Eveliina makes it three straight and Hammes wins another
July 10, 2025 by Kingsley Flett in Analysis, Recap
Niklas Anttila got his fourth win of the season, Adam Hammes chalked up his second, and Eveliina Salonen made it three-in-a-row in the first two tournaments of the Norway swing of the European leg of the DGPT (and the European Championships). The majestic Central Fjordlands ran the full gamut of weather from wild wind and icy rain to warm sunshine and calm conditions over the two weekends. Here’s the top 10 storylines from two weeks of disc golf from where the Vikings roamed.
1. Every Hole a Painting
In the endlessly pointless argument over which is the most beautiful disc golf course in the world, Vasset and Øverås Disc Golf Parks must both surely be in the discussion. The Disc Golf Network coverage of both the European Championships and the PCS Open featured frame after frame composed with Fibonacci-like ratios: the guardian trees and basket arranged just so on the little peninsulas on the shores of the Vassetvatnet with the view of the mountain Tverrfjellet and its peak Vardane to the south. Then the views out over the Midfjorden through the gates of Valhalla. If a broadcast of a tournament is able to make a viewer think time after time: ‘Oh wow I’d love to throw that hole,’ then something is being done right. Norway does have some beautiful courses.
2. The Albatrace
Some are calling it the best shot they’ve ever seen in disc golf. In round two of the European Championships, Eveliina Salonen, on the par-4, 407 foot hole 12, took the direct route across the water and looked to have flown the green before the basket caught the disc.
“I think it’s the craziest thing I’ve ever done on a disc golf course,” Salonen said. “I just threw it on that line. I was telling my card mates before that throw that it’s my water disc and I’m not sure how it’s going to fly.”
For future reference, the disc flipped up and tracked slightly right before a gradual fade. How it finishes to the ground? Yet to be determined.
3. The Honor of National Selection
Outside of the USA, disc golf is developing much more along the lines of national representation. The European Championships is a clear example of this. It is not an event someone can just qualify and turn up to play on an individual basis. Each competitor was part of a team assembled by their national governing body. The sight of all the country uniforms gave the bi-annual event a certain added prestige. The presence of six different nations in the MPO top 10 and 5 in FPO shows the extent of growth of the game in Europe.
“It is significant for sure because I feel like Europeans value this title very much,” said Kristin Lätt. “You have to make your national team, which is an honor. Not everyone can come here so anybody who made it here – congratulations.”
“It feels special and it’s always an honour to represent your home country,” said Eveliina Salonen.
4. The Value of a Mid-Season Break
Any pro sporting tour can be a grind, especially in disc golf, where the earnings aren’t quite to the level of being able to do it in the kind of luxury that pro golfers or tennis players can afford. Throw in months away from home in a foreign country and different climate and it’s no wonder that some of the European players get worn down. This was never so evident than in the contrast in visible energy levels between Kristin Lätt and Eveliina Salonen this past week. Nursing a sore toe and the remnants of a bad cold picked up stateside, Kristin was clearly fatigued. Eveliina, meanwhile, took a mid-season break to rest and practice at home in preparation for the intense part of the European season which features the World Championships in her home country of Finland this year. Kristin’s last round collapse in the PCS Open might be the bottoming-out she needs for a complete mental reset — or it could be the sign of burnout that she may not recover from in time for the World Championships. Time will tell.
5. How Close to a European MPO World Champion Are We?
After his dominant, coast to coast, 16-stroke win in the European Championships, Niklas Anttila left no doubt about his focus: “I have Finnish Championships, I have European Championships, and something is missing. It’s coming up in four weeks.”
On a weekend in Langevåg where the wind was squashing drives down into the water or lifting them out of bounds, Antilla only went over par on 4 of the 72 holes played for the tournament. With five big wins already on the Pro Tour this year, he will certainly be a contender in Tampere and Nokia at the end of the month, although against a more stacked field at the PCS Open a week later, he only managed 11th place, sitting outside the top 10 that featured four other Europeans and six visiting Americans.
Finn Miio Hämäläinen finished two strokes back from PCS winner Adam Hammes, while fellow Finns Daniel Davidsson, Lauri Lehtinen, and Jesse Nieminen were part of the cluster of six players who tied for third in Øverås. The USA/Europe split in the top 20 in the PCS Open was 11/9. We’ll see what happens as a few more pros fly in across the Atlantic and get acclimatized.
6. Hammes Holds Aloft the Axe
Adam Hammes’ win in the PCS Open wasn’t quite a coast to coast affair. He took a two stroke round one lead further away from most of his chasers, apart from Gannon Buhr who shot a 1071 rated, 11-under-par 53 to climb to within a stroke of Hammes on moving day. On the final day, a two stroke swing on hole 9 saw Buhr take the lead before Hammes drew back level with 6 holes to play. The key moment came on hole 16 when Buhr missed off the tee and then threw out of bounds in his scramble to match Hammes.
“It was a three stroke swing and if you don’t screw up anything, you’re gonna win,” said Hammes. “You go par-par, you’re winning.”
But then Hammes let Buhr back in by missing the fairway twice on his way to a bogey on 17.
“At 17, the nerves really got to me and I kept going inside, inside, and eventually I just sacrificed and took the bogey. But then I clutched up on 18.”
On 18 it came down to a distance contest, where Hammes threw his forehand further than Buhr, forcing Gannon to approach the tricky hole 18 green first. When Buhr’s approach shot sailed out of bounds, Hammes could have laid up for par to beat Buhr but had Miio Hämäläinen from the chase card nervously waiting one stroke back to see if he’d be in a playoff. Hammes removed any doubt by parking it next to the tractor for a birdie and the win.
“I feel amazing,” Hammes said after the win. “To win in Europe, especially Norway. Of all the countries I’ve been to in Europe, Norway’s got a special place in my heart and to win PCS is a dream come true.”
7. Eveliina Swoops as Kristin Stumbles
Kristin Lätt blowing a 6 stroke lead in the final round at the PCS Open was unexpected to say the least. But the seeds for the collapse were sewn earlier in the tournament. After dominating round one and opening an almost unassailable lead with one hole to play, Kristen threw a triple bogey on hole 18 kept the door just slightly ajar. Similarly, but not as dramatically in round two, Kristin let a couple of strokes slip on the final hole to keep her chasers thinking they were in with a chance. Then it turned out that a slight chance was all Eveliina needed, as she carded nine birdies between holes 4 and 17 in the final round to streak away for a three stroke win over Lätt and Anniken Steen.
8. Kristin’s Rollercoaster
Followers of Kristin Lätt don’t need to speculate that she might be wrestling with some emotional lows at the moment. If you listen closely during her interviews, she will tell you.
After round two at the European Championship, Kristin said, “It’s tough to like walk and cry all the time on the course, but, somehow, I’m doing it. Somehow, I’m alive and I’m here and I plan on playing some more so yeah – just keeping it together. The inner feeling is not where it’s supposed to be for me. It’s a tough stretch for me and I feel like doing it publicly is even tougher. I’m constantly trying to figure out how to move forward. But I feel like the best way is to sort of surrender; not to ignore, but to just understand that you cannot be at your peak all the time. You just have to accept these days, and it makes you humble.”
Here’s hoping Kristin finds some answers in the coming weeks.
9. Let’s Go Iida
Iida Lehtomäki, the 15-year-old from Petäjävesi, Finland, was the talk of the PCS Open after round two, where she matched Kristin Lätt’s 5-under-par 61 to climb three places into second.
“I feel great,” Lehtomäki said after the round. “I played two-down yesterday and it pretty much felt the same. I don’t have any expectations for myself because I don’t want to make pressure for myself. Of course, I would love to play well but I’m here to have fun and hang out with my friends.”
The talent coming up in FPO on both sides of the Atlantic is astounding.
10. Long Live the Fjordland Courses
The European Championships was held on the 20th Anniversary of Vasset Diskgolfpark. Originally designed by Espen Møkkelgjerd and Sune Wensel in 2005, the course was host to the original Sula Open and has been a feature in Norwegian disc golf since. No doubt it is on plenty of disc golfers’ bucket lists along with a few other courses in Norway. Just remember to pack a good rain jacket, people.
Also, is it just me, or are privately owned courses higher in the quirkiness quotient? It seems like a private owner is able to run with a few crazy ideas that might die in a committee. I can imagine a club board saying to Sivert Øveraas, owner of Øverås Disc Golf Park, “No Sivert, you can’t weld giant iron gates together and name it after a place in the mythical Norse afterlife; and no, you can’t put a tractor on hole 18.” Long live the quirky, I say.
Now we travel across Norway to just south of Oslo. See you all in Krokhol.
