The final major of the season.
October 7, 2025 by Justin Westfall in Preview
Just two events remain before the 2025 disc golf season officially comes to a close. The 27th United States Disc Golf Championship, the final MPO major of the season, begins this Thursday at the Winthrop Arena in Rock Hill, South Carolina. And for the fifth time, the Throw Pink Women’s Disc Golf Championship, a very prestigious A-tier, will be played alongside the USDGC.
Last year, Anthony Barela led Gannon Buhr by one stroke going into the final round. Barela struggled throughout the round, highlighted by a severe grip lock on hole 11 that sent his tee shot immediately out of bounds. Buhr, on the other hand, got off to a hot start, birdieing six of the first eight holes. Despite a 13-under par round from Calvin Heimburg on the chase card, it was too little too late as Buhr coasted in to win by two strokes over Barela and Heimburg. The win marked his second career USDGC title at just 19-years-old.
In FPO, Kristin Lätt led Eveliina Salonen by two strokes going into the final round. Salonen was a bit slow out of the gate, and three straight birdies to start the back 9 were quickly negated by three bogeys on hole 13-16. Lätt shot a clean 9-under through the first 14 holes and was able to coast in and claim a title that had long eluded her.
Past Winners
| Winner | Runner Up | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Gannon Buhr | Calvin Heimburg & Anthony Barela |
| 2023 | Kyle Klein | Bradley Williams |
| 2022 | Gannon Buhr | Niklas Anttila |
| 2021 | Paul McBeth | Kyle Klein |
| 2020 | Chris Dickerson | Calvin Heimburg |
| 2019 | James Conrad | Jeremy Koling & Nikko Locastro |
| 2018 | Paul McBeth | James Conrad |
| 2017 | Nate Sexton | Ricky Wysocki |
| 2016 | Jeremy Koling | Nikko Locastro |
| 2015 | Paul McBeth | Ricky Wysocki |
| 2014 | Will Schusterick | Paul McBeth & JohnE McCray |
| 2013 | Steve Brinster | Barry Schultz & Steve Rico |
| 2012 | Will Schusterick | Ricky Wysocki |
| 2011 | N/A | |
| 2010 | Will Schusterick | Nikko Locastro |
| 2009 | Nikko Locastro | Dave Feldberg |
| 2008 | Nate Doss | Avery Jenkins |
| 2007 | Ken Climo | Avery Jenkins |
| 2006 | Barry Schultz | Brian Schweberger |
| 2005 | Dave Feldberg | Scott Martin |
| 2004 | Ken Climo | Darrell Nodland |
| 2003 | Barry Schultz | Ken Climo |
| 2002 | Ken Climo | Barry Schultz |
| 2001 | Barry Schultz | Ken Climo |
| 2000 | Ken Climo | Al 'Sugar' Schack |
| 1999 | Ken Climo | Al 'Sugar' Schack |
| Year | Winner | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Kristin Lätt | Ohn Scoggins |
| 2023 | Holyn Handley | Kristin Tattar |
| 2022 | Catrina Allen | Kristin Tattar |
| 2021 | Missy Gannon | Kona Panis |
| 2020 (WNC) | Paige Pierce | Catrina Allen |
Four Things We’ll Be Watching
1. Gannon Buhr will attempt to win his third career USDGC title and second in a row this week. Buhr would join Barry Schultz, Will Schusterick, and Paul McBeth as the only three-time winners of the USDGC and move within two wins of the all-time leader, Ken Climo. He would also tie Barry Schultz for the 5th most major titles in MPO history with five. Gannon has finished first or second at every event he has played since the European Disc Golf Festival back in July, averaging a 1067 event rating over that span. Given his past history on this course, Buhr should be considered the clear favorite to repeat this weekend.
2. Coming off a repeat win at the MVP Open, Missy Gannon will look to keep things rolling in Rock Hill. Gannon won the inaugural event in 2021 and has finished first or second in four consecutive events. Had she not lost in a playoff at the GMC, Gannon would be coming off three consecutive wins. Performing well at Winthrop requires pinpoint accuracy which Gannon has. She is currently 3rd best in fairway hits and has the 2nd best OB rate in the division.
3. After two years, Paul McBeth was finally able to get the monkey off his back and claim an Elite Series win earlier this season. He followed that up with a second win at the Green Mountain Championship just a few weeks ago. Now, McBeth will have his sights on something that has eluded him for three years: a major championship. A win this week would give McBeth his 18th MPO major title, tying Ken Climo for the most in PDGA history. It would also be his 4th career USDGC title, moving him into solo 2nd all-time and just one shy of Ken Climo who holds the record at five wins.
4. Holyn Handley and Eveliina Salonen are two players who should excel at Winthrop, and they will be looking for a bounce back performance this week. Handley allowed a lead to slip away in the final round of the MVP Open, and Salonen came in with her worst finish in over two years. While Handley is a previous champion of this event and has plenty of distance, her tendency to go OB can get her into trouble at Winthrop. Salonen, on the other hand, has the best fairway percentage in the field and also leads the FPO division in OB rate. Putting is always the concern for Salonen. If she can have even a mediocre weekend on the green, her talent off the tee should put her in a position to win. Handley was able to win the DGPT points championship despite a shaky second half of the season because she was fantastic early in the year. While she’s certainly in contention for Player of the Year, she will likely need very strong performances these next two weeks to earn that title.
The Course
The Winthrop Arena is one of the most iconic venues in the sport, having hosted the USDGC since 1999. Originally designed in 1992 by Innova co-founder Harold Duvall, Winthrop is a mostly open layout that plays around the university campus. With 18 different mandatories on 11 holes and plenty of OB territory, hitting your line off the tee and landing in bounds is paramount to scoring low.
The most notable change this year is to hole 3, which features a big downhill tee shot. From there, players must pass through a mandatory, while working the disc to the right towards the green. This year, a second mandatory has been added in to make a double mando. There is also a second pin position, forcing players to work left after the mandatory rather than right. A secondary pin has also been added to holes 9 and 13. Hole 9 has also moved from a very easy par 4 to a par 3 with a new teepad for FPO.
2025 MPO A: 9,838 Feet Par 64
2024 MPO A: 9,805 Feet Par 64
2025 MPO B: 9,635 Feet Par 64
2024 MPO B: 9,810 Feet Par 64
2025 FPO A: 8,957 Feet Par 69
2024 FPO A: 8,780 Feet Par 69
2024 FPO B: 8,785 Feet Par 69
2025 FPO B: 8,748 Feet Par 69
Extended Forecast
Temperatures will be very comfortable with mild winds expected throughout the weekend.
Thursday: Partly cloudy with highs in the upper 60s. Winds 10 to 15 mph.
Friday: Partly cloudy with highs near 70. Winds 10 to 15 mph.
Saturday: Partly cloudy with highs in the lower 70s. Winds 10 to 15 mph.
Sunday: Partly cloudy with highs in the mid 70s. Winds 5 to 10 mph.
