🆕 McBeth makes moves
Paul McBeth's new site, Contract speculations, and Backhand Daddy.
Hello and welcome to week 4 of the off-season. Winter disc golf is about to become a thing. If you’re throwing in sub 40 degrees F, then stow away your prized old plastic or risk them becoming wall hangers forever. And if you live somewhere that winter isn’t a thing, then move along 👋.
Make Moves
Paul McBeth just unveiled his new website on Cyber Monday. Similar to Paige Pierce, his site features exclusive merch including discs, apparel, and accessories. What’s not clear is whether McBeth worked with Discraft to release this site or pushed it live on his own. Featured on the site is his 2021 USDGC commemorative disc, CryZtal Hades, which has never been run in this plastic.
Whether McBeth plans to use his site purely to sell merch is unclear. But there is a newsletter sign up, where it describes the emails as “exclusive offers, original stories, activism awareness, events and more.” Maybe he’ll promote the Paul McBeth Foundation with this site or maybe he has more things in the works.
As if we couldn’t talk more about McBeth… His latest video on YouTube is on track to be his highest viewed, likely due to its challenge nature. In the video, McBeth is having fun throwing a 1000+ rated round with DGA Kitty Hawk SoftTouch Sureshot discs made in 1982. He challenges another pro to do the same at the oldest course in their region with the same discs. Of course, it wouldn’t be a viral challenge without involving his close friend, Simon Lizotte.
On Lizotte’s YouTube, he uses the same discs to play a round with Marky Chapalonis (997 rated) at Pyramids DGC established in 1988. And in Simon fashion, he ends up barely beating Marky with 40 year old discs to shoot a 1000 rated round. He’ll send the discs over to another pro to see if they can do the same. Fingers crossed for Uli next.
Make sure to check out his YouTube page today, cause he’s starting Vlogmas and posting a video each day leading up to Christmas.
Contracts Watch
New
The only new announcement this week is Matt Bell’s departure from DGA. He cut his 3 year extension short and hasn’t announced his new sponsor yet. It could come soon or early 2022.
Predictions
Ricky Wysocki - There’s a rumor going around r/discgolf that Wysocki will sign a big contract with Dynamic Discs. The details could be similar to McBeth’s contract with Discraft ($1 million/year & his own discs/brand). If true, Wysocki would be breaking his 3 year contract with Innova signed earlier this year. DG contracts have been terminated early with other big players, so this rumor still has [raptor] legs.
DD has been showing off their fancy, new 80,000 square foot warehouse in Emporia, Kansas.
So who knows, maybe DD will make a big splash.
Will Calvin Heimburg fill the void at Innova if a big name leaves? Or will he leave himself? Heimburg has been a top 5 player for the past few years, but for some reason this past season he felt out of sorts. Did he have an off year?
Answer: No, he had a great year. But the jury’s still out on whether Vinny will switch sponsors.
Gannon Buhr was another name that jumped on several feature cards in 2021. He’s been weakly hinting on social media that he might leave Prodigy. By pushing sales of his Prodigy discs and leaving unclear comments, he could be the next tall, lanky bomber that joins Discmania. Simon Lizotte and Eagle McMahon are injury prone. McMahon basically has the same body type as Buhr. There’s a pattern here.
Moves Made
Gregg Barsby - Contract extension with Innova (3 years)
Matt Orum - From Prodigy to Westside Discs (2 years)
Calling it now, 2022 is the year of Matty-O. With his new contract, he doesn’t have to play for money anymore… “[he] can play for the trophy now.”
Eric Oakley - From Dynamic Discs to Infinite Discs (1 year)
Gavin Rathbun - From Discmania to Dynamic Discs (2 years)
When talking to Cory Murrell, Rathbun explained that he felt like he could be easily overshadowed by other Discmania players. Switching to DD would move him front and center.
Drew Gibson - Contract extension with Infinite Discs (1 year & lifetime deal for signature line of discs)
New Plastic
By now, you either received a disappointing mystery box or are waiting for one in the mail. It seems like the lucky ones who snagged an OTB mystery box actually gained the promised extra value. In each box, OTB included a disc from their personal collections. Notable ones include a CE Firebird & a DD3 Originals Prototype (~$175).
Lineup additions
Prodigy PX-3 Putt & Approach - Marketed as an overstable beaded putter. When compared to the PA-3, it has a bigger bead and flatter top. Pick this disc up if you like the PA-3 but want more fade to it.
Discmania MD1 (retooled) - It’s the laser-straight midrange that everyone wants. Put away your Mako3’s and Buzzz’s for this Italian blend game changer. Or don’t cause you probably didn’t snag a Discmania Mystery Box during their semi-chaotic release with different links and false sold out tags. Hopefully the Cloudbreaker 3 release will be the smoothest one yet… Not sure about that stamp though.
Innova Xero Putt & Approach - Another putter from Innova. But wait it’s a medium profile, beefy rimmed, beaded, and built like a regular Aviar. Dave Dunipace himself says, it goes straight like a Nova but has slightly more torque resistance. Not sure who wants to try another Aviar spin-off, but it’s out there for those that do.
Random Triples
There’s loads of different bags out there to buy, but the material it’s made out of actually matters. Doth Savek, disc golf bag reviewer, tests several commonly used material types to see how they hold up to tears and rips. Basically if your bag isn’t made out of some variation of Cordura Nylon, then you likely don’t own the last bag you’ll ever buy. Companies currently using Cordura/substitute:
Gorilla Boy
Grip-EQ
Pound
REVOLUTION
Ridge Roller Customs
Squatch
Rim Width vs. Disc Speed - Speed (i.e. Destroyer = 12 speed) does not accurately relate to the disc’s rim width. Almost all distance drivers are closer in “speed” than the numbers show. A speed 13 disc is much closer in width to a speed 11 disc than you think. Across different manufacturer’s, that difference begins to disappear even quicker. The actual speed gap between fairway and distance drivers is actually much smaller. Mid-range discs don’t vary much. They’re all around the same rim width. Similarly putters shouldn’t go past a speed 1 or 2 rating. But discs known for being good driving putters trend more towards thicker rims.
Basically, every disc flies different for each person. Disc flight ratings are simply guidelines.
Drew “Backhand Daddy” Gibson’s 600ft smash during Round 2 of the 2021 Dynamic Discs Open.
Meme of the Week
Thanks for reading today. Hit some trees this weekend!
- Charlie