl.
6. Good weekend for Discmania
“If your callin’ ’bout my heart, it’s still yours.”
There has been a lot of talk this year about the potential (and realized) dominance of Discraft, especially in the MPO field. In Austin on Sunday, after Anthony Barela’s deflating opening hole, it was all about Discmania. Joining Anttila and Klein was world #1 Gannon Buhr. They all finished on the podium and Gannon almost hit a 160-foot putt (yes, putt) for eagle to join them in the playoff.
But don’t you go dancin’ on Discraft’s grave just yet. Despite missing the podium, they still had 5 players in the top 10 and 9 in the top 21. And no, “top 21” isn’t a thing, but I’m trying to make a point.
7. Missing the cut
“I should’ve listened to it a little more.”
Handfuls of notable names missed the cut in the year’s first four-rounder. Sunday was missing fan favorites like Eagle McMahon, Paul Ulibarri, and Big Jerm. Players like Simon Lizotte and Nikko Locastro went from standing on the podium to lying on the couch in less than a week’s time. In FPO, the names weren’t as surprising, but I will note that Cadence Burge has missed her first top 10 of the season, finishing in 38th and well below the cut.
8. DGPT+?
“Then it wouldn’t have taken me so long to know where I belong.”
The Open at Austin was the first DGPT+ event of the 2025 season. But besides the fact that it has a cut and a fourth day, does anything make an DGPT+ victory different or special? There are three more + events to come (Northwest, Ledgestone, DGLO), but the designation itself doesn’t make any of those wins more prestigious. I think the Pro Tour still has some work to do differentiating between all the tiers of events, but I hate to even suggest it. They change the event designations and points structures every single year, and no one ever remembers what is going on.
9. Unique Winners
“And by the way, boy, this is no machine your talkin’ to.”
The idea of parity in disc golf is way overblown in my opinion. We’ve been talking about its arrival for five years and it’s still not here. It’s largely the same people every week. However, we do have a nice stable of actual contenders in MPO and a small but entertaining upper echelon of FPO. This year, FPO has seen three unique winners in Ella Hansen, Kristin Lätt, and Holyn Handley. Likewise, MPO has spread its wins between Ezra Robinson, Adam Hammes, and Niklas Anttila. Let’s see how long we can keep this going. You must assume players like Eveliina, Missy, Isaac, Calvin, Ricky, and Gannon are guaranteed to get at least one.
10. Lessons from the Texas swing
“Can’t you tell? This is Austin, and I still love you.”
Mercifully, the Texas Swing was only two events this year—down from the usual dozen. Is there anything we can take away from this small sample size?
- Holyn and Kristin finished 1-2 in both Texas events, regardless of who was on top. I expect that to be the case often throughout the season. Holyn has officially emerged as the Kristin’s chief rival.
- Paige Pierce isn’t back. She went through her home state swing without one top 10 finish. That would have been shocking two years ago.
- Gannon Buhr hasn’t won yet, but he’s right there. He is the only MPO player with back-to-back top 5s.
- Simon’s gonna Simon (2nd, 55th).
Thanks for reading, everyone. See you in Nashville.
