Kristin Lätt faces more than a chance to win her 8th major.
July 16, 2025 by Josh Mansfield in Opinion
Two years ago, Kristin Lätt (then Tattar), in the shadow of the towering arch of the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds, was crowned the winner of the European Disc Golf Championships. Presenting the award was the President of Estonia, Alar Karis.
After starting the final round 16 strokes ahead of second place Silva Saarinen, Lätt struggled her way through a 910-rated final round, just enough for her to hold onto the win. After her drive landed in bounds on the 18th, Kristin broke down in front of hundreds of spectators. In the midst of perhaps the greatest FPO season ever recorded, already halfway to a grand slam, it was the tournament at home, at the hallowed grounds of the Tallinn Song Festival, that seemed to touch Kristin on a profound level.
Now, two years later, Estonia hosts its first major. And the weight of a nation sits on Kristin’s shoulders.
It takes less than five minutes after leaving the airport to see the first advertisement for the European Disc Golf Festival. The featured athlete is, of course, Kristin.
“Estonia is a small country and so when one of our athletes performs well on the international stage, they become a big deal,” said Matthias Vutt, Director of Operations for the European Disc Golf Festival and Lätt’s former manager, on The Upshot podcast.
It isn’t just the 200+ advertisements found on buildings, billboards, and bus stops that points to Kristin’s importance to this tournament. The player warm-up area features Kristin next to the title sponsor. Fans had the ability to purchase a Kristin Latt Limited Edition Fan Pass. Her tent in the vendor village has a prime spot on the way to the event grounds. It’s hard to find a spot on the tournament grounds where you can’t see a picture of her.
“Kristin being in contention plays a big role in our spectator estimates for Saturday and Sunday,” Vutt said. “She plays well, and local media will be covering it, and we could see thousands more people than if Kristin is out of contention.”
Over the past two years, Kristin has reached recognition on a national scale that American disc golf only dreams of one day achieving. With sponsors like Porsche and Nike, she models a side of the game that closely resembles other professional sports.
And in the past two years, this tournament would have felt like Kristin’s to lose. But things are different this year. Kristin is coming off of a career-worst putting performance at the Krokhol Open. She has a broken toe that had her considering whether to even play this weekend. Not to mention that her competition is playing better than ever. Kristin, unquestionably the best FPO player of the previous two seasons, has looked quite human over the past two months. While the local oddsmakers list Kristin as the favorite, it’s only by a tiny margin.
To be sure, this tournament’s success doesn’t hinge on Kristin’s performance. The European Disc Golf Festival appears to be on the precipice of redefining what a professional disc golf event should look like. The more than four kilometers of sponsorship banners, new sod that 120 volunteers laid after the Tallinn Song Festival mangled the turf of several holes, and the world class player facilities all point to a level of professionalism that disc golf may never have seen before.
But still, standing at the top of the empty amphitheater, with Kristin’s larger-than-life picture overlooking the arena, one can’t help but consider the importance of this tournament for her. When Kristin walks out of that tunnel on Thursday, the applause will certainly be raucous.
But with the fervor come the expectations of an entire county. As an icon in Estonian sports, Kristin carries a pressure perhaps no other disc golfer has ever experienced. It’s a burden born from greatness, but one that will undoubtedly keep every fan who attends and everyone watching at home on the edge of their seat. And when the final putt drops on Sunday, it has the chance to be a defining moment for both Kristin and Estonia.
