The mega-event starts the final stretch of the Pro Tour season.
August 13, 2025 by Justin Westfall in Preview
The Disc Golf Pro Tour will resume stateside this week as the sport’s European summer has come to a close. The Discraft Ledgestone Open begins this Thursday, August 14th, in Peoria, Illinois. The Ledgestone Open has been a premiere event since before the Disc Golf Pro Tour’s inception, making a splash on the 2015 PDGA National Tour with a record setting $117,453 purse. Since then it has become a destination tournament for pros and amateur players alike, with over 2,300 competitors registered to play in this year’s event.
Last year, the Northwood Black course was not able to be played for this event, as it hosted the PDGA Champions Cup earlier that year. Instead, all four MPO rounds were played at Eureka Lake while all four FPO rounds were played on Sunset Hills. Gannon Buhr came into the final round with a five stroke lead over Kyle Klein. He would go on to win by seven strokes over Ezra Robinson, averaging a 1074 event rating. FPO was very similar, with Holyn Handley leading Hailey King by four strokes going into the final round. She would go on to defeat King and Lisa Fajkus by seven strokes, averaging a 1000 event rating.
Past Winners
Ledgestone Open Past Winners
| Year | PDGA Tier | Open | Open Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | DGPT | Gannon Buhr | Holyn Handley |
| 2023 | DGPT | Cole Redalen | Missy Gannon |
| 2022 | DGPT | Ricky Wysocki | Missy Gannon |
| 2021 | DGPT | Ricky Wysocki & Calvin Heimburg (tie) | Paige Pierce |
| 2020 | A/DGPT | Ricky Wysocki | Catrina Allen |
| 2019 | A/DGPT | Paul McBeth | Paige Pierce |
| 2018 | A/DGPT | Nate Sexton | Jessica Weese |
| 2017 | A/DGPT | Josh Anthon | Valarie Jenkins |
| 2016 | A/DGPT | Paul McBeth | Catrina Allen |
| 2015 | NT | Simon Lizotte | Catrina Allen |
| 2014 | A | Nikko Locastro | Catrina Allen |
| 2013 | A | Devan Owens | Catrina Allen |
| 2012 | A | Nikko Locastro | Sarah Hokom |
Four Things We’ll Be Watching
- Reigning Ledgestone champion Gannon Buhr may be feeling a bit sluggish this week. The now 1x World Champion left Finland to go win a gold medal at the World Games in Chengdu, China. Buhr will have to overcome a 13 hour time difference and the physical wear of having played in extremely hot and humid conditions in Chengdu. Gannon excels at Eureka Lake but has never played particularly well at Northwood Black. Don’t be surprised to see a down week from the world #1. If Buhr is able to pull off a win, it might be one of the most impressive feats of his career.
- Missy Gannon is in a similar situation to Buhr, having won gold alongside him at the World Games in Chengdu. Unlike Buhr, Missy has been excellent at Northwood Black. While she is not the reigning Ledgestone champion, Missy won this event in both 2022 and 2023, when Northwood was a part of the tournament. Missy also took several weeks off before heading over to Europe and eventually Asia. Hopefully, that extra rest will help her push through what has been a grueling schedule these past few weeks as she now returns to the states in an attempt to reclaim the Ledgestone title.
- Far better rested will be Holyn Handley, who is unfortunately coming off her worst finish of the year at the World Championships. Handley finished that event in 8th, breaking a streak of all top 5 finishes this season. Holyn’s game sets up well for Sunset Hills, but she has struggled to put up hot rounds on Northwood Black. One player who has been great at Northwood is newly crowned World champion Ohn Scoggins. Half of Ohn’s rounds at Northwood have been over 1000 rated since 2023, and in a limited field she has a great shot to earn her first DGPT win of the season, fresh off winning her first World Championship.
- Ricky Wysocki has historically dominated this event, winning three years in a row from 2020-2022. It’s now been more than a year since Wysocki’s last elite or major win. Ricky noted after the World Championships that his mental and physical health weren’t at their best, so hopefully a trip to Peoria can bring back some good memories and reignite his game. Paul McBeth is another player who has plenty of good memories from Peoria. The two-time Ledgestone champion also won his 2019 World title here. While Paul’s floor has felt much lower than Ricky’s this season, it also feels like he’s had a shot to win far more often. McBeth is still looking for his first win in over two years.
The Courses
Northwood Black is a long and tightly wooded track that features some of the most difficult holes on tour. In fact, hole 12 at Northwood is the single hardest hole in the MPO division, averaging more than a stroke over par. The 1,050 foot behemoth has given up just 20 birdies in 1,224 attempts since 2021, for a birdie rate of 1.63%. This year, the course as a whole has been shortened fairly substantially, which should hopefully cut down on backups.
While most FPO layouts on tour are modified versions of an MPO layout, Sunset Hills is a terrific course that is designed specifically for the division. Located on a traditional golf course, the track is relatively short compared to other courses on the DGPT schedule and very scorable for the average FPO touring pro.
Eureka Lake is a park-style course that is very scoreable in good conditions. OB outlines the entire layout and water comes into play on over half of the course.
Northwood Black
2025 MPO: 10,499 Feet Par 68
2024 MPO: 11,141 Feet Par 69
2025 FPO: 8,678 Feet Par 68
2024 FPO: 8,978 Feet Par 69
Eureka Lake
2025 MPO: 9,819 Feet Par 69
2024 MPO A: 9,690 Feet Par 63
2024 MPO B: 9,810 Feet Par 63
Sunset Hills
2025 FPO: 7,602 Feet Par 61
2024 FPO: 7,669 Feet Par 61
Extended Forecast
While winds should stay relatively calm, it’s going to be very hot throughout the weekend with some moments of high humidity as well.
Thursday: Partly cloudy with highs in the mid 80s. Winds light and variable.
Friday: Partly cloudy with highs near 90. Winds 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday: Mostly sunny with highs in the mid 90s. Winds 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday: Partly cloudy with highs near 90. Winds light and variable.
