Thunderstorms, rain will affect play this weekend.
April 3, 2025 by Justin Westfall in Preview
The Disc Golf Pro Tour resumes this week with the MVP Music City Open, beginning this Friday, April 4th, in Nashville, Tennessee. On Thursday, the tour will also host the first match play event of the season as part of the new expanded Match Play Championship. The MCO is hosted at Mill Ridge Park and first joined the Elite Series back in 2021 as the final event held on the former PDGA National Tour. In 2022, the MCO was a part of the DGPT Silver Series but regained its elite status in 2023. This event also awarded the unquestioned best trophy of the past two seasons: a Gibson electric guitar. Gibson is once again signed on as a sponsor for 2025.
For the first time this season, the potential for severe weather could lead to lengthy delays or even round suspensions.
Last year, reigning champion Simon Lizotte came into the final round with a two-stroke lead on Gannon Buhr and Paul McBeth. While McBeth played a solid round, Buhr got off to a very slow start and quickly fell out of contention. Lizotte, meanwhile, carded eight birdies on the front nine and never looked back. He would go on to win his second consecutive MCO title by five strokes. In FPO, reigning champion Kristin Lätt came into the final round tied with Holyn Handley. Lätt carded two bogeys in the first three holes before flipping a switch. Kristin proceeded to birdie five of the next six and regain the lead over Handley. With Handley struggling to card birdies, a double-bogey on hole 16 served as the final nail in the coffin as Lätt defended her title by four strokes.
Past Winners
| Year | Tier | Open | Open Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | DGPT | Simon Lizotte | Kristin Tattar |
| 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 |
Five Things We’ll Be Watching
1. During the off week, Kristin Lätt won the Jonesboro Open, an A-tier that was previously a staple on the DGPT, by 23 strokes and averaged a 1031 event rating, the highest in FPO history. Prior to Jonesboro, Lätt finished second in the Open at Austin by one stroke. In that loss, Lätt shot six-strokes worse than winner Holyn Handley on the now infamous Sprinkle Valley hole 18. One tough hole aside, it seems like everything is clicking for the Estonian who will be the clear favorite this weekend. If Lätt were to win, she would join Paige Pierce as the only players to three-peat a DGPT event.
2. Speaking of potential three-peats, Simon Lizotte has an opportunity to become the first ever MPO player to accomplish that feat at DGPT events. In 2023, Lizotte birdied the final eight holes to win by one stroke from the chase card. Last year was a much more dominant performance, where he entered the final round with a lead and defeated Paul McBeth by five shots. One year later, McBeth is still searching for his first win in over 600 days and has a great opportunity to snap that streak this weekend. Paul has quietly returned to form, averaging a 1049 rating to start this season. More importantly, he’s tied for the highest birdie rate on tour and is bogeying just 9% of holes.
3. Prior to Lizotte’s recent success, this event was historically dominated by Tennessee native Chris Dickerson. In nine career starts, Dickerson has four MCO wins and has never finished worse than 4th. From 2018-2022, Dickerson had one Elite or Major win each season but has not found the winners circle in nearly three years. Given his past success at Mill Ridge, this weekend will provide his best chance to end that streak.
4. Coming off her first win of the season, Holyn Handley will be looking to conquer some demons at Mill Ridge. Handley has led in the final round of this event each of the past two seasons but is yet to earn a win. Even with a poor final round, Handley averaged a 1003 event rating in her loss last year. That tournament remains the highest event rating of her career. Even in her Open at Austin win, Handley averaged just a 942 rating in the final round. If Holyn wants to contend with Kristin Lätt on a more consistent basis, she needs to find a way to overcome the final round jitters that have plagued her throughout her young career.
5. The first round of the new Match Play Championship will be held on Thursday prior to the start of the MCO (thunderstorms permitting). The DGPT had previously held single weekend Match Play Championships in 2021 and 2022. This year, 16 MPO and 16 FPO players will compete in group play at four different tour stops throughout the season to earn a spot in the Match Play Championship at Hornets Nest this November. Match play has seen a bit of a revival in traditional golf over recent years with the Match series on TNT as well as the new Tech Golf League. Some of the more notable matchups this weekend include Gannon Buhr v. Anthony Barela, Ricky Wysocki v. Paul McBeth, Kristin Lätt v. Silva Saarinen, and Holyn Handley v. Ella Hansen.
The Course
Mill Ridge offers a variety of both open and wooded holes as well as elevation changes and plenty of obstacles to navigate. For the MPO division, it will be the longest course played to this point in the season by a good margin.
The Mill Ridge layout has gone through many iterations for the MCO and this year is no exception. A few existing holes have been altered this year along with several OB lines, tee placements, and basket locations. While most of the holes from the 2024 layout remain, the ordering of the holes has been changed.
2025 MPO: 10,788 Feet Par 67
2024 MPO: 11,059 Feet Par 67
2025 FPO: 9,184 Feet Par 67
2024 FPO: 9,577 Feet Par 67
Extended Forecast
Forecasts are rarely this bleak. Thunderstorms and severe weather are expected throughout the weekend with the potential for flash flooding and tornado warnings. Nashville is expected to get 5-6″ of rain from Wednesday to Sunday, which could exacerbate soggy ground issues that Mill Ridge has faced historically.
Thursday (Match Play): Showers and thunderstorms likely with a potential for severe weather. Highs in the lower 70s. Winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Friday: Cloudy early with partly sunny skies in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 80s. Winds 10 to 20 mph.
Saturday: Isolated thunderstorms early with the potential for more severe thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 70s. Winds 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Sunday: Light rain in the morning with showers continuing in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 50s. Winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
