Round 1 Recap
July 17, 2025 by Josh Mansfield in News, Recap
At the conclusion of the first day at the European Disc Golf Festival, the two divisions couldn’t be in more different places.
In the MPO division, the players expected at the top of the leaderboard make up a power-packed lead card. Anthony Barela and Isaac Robinson lead the pack at 13-under par with only one bogey between the two of them. Given the length of the course and relatively open nature of many of the holes, expect this pace to be standard if weather conditions stay consistently good. Niklas Anttila also played bogey-free golf in order to secure his spot on the lead card at 12-under par. Rounding out Friday’s top card is defending EDGF champion Ricky Wysocki, who birdied the last four holes to grab a spot on the top billing.
Lead card has no room to let off the gas, though. With an additional 10 players at double digits under par and another four players at 9-under, there are a handful of names who can contend for those spots on the leaderboard. Ezra Aderhold, Paul McBeth, Calvin Heimburg, and Gannon Buhr all find themselves within four strokes of the lead. Usually, it takes a few rounds for the talent consolidation that’s common at four round majors. This year, the top pros took their place as kings of the hill and show no signs of relinquishing their title any time soon.
The story of FPO is quite the opposite. Headlining the lead card tomorrow is a Latvian disc golfer whose name is probably unfamiliar to a majority of fans. Sintija Klezberga is your leader by a pair of strokes: she’s rated 896, making her the lowest-rated player in the field, and she shot a stunning 124 points better in her round 1 effort (1020). The eye-popping stats are countless:
- She’s the lowest-rated player to lead an FPO Major since Denmark’s Lydie Hellgren (883 rated) led at the 2004 PDGA Pro Worlds.
- She’s the first player from Latvia to appear an FPO Major lead card
- She shot the best round of her career on Thursday. Her previous best was 983 — shot last Saturday at the Krokhol Open!
- Klezberga is the player with the highest PDGA number (#229526) ever to play on an FPO lead card at a Major or Elite Series. She’s just the fifth player with a PDGA number north of 200,000 to play on such a card (Nikol Mikuláštík, Julia Fors, Iida Lehtomaki, Rebecca Don).
Klezberga’s lead cardmates also bring surprising stories. Valerie Mandujano hasn’t been the same since her ankle injury. Sofia Donnecke has flashed potential before but not on the highest stage. Kona Montgomery’s 82% C1x putting — normally a weak point — earned her the final spot. All have contributed to a slightly surreal outcome. Tomorrow’s lead card combined for a total score of 25 below par while today’s feature card — Missy Gannon, Eveliina Salonen, Kristin Lätt, and Holyn Handley — scored a combined 6 strokes under par.
It’s hard not to expect a return to the mean from both FPO groups. The years and countless opportunities to play at this level are going to give the likes of Gannon and Salonen (both major winners this season) strong advantages, especially as the crowd size continues to grow into the weekend. Expect to see the FPO scores to shuffle tomorrow.
Quick Hits
- Weather was perfect. It’s a little warm in Estonia but a light breeze through the weekend should offer top tier conditions.
- Today’s attendance was around 2,200 spectators. Expect that number to shoot up as we reach the weekend, especially if Kristin can improve her standing.
