DGPT Match Play Championship 2022

[foxdawg10]

I would say it showed a fundamental misunderstanding of match play rather than "good sportsmanship."

What are your thoughts on Ohn Scoggins putting out first on the last hole to win, instead of letting Ella Hanson miss her putt to lose when Ella was out? Fundamental misunderstanding of match play, or good sportsmanship.

If she were playing purely by the correct strategy, she would have let Ella Hanson putt first, but she displayed good sportsmanship also. To me it's good to see these folks not being purely cut throat.

 

[biscoe]

What are your thoughts on Ohn Scoggins putting out first on the last hole to win, instead of letting Ella Hanson miss her putt to lose? Fundamental misunderstanding of match play, or good sportsmanship.

If she were playing purely by the correct strategy, she would have let Ella Hanson putt first, but she displayed good sportsmanship also. To me it's good to see these folks not being purely cut throat.

I would have made Ella putt first then laid up had she missed even from that range. Basket is elevated and the ground is rocky- take no chances. Match play is a cutthroat game.

 

[Cgkdisc]

I would have made Ella putt first then laid up had she missed even from that range. Basket is elevated and the ground is rocky- take no chances. Match play is a cutthroat game.

Separate from this "who throws first strategy", UDisc shows the match as Ohn winning 4 & 3 rather than correctly at 5 & 3.

 

[Steve West]

Separate from this "who throws first strategy", UDisc shows the match as Ohn winning 4 & 3 rather than correctly at 5 & 3.

Isn't that "up 4 with three to play" because Ella won one?

 

[Cgkdisc]

Isn't that "up 4 with three to play" because Ella won one?

Yep, my bad. Was looking at the number of holes Ohn won, not the net number. I knew that someone could win a match 5 & 3 but that would only occur when a player was already up net 4 (dormie) with 4 to play and they won the next hole.

 

[reezyF]

I was able to spectate at the Sunday semi final round and thought i'd share my thoughts on the day. I live in Denver and play Bailey every now and again. I have been to a pro tourney before the DGPT was around, this was my 1st DGPT event.

Event setup: The organizers provided a big area to park at, separate from the Pro's who were parked in the normal parking lot. There was a single point of entry (after parking) where they checked your ticket gave you a wristband and moved folks along well. You could have easily just walked around the back side of the park and walked in without paying - noone was checking wristbands and most folks were wearing long sleeves or jackets so you couldnt see the wristbands. If DGPT comes back to CO i'll just save the 40$ and try to walk in. 40$ spectator fee is too much IMO. I was expecting more booths and stuff for sale, by Sunday they had maybe 4 or 5 booths, and they were kind of an afterthought. Perhaps there were more booths on Saturday - more on that later. Overall things were setup well.

Event running: The course was smartly roped off to keep people in good spots for spectating and the staff always worked hard to keep the crowd away from the the gods that were the MPO players. FPO players were chopped liver and often times did not get the same protection. I was told to move out of the way a couple times for MPO players somewhat walking my way - however Ohn & Ella had to just file in with the crowd here and there. I could have sworn the DGPT flyer said no dogs allowed - there were many dogs out there, some of which were noisy at times - nobody seemed to enforce the dog rule. On normal days the property rules say no dogs off leash, no smoking, no alcohol - I was surprised to see many of these rules openly broke by us spectators and no event staff doing anything. The DGPT coverage uses those nice drone shots for the live broadcast and they look really good on TV - BUT - that damn drone is so F'ing loud I could hardly hear anything else the whole day. I was standing 15 ft from Terry interviewing Eagle and couldnt hear a thing over the drone 100ft in the air. If these events are setup for the spectators to enjoy, the drone needs to go. There was no service out there so no following Udisc, made it tough to know what was going on at times. I spotted Eagle running around and spectating but he didnt really ever sit still and wasnt doing much fan interacting so I never got to chat with him - bummer.

Matchplay: The biggest downside is that the player group decreases each day so by Sunday there were only 4MPO & 4FPO left standing. I was hoping other pros would stick around and watch the last round - nope, everybody but the final 4 was gone. Conrad and Gannon left right after they lost and didnt even stick round for the afternoon match. I was torn between coming Saturday to see the full field, or coming sunday to see the big finish - a normal tourney you can do both. I took the risk that he final 4 would be pro's I care to come see, and that mostly backfired. I'm not a fan of Joel, not a fan of Gannon, not a fan of any of the 4 FPO left so was regretting not going with the saturday ticket. The upside of the Match play was the casual nature and the very fast speed of play - the MPO round seemed to fly by. There was a guy shouting the score at each hole so I was able to keep up with the situation If I was close enough to hear the guy over the loud drone noise, otherwise it was hard to tell who was winning with no Udisc available.
Biggest letdown of matchplay - I really wanted to see the pros throw the big downhill bombers hole 1 & hole 12 but all the rounds I saw ended before hole 12 and I never got to see it played. Super lame.

MPO Play: The pros throw Far! It was cool actually seeing these guys throw 600' no doubt. I tagged along for the KJ vs Gannon// Joel vs Conrad round and was rooting for KJ and Conrad but really expected Gannon and Joel to win.

FPO Play: I thought they were better... I always watch videos and think "I can throw that far", but always thought I was fooling myself. Now I think I may throw further than the FPO ladies out there sunday.

Thoughts on Joel: I always see Joel freaking out and being a crybaby on most tourney footage so I expected to see some of that. Instead, his round went really well with hardly any bad shots so he was very positive the whole time. I like that he and his wife matched outfits.

Thoughts on Gannon: Gannon gets on my nerves and comes off as a punk kid. This round was more of that. He always seems negative, always has this look of disbelief on his face, and always took forever to throw. Hole 4 he kept switching discs and analyzing his upshot for what felt like forever. During his analysis someone (maybe Joel?) shouted "'cmon gannon you got 30 seconds!" and without a beat of hesitation he instantly threw some crazy FH and parks the hole. The kid is good at disc golf but hard to like, but he's just a kid so we'll see how that goes with time. For the back half of the round it seemed like the dogs in the crowd would start making noise everytime Gannon went to throw, i started to feel bad for him when a dog let out big whine on the last hole in mid-run up. Nonetheless, I was glad to see him not win.

Thoughts on KJ: KJ was the only player on Sunday who walked over to us fans and signed autographs and mingled during lunch. He even sold me some discs during the rain dely. I was already a KJ fan and my interactions with him were awesome.

Final round: I hung around and watched the pros warmup for the final round and Ella and KJ were both putting for over 30 minutes while Joel was mostly just stretching and Ohn was somewhere else. I got the sense Ella knew she needed to have a good putting round to win and she was really hitting her practice putts but it wasnt enough to overcome the pressure of the situation. The final round was 1 minute from starting when we got a lightning delay and I decided to bail and go play beaver ranch and just watch the rest from home. Was already done with my round and headed home when I checked Udisc to see they were still only halfway through the round.

Would I go again? Yes, but I may try to find a way to sneak in if its gonna be 40$ next time. Definitely not paying 40$ for final day matchplay spectating again that's for sure.

 

[ru4por]

I was able to spectate at the Sunday semi final round and thought i'd share my thoughts on the day. I live in Denver and play Bailey every now and again. I have been to a pro tourney before the DGPT was around, this was my 1st DGPT event.

Event setup: The organizers provided a big area to park at, separate from the Pro's who were parked in the normal parking lot. There was a single point of entry (after parking) where they checked your ticket gave you a wristband and moved folks along well. You could have easily just walked around the back side of the park and walked in without paying - noone was checking wristbands and most folks were wearing long sleeves or jackets so you couldnt see the wristbands. If DGPT comes back to CO i'll just save the 40$ and try to walk in. 40$ spectator fee is too much IMO. I was expecting more booths and stuff for sale, by Sunday they had maybe 4 or 5 booths, and they were kind of an afterthought. Perhaps there were more booths on Saturday - more on that later. Overall things were setup well.

Event running: The course was smartly roped off to keep people in good spots for spectating and the staff always worked hard to keep the crowd away from the the gods that were the MPO players. FPO players were chopped liver and often times did not get the same protection. I was told to move out of the way a couple times for MPO players somewhat walking my way - however Ohn & Ella had to just file in with the crowd here and there. I could have sworn the DGPT flyer said no dogs allowed - there were many dogs out there, some of which were noisy at times - nobody seemed to enforce the dog rule. On normal days the property rules say no dogs off leash, no smoking, no alcohol - I was surprised to see many of these rules openly broke by us spectators and no event staff doing anything. The DGPT coverage uses those nice drone shots for the live broadcast and they look really good on TV - BUT - that damn drone is so F'ing loud I could hardly hear anything else the whole day. I was standing 15 ft from Terry interviewing Eagle and couldnt hear a thing over the drone 100ft in the air. If these events are setup for the spectators to enjoy, the drone needs to go. There was no service out there so no following Udisc, made it tough to know what was going on at times. I spotted Eagle running around and spectating but he didnt really ever sit still and wasnt doing much fan interacting so I never got to chat with him - bummer.

Matchplay: The biggest downside is that the player group decreases each day so by Sunday there were only 4MPO & 4FPO left standing. I was hoping other pros would stick around and watch the last round - nope, everybody but the final 4 was gone. Conrad and Gannon left right after they lost and didnt even stick round for the afternoon match. I was torn between coming Saturday to see the full field, or coming sunday to see the big finish - a normal tourney you can do both. I took the risk that he final 4 would be pro's I care to come see, and that mostly backfired. I'm not a fan of Joel, not a fan of Gannon, not a fan of any of the 4 FPO left so was regretting not going with the saturday ticket. The upside of the Match play was the casual nature and the very fast speed of play - the MPO round seemed to fly by. There was a guy shouting the score at each hole so I was able to keep up with the situation If I was close enough to hear the guy over the loud drone noise, otherwise it was hard to tell who was winning with no Udisc available.
Biggest letdown of matchplay - I really wanted to see the pros throw the big downhill bombers hole 1 & hole 12 but all the rounds I saw ended before hole 12 and I never got to see it played. Super lame.

MPO Play: The pros throw Far! It was cool actually seeing these guys throw 600' no doubt. I tagged along for the KJ vs Gannon// Joel vs Conrad round and was rooting for KJ and Conrad but really expected Gannon and Joel to win.

FPO Play: I thought they were better... I always watch videos and think "I can throw that far", but always thought I was fooling myself. Now I think I may throw further than the FPO ladies out there sunday.

Thoughts on Joel: I always see Joel freaking out and being a crybaby on most tourney footage so I expected to see some of that. Instead, his round went really well with hardly any bad shots so he was very positive the whole time. I like that he and his wife matched outfits.

Thoughts on Gannon: Gannon gets on my nerves and comes off as a punk kid. This round was more of that. He always seems negative, always has this look of disbelief on his face, and always took forever to throw. Hole 4 he kept switching discs and analyzing his upshot for what felt like forever. During his analysis someone (maybe Joel?) shouted "'cmon gannon you got 30 seconds!" and without a beat of hesitation he instantly threw some crazy FH and parks the hole. The kid is good at disc golf but hard to like, but he's just a kid so we'll see how that goes with time. For the back half of the round it seemed like the dogs in the crowd would start making noise everytime Gannon went to throw, i started to feel bad for him when a dog let out big whine on the last hole in mid-run up. Nonetheless, I was glad to see him not win.

Thoughts on KJ: KJ was the only player on Sunday who walked over to us fans and signed autographs and mingled during lunch. He even sold me some discs during the rain dely. I was already a KJ fan and my interactions with him were awesome.

Final round: I hung around and watched the pros warmup for the final round and Ella and KJ were both putting for over 30 minutes while Joel was mostly just stretching and Ohn was somewhere else. I got the sense Ella knew she needed to have a good putting round to win and she was really hitting her practice putts but it wasnt enough to overcome the pressure of the situation. The final round was 1 minute from starting when we got a lightning delay and I decided to bail and go play beaver ranch and just watch the rest from home. Was already done with my round and headed home when I checked Udisc to see they were still only halfway through the round.

Would I go again? Yes, but I may try to find a way to sneak in if its gonna be 40$ next time. Definitely not paying 40$ for final day matchplay spectating again that's for sure.

Nice report and feedback! I think a couple important takeaways are that DGPT need to pay attention to fan experience, if they wish to continue to charge and see return customers. Selective enforcement of rules is always frustrating. I mean, how do dogs get through the gate??

 

[WD09]

I was able to spectate at the Sunday semi final round and thought i'd share my thoughts on the day. I live in Denver and play Bailey every now and again. I have been to a pro tourney before the DGPT was around, this was my 1st DGPT event.

Event setup: The organizers provided a big area to park at, separate from the Pro's who were parked in the normal parking lot. There was a single point of entry (after parking) where they checked your ticket gave you a wristband and moved folks along well. You could have easily just walked around the back side of the park and walked in without paying - noone was checking wristbands and most folks were wearing long sleeves or jackets so you couldnt see the wristbands. If DGPT comes back to CO i'll just save the 40$ and try to walk in. 40$ spectator fee is too much IMO. I was expecting more booths and stuff for sale, by Sunday they had maybe 4 or 5 booths, and they were kind of an afterthought. Perhaps there were more booths on Saturday - more on that later. Overall things were setup well.

Event running: The course was smartly roped off to keep people in good spots for spectating and the staff always worked hard to keep the crowd away from the the gods that were the MPO players. FPO players were chopped liver and often times did not get the same protection. I was told to move out of the way a couple times for MPO players somewhat walking my way - however Ohn & Ella had to just file in with the crowd here and there. I could have sworn the DGPT flyer said no dogs allowed - there were many dogs out there, some of which were noisy at times - nobody seemed to enforce the dog rule. On normal days the property rules say no dogs off leash, no smoking, no alcohol - I was surprised to see many of these rules openly broke by us spectators and no event staff doing anything. The DGPT coverage uses those nice drone shots for the live broadcast and they look really good on TV - BUT - that damn drone is so F'ing loud I could hardly hear anything else the whole day. I was standing 15 ft from Terry interviewing Eagle and couldnt hear a thing over the drone 100ft in the air. If these events are setup for the spectators to enjoy, the drone needs to go. There was no service out there so no following Udisc, made it tough to know what was going on at times. I spotted Eagle running around and spectating but he didnt really ever sit still and wasnt doing much fan interacting so I never got to chat with him - bummer.

Matchplay: The biggest downside is that the player group decreases each day so by Sunday there were only 4MPO & 4FPO left standing. I was hoping other pros would stick around and watch the last round - nope, everybody but the final 4 was gone. Conrad and Gannon left right after they lost and didnt even stick round for the afternoon match. I was torn between coming Saturday to see the full field, or coming sunday to see the big finish - a normal tourney you can do both. I took the risk that he final 4 would be pro's I care to come see, and that mostly backfired. I'm not a fan of Joel, not a fan of Gannon, not a fan of any of the 4 FPO left so was regretting not going with the saturday ticket. The upside of the Match play was the casual nature and the very fast speed of play - the MPO round seemed to fly by. There was a guy shouting the score at each hole so I was able to keep up with the situation If I was close enough to hear the guy over the loud drone noise, otherwise it was hard to tell who was winning with no Udisc available.
Biggest letdown of matchplay - I really wanted to see the pros throw the big downhill bombers hole 1 & hole 12 but all the rounds I saw ended before hole 12 and I never got to see it played. Super lame.

MPO Play: The pros throw Far! It was cool actually seeing these guys throw 600' no doubt. I tagged along for the KJ vs Gannon// Joel vs Conrad round and was rooting for KJ and Conrad but really expected Gannon and Joel to win.

FPO Play: I thought they were better... I always watch videos and think "I can throw that far", but always thought I was fooling myself. Now I think I may throw further than the FPO ladies out there sunday.

Thoughts on Joel: I always see Joel freaking out and being a crybaby on most tourney footage so I expected to see some of that. Instead, his round went really well with hardly any bad shots so he was very positive the whole time. I like that he and his wife matched outfits.

Thoughts on Gannon: Gannon gets on my nerves and comes off as a punk kid. This round was more of that. He always seems negative, always has this look of disbelief on his face, and always took forever to throw. Hole 4 he kept switching discs and analyzing his upshot for what felt like forever. During his analysis someone (maybe Joel?) shouted "'cmon gannon you got 30 seconds!" and without a beat of hesitation he instantly threw some crazy FH and parks the hole. The kid is good at disc golf but hard to like, but he's just a kid so we'll see how that goes with time. For the back half of the round it seemed like the dogs in the crowd would start making noise everytime Gannon went to throw, i started to feel bad for him when a dog let out big whine on the last hole in mid-run up. Nonetheless, I was glad to see him not win.

Thoughts on KJ: KJ was the only player on Sunday who walked over to us fans and signed autographs and mingled during lunch. He even sold me some discs during the rain dely. I was already a KJ fan and my interactions with him were awesome.

Final round: I hung around and watched the pros warmup for the final round and Ella and KJ were both putting for over 30 minutes while Joel was mostly just stretching and Ohn was somewhere else. I got the sense Ella knew she needed to have a good putting round to win and she was really hitting her practice putts but it wasnt enough to overcome the pressure of the situation. The final round was 1 minute from starting when we got a lightning delay and I decided to bail and go play beaver ranch and just watch the rest from home. Was already done with my round and headed home when I checked Udisc to see they were still only halfway through the round.

Would I go again? Yes, but I may try to find a way to sneak in if its gonna be 40$ next time. Definitely not paying 40$ for final day matchplay spectating again that's for sure.

Thanks for the summary. Lots of good info and observations!

I spectated at DDO and at Portland Open and there are three things you mentioned that I very wholeheartedly agree with:

1. Nobody is really checking credentials for spectators. If you decide not to walk right up to the check-in spot and show it to them or check-in and get it, there's no one looking for it or asking for it. Occasionally on lead cards, someone yells out that General Admission spectators must go one way and VIPs can go another, but then the crowd all moves and GA folks go wherever they want to go.

2. The drone is super annoying. Whenever it shows up, everyone hears it and starts looking up at it like the cast of M*A*S*H looks up at the helicopters during the opening credits sequence. It was enough to make me wander off to watch a different card to get away from it.

3. Kevin Jones is genuinely nice to everyone. I am a much bigger KJ-USA fan for having watched him play in person at these big events. He is a cheerleader for everyone else on the card's good shots. During one round at DDO I was following his card and one of the players got a disc stuck in a tree. I was able to spot it and pointed out to the group where it was. I had my retriever pole with me bc I was playing the AM side of the event and I brought my bag with snacks and drinks instead of discs, but all the other stuff was in there. I offered the retriever (from my required minimum spectator distance of 40-50 feet away) and one of the caddies came and got it from me. After they got the disc back, KJ brought the retriever back to me and said "thank you." Keep in mind, it wasn't his disc. After the round, they had a specific area where pros could go and make themselves available to speak to fans. He was the only one of the group who did that. I didn't go talk to him, but I saw him talking with a couple of different families and squatting down to get on the level of the kids as he spoke with him, exchanging high-fives, etc. At Portland Open I saw the same kinds of things from him.(BTW, Another player that I saw interacting with fans in numerous positive ways at both events was Eric Oakley.)

 

[Steve West]

Yep, my bad. Was looking at the number of holes Ohn won, not the net number. I knew that someone could win a match 5 & 3 but that would only occur when a player was already up net 4 (dormie) with 4 to play and they won the next hole.

Whew! I was worried that the guy who wrote the match plays rules didn't understand the game.

 

[DanJon]

KJ USA always seemed like a good dude.

 

[Monkeypaws]

Thoughts on Joel: I always see Joel freaking out and being a crybaby on most tourney footage so I expected to see some of that. Instead, his round went really well with hardly any bad shots so he was very positive the whole time. I like that he and his wife matched outfits.

I like Joel Freeman - I have never watched the top pros live, so I never see what happens off camera, but he just seems eccentric to me more than a baby.

Damn he can throw a frisbee though.

 

[Jimb]

I have only see Gannon on coverage. But Reezy's take hit the nail on the head for me. I just don't like him. Hopefully that will change as the young man can certainly play.

Very cool to see Ohn take down "the bigger arms" with her mad putting skills.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

KJ USA always seemed like a good dude.

I can 2nd this from my interactions with him at DGLO, as both a shooter and as a spectator. He's respectful and friendly to everyone he crosses paths with.

He just comes across as genuinely being a nice person, rather than someone doing it to because it helps promote their image

 

[glassila]

I like Joel Freeman - I have never watched the top pros live, so I never see what happens off camera, but he just seems eccentric to me more than a baby.

Damn he can throw a frisbee though.

And you can't deny that his sense of fashion is a nice relief from the drab attire that a lot of players wear. :clap:

 

[biscoe]

There was no service out there so no following Udisc, made it tough to know what was going on at times.

No service at all or spotty service? I know this seems like a silly point but am curious about the implementation of live broadcast with little or no service. Thanks.

 

[txmxer]

I've noticed that Joel seems pretty intense on coverage. I take that as he's highly competitive.
He is probably not the most fun to play with if he's not winning.

KJ is the poster child for ADHD. and southern hospitality. I appreciate the first hand reports that he's everything he appears to be and then some with regard to fan interaction.

I would suggest that the other players not be judged too harshly based on how they interact (or don't interact) with people they don't know.

 

[reezyF]

No service at all or spotty service? I know this seems like a silly point but am curious about the implementation of live broadcast with little or no service. Thanks.

I had the same thought! There was some spotty service near the entry and hole 1, but it went away by hole 2 (for me at least).

I cant even pull up Udisc meanwhile these guys are streaming to youtube somehow. A bunch of the camera guys had big backpacks that I was assuming had some special hotspot technology or something.

 

[nothinbuttree]

I would suggest that the other players not be judged too harshly based on how they interact (or don't interact) with people they don't know.

This is a good point, and reflects one thing I have noticed--DG is a popular sport with all types of people from all backgrounds. Once most people play it, they are hooked.

Its great for introverts, cause it is almost the definition of a solitary activity--if that is what one wants. There are courses where you might be the only one there, and one-somes go totally at their own pace.

Its great for extroverts, cause there are so many varied opportunities to hang with friends and meet new people--if that is what one wants. These tend to be the ones who 'appear' more socially relevant, and often, more people like them. Nikko is a great example. Yes some don't like him, but is always in the limelight as it were, and many do like him as well. He seems quite extroverted, and not afraid to be viewed. He is just being Nikko. The real quiet ones (my best example is Corey Ellis), definitely have fans because of their play, but I don't see him busting 1MM youtube subscribers anytime soon. And that is very OK as well. He is just being Corey.

And sometimes, what we see on camera is quite different than a player's regular personality. Vinny seems real chill, quiet, and laid back, almost stand-offish during a round, but he is very entertaining in skins matches, Putting Game episodes, etc. Being 'in the zone' means different things to different players. Most players are quite serious final round, but are all jokes and levity in round 1. Paul, if he is in contention, is a lone wolf during final round, but if he knows he is out of it, you will see him cutting up and being more personal with cardmates. Just the nature of the beast.

 

[biscoe]

I had the same thought! There was some spotty service near the entry and hole 1, but it went away by hole 2 (for me at least).

I cant even pull up Udisc meanwhile these guys are streaming to youtube somehow. A bunch of the camera guys had big backpacks that I was assuming had some special hotspot technology or something.

The backpacks use bonded cellular technology which allows them to aggregate signal across multiple providers. They are pushing the bounds of that technology as far as anyone is currently. Results look good judging by Beaver State and Match Play.

 

[Dcinmd]

Thanks for the summary. Lots of good info and observations!

I spectated at DDO and at Portland Open and there are three things you mentioned that I very wholeheartedly agree with:

1. Nobody is really checking credentials for spectators. If you decide not to walk right up to the check-in spot and show it to them or check-in and get it, there's no one looking for it or asking for it. Occasionally on lead cards, someone yells out that General Admission spectators must go one way and VIPs can go another, but then the crowd all moves and GA folks go wherever they want to go.

To be fair I have just walked on to a course at PGA tour "non-major" events before. The hardest part of that exercise is parking. Without a parking pass one would be towed.