One final chance to make the Tour Championship.
September 23, 2025 by Justin Westfall in Preview
The Disc Golf Pro Tour playoffs continue this week with the second and final event before the Tour Championship. The MVP Open begins this Thursday September 25th at the Maple Hill disc golf course in Leicester, Massachusetts. Just four hours south of Smugglers’ Notch, Maple Hill is a favorite among pros and ranks as the #4 course in the world and #1 in the United States by UDisc. The MVP Open has been run by Disc Golf Pro Tour founder Steve Dodge since 2008 and was formerly named the Vibram Open.
As the final playoff event, this is the last opportunity for players to move up the leaderboard to qualify for the Tour Championship or secure higher seeding. The top 28 MPO and top 18 FPO players in the DGPT standings after the MVP Open will advance to the Tour Championship. This year, the top 4 MPO and top 2 FPO finishers at Maple Hill outside of that cutoff will also get their shot at the Tour Championship.
Last year, Aaron Gossage and Ricky Wysocki came into the final round tied for the lead. They held a one shot lead on Gannon Buhr and two strokes on James Proctor. Gossage got out to a slow start, and though Wysocki and Buhr carded several birdies, they each had a few too many mistakes as well. Down the stretch, it looked as if Proctor was going to have to hold off Paul McBeth all the way from the third card. McBeth birdied his last six in a row to shoot an 11-under par hot round and put on the pressure. Proctor held a two-stroke lead going to the final hole, but an errant upshot left him with a drop zone putt for bogey to win in regulation: a miss would send him to a playoff with McBeth. With a massive crowd surrounding the 18th green, Proctor sunk the 46 foot putt and earned his first career Elite Series win.
In FPO, Kristin Lätt had a three shot lead on Missy Gannon going into the final round. Going into hole 17, Lätt was still up by two strokes. Missy hit a big 40 footer for birdie, leaving Kristin a 24 foot look to maintain a one shot lead. Kristin missed the putt, and it was all square going into hole 18. With both players lying two in the fairway, the typically backhand-dominant Gannon proceeded to throw a forehand safely onto the island green. Lätt, a far more proficient forehand thrower, sent her shot out of bounds, sealing the win — and the tour points title — for Gannon, who went on to win the Player of the Year award as a result of her slight edge in the tour standings.
Past Winners
| Year | Tier | Open | Open Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | DGPT | James Proctor | Missy Gannon |
| 2023 | DGPT | Matt Orum | Hailey King |
| 2022 | DGPT | Simon Lizotte | Natalie Ryan |
| 2021 | DGPT | Adam Hammes | Catrina Allen |
| 2020 | A/DGPT | Paul McBeth | Paige Pierce |
| 2019 | A/DGPT | Paul McBeth | Paige Pierce |
| 2018 | A/DGPT | James Conrad | Sarah Hokom |
| 2017 | A/DGPT | Ricky Wysocki | Paige Pierce |
| 2016 | A/DGPT | Bradley Williams | Paige Pierce |
| 2015 | NT | Ricky Wysocki | Paige Pierce |
| 2014 | NT | Jeremy Koling | Paige Pierce |
| 2013 | NT | Paul McBeth | Valarie Jenkins |
| 2012 | NT | Cale Leiviska | Catrina Allen |
| 2011 | NT | Nate Doss | Sarah Hokom |
| 2010 | NT | Nikko Locastro | Sarah Cunningham |
| 2009 | NT | Barry Schultz | Sarah Cunningham |
| 2008 | NT | Avery Jenkins | Valarie Jenkins |
Five Things We’ll Be Watching
1. Paul McBeth was able to claim his second win of the season last week at the GMC. This week, he’ll have an opportunity to claim his first set of back-to-back DGPT wins since 2019, which also took place at the GMC and MVP Open. McBeth is a three-time champion of this event and shot arguably the greatest round of his career at Maple Hill, a 1121-rated final round back in 2013. He also led this event after round 1 last year and nearly forced a playoff from the third card on the final day. After his GMC win, McBeth jumped four spots in the DGPT standings to second place. He now leads Calvin Heimburg by just seven points, and fourth place Isaac Robinson by 42 points. Catching leader Gannon Buhr is unattainable at this point, so aside from going after the win, McBeth’s primary goal will be to hold onto second place, which would be his best tour finish since the 2022 season.
2. While Ohn Scoggins and Missy Gannon both fell to Paige Piece in a playoff last week, their second place finishes have now put them in a position to potentially steal the tour points championship from Holyn Handley. Scoggins still sits 110 points behind the leader with Gannon 130 points behind. Both players would likely need to win the event, and rely on a mediocre finish from Handley (8th or worse if Scoggins wins; 11th or worse if Gannon wins) in order to steal the lead. Regardless, Scoggins will need to do everything she can to keep her lead over Gannon. Scoggins has podiumed at this event each of the past two years, while Gannon is the reigning champion at Maple Hill.
3. Calvin Heimburg will be doing his best to come out ahead of Paul McBeth this week. Heimburg sits just seven points behind McBeth in the tour standings, with Isaac Robinson 29 points behind him. Heimburg has played this event eight times, and earned a 3rd or 4th place finish in half of those. However, he has also finished outside of the top-25 three times. Robinson, on the other hand, has only played this event twice, with his best finish being 19th back in 2023. Anthony Barela notably sits 47 points behind Robinson. In four career starts, Barela’s best MVP finish is just 15th place which he earned last season. If anybody is going to challenge McBeth for second place, Heimburg is the most likely candidate given his history at this event.
4. Coming off her first win of the season, Paige Pierce jumped to 6th in the FPO standings but could fall back to 10th with a poor finish this week. Like McBeth, Pierce has an opportunity to go back-to-back for the first time since 2021. Pierce has a tremendous history at Maple Hill, winning the event six times in a seven year span from 2014-2020. Holyn Handley still leads the FPO division by 110 points, but has been shaky of late. The good news for Handley is that in three career starts at Maple Hill she has never finished worse than 6th. The bad news is if she fails to finish in the top 7, she will risk losing the number one seed. Holyn’s lead felt very secure a month ago, but having averaged just a 12th place finish over her last five events, the door has been opened for Scoggins or Gannon to swoop in.
5. Which players will earn the bonus spots in the Tour Championship thanks to their finish this weekend? The top four MPO and two FPO finishers that are not otherwise qualified will get a spot at the tour finale next month with the year’s biggest purse up for grabs.
The Course
Maple Hill offers everything that you could want in a disc golf course from tight woods lines to elevation changes, water carries, and, of course, the beautiful scenery of the Christmas tree farm that the course plays through. With grandstands behind hole 1 for spectators to watch big opening tee shots and the rowdy “8 holes” who sit and cheer for shots coming into hole 8’s island green, this event provides a fantastic venue to wrap-up the Elite Series.
This year, there are several changes to the course, including a newly L-shaped peninsula green on hole 1. Three MPO and four FPO holes will also feature alternating pin positions, an increase from just two alternating holes last year. The FPO division will also play an alternate tee pad on hole 18 for rounds 1 and 2. The shorter ‘B’ layout will be used for rounds 1 and 2, while the longer ‘A’ layouts will be used for the final two rounds.
2025 MPO A: 8,907 Feet Par 60
2024 MPO A: 8,852 Feet Par 60
2025 MPO B: 8,624 Feet Par 60
2024 MPO B: 8,674 Feet Par 60
2025 FPO A: 7,260 Feet Par 60
2024 FPO A: 7,097 Feet Par 60
2025 FPO B: 6,924 Feet Par 60
2024 FPO B: 6,965 Feet Par 60
Extended Forecast
A rainy opening round will clear the way for a beautiful weekend of disc golf at Maple Hill.
Thursday: Showers throughout the day with highs in the upper 60s. Winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Friday: Mostly cloudy with highs in the mid 70s. Winds 10 to 15 mph.
Saturday: Partly cloudy with highs in the mid 70s. Winds 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday: Mostly sunny with highs in the mid 70s. Winds 5 to 10 mph.
