The Tour heads back to the Midwest.
June 12, 2025 by Justin Westfall in Preview
The Disc Golf Pro Tour returns to the Midwest this week for the Preserve Championship in Clearwater, Minnesota. Most players had to travel nearly 1,700 miles from Portland to Clearwater following the Northwest Disc Golf Championship. That pales in comparison, however, to the 4,300 miles traveled by those who played last week’s Ale Open in Sweden. Included in that list are reigning MPO champion Ricky Wysocki, Kristin Lätt, and Silva Saarinen.
The Preserve Championship was born in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, when course designer Cale Leiviska purchased an abandoned golf course along the banks of the Mississippi river and began turning it into a disc golf destination. The Airborn Disc Golf Preserve sits an hour northwest of the Twin Cities and features three courses which are combined into the championship level Black Bear layout. In 2024, Leiviska sold the property but remains the course designer and heavily involved in this event.
Last year, reigning champion Ricky Wysocki came into the final round one stroke behind Isaac Robinson and two back of leader Kyle Klein. At the halfway point, Klein and Robinson were tied at the top with Wysocki and Gannon Buhr just one stroke back. Both Robinson and Buhr took a double bogey on hole 13, leaving Wysocki tied with Klein. A bogey for Klein on hole 17 gave Wysocki a two stroke lead, and he was able to play the attackable hole 18 for birdie to secure back-to-back titles.
In FPO, Missy Gannon held a two stroke lead on Holyn Handley going into the final round. Handley came out hot, birdieing six of the first 10 holes to take the lead from Gannon. Holyn hit a wall coming down the stretch, though, taking a bogey on 14 and a double bogey on 15 to give Missy a three stroke lead with three holes to play. Gannon was able to coast in and collect her third win of the season.
Past Winners
| Year | Tier | MPO | FPO |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | DGPT | Ricky Wysocki | Missy Gannon |
| 2023 | DGPT | Ricky Wysocki | Catrina Allen |
| 2022 | DGPT | Bradley Williams | Paige Pierce |
| 2021 | DGPT | Ricky Wysocki | Kristin Tattar |
| 2020 | DGPT | Nikko Locastro | Paige Pierce |
Four Things We’ll Be Watching
1. Still looking for his first win since July 2024, Ricky Wysocki returns to a course that he has historically dominated. Wysocki has finished 1st, 2nd, 1st, and 1st at this event during the past four seasons. Over that span, he has shot 136 strokes under par and carded just nine bogeys. The mix of wooded and open holes on the Black Bear course are the perfect venue for Wysocki to show off his dynamic skill set. The question is whether traveling over 9,000 miles to and from Sweden in the past week will leave the three-time champion feeling sluggish. A three-peat and fourth career title at the Preserve would certainly help alleviate the sting of coming up short at Ale.
2. Coming off a win at the Northwest Disc Golf Championship, Gannon Buhr now faces a course he has been unable to crack to this point in his career. In four career starts at the Preserve, Buhr has finished inside the top 10 each year but has never earned a podium finish. The same goes for Anthony Barela, who is seeking a bounce back performance after a heartbreaking loss to Buhr two weeks ago. AB has finished 1st or 2nd in each of the past three events, and his skillset translates well to the Black Bear course. While Kyle Klein hasn’t been quite as consistent at the Preserve, he earned podium finishes here in 2022 and 2024. With four top 5 finishes in his past five events, he may be primed for his first DGPT win in over two years.
3. Both Kristin Lätt and Silva Saarinen have made the trip back to the U.S. following the Ale Open. Last week, Saarinen hit a major milestone in her career when she finally earned a win over Lätt. The question is whether she can keep that momentum rolling and earn a win in an even more competitive field. While defeating Lätt was clearly her biggest obstacle, players like Holyn Handley and Missy Gannon have also earned multiple wins and consistently finished ahead of Saarinen until recently. No one is expecting the Finn to go back-to-back this week, but doing so would certainly make a big statement.
4. There’s no denying that both Holyn Handley and Missy Gannon are playing terrific right now. Gannon has five consecutive top five finishes including two wins. The same is true for Holyn, who has three total wins on the season and is yet to miss the top 5. Missy will be playing for a repeat win this weekend while Holyn is certainly looking for some revenge after coming up short here last season. If the Europeans come out a bit sluggish from their trip back west, expect Missy and Holyn to take advantage coming off a week of rest.
The Course
The Black Bear layout at the Airborn Disc Golf Preserve offers a good mix of open and wooded holes, and requires several water-carries throughout the round. This event has traditionally been birdie or die in the MPO division, with the highest winning three round score being -32 back in 2023. This year there are a number of changes to the layout, mostly in the middle third of the course. A couple of new holes will be introduced this year, as well as two alternate pin positions that will be used for round 2. Both of these alternate pins are relatively small changes, moving the basket just slightly from the A positions.
2025 MPO A: 10,664 Feet Par 66
2025 MPO B: 10,639 Feet Par 66
2024 MPO: 10,743 Foot Par 66
2025 FPO A: 9,415 Feet Par 68
2025 FPO B: 9,390 Feet Par 68
2024 FPO: 9,310 Foot Par 66
Extended Forecast
Don’t expect any sunshine this weekend. Rain is likely for the opening round, but temperatures should warm up a bit throughout the weekend.
Friday: Steady rain throughout the day with highs in the upper 50s. Winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Saturday: Overcast with highs in the mid 60s. Winds 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday: Cloudy with highs in the mid 70s. Winds 5 to 10 mph.
