🤙 McBeth Called His Shot
Infinity Stones, Gap Hitting, and Holiday Travels
Hello and welcome, this is The Players Meeting. The only newsletter wishing you a Merry Discmas and a Happy New Year.
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If you missed last week, then I got you: DG’s Hardest Working Man
Let’s get into it.
2024 PDGA Worlds
With the 2023 season weeks away, the PDGA is already looking forward to its 2024 Majors. Worlds will be held in Lynchburg, VA and run by the Board President himself - Nate Heinold.
Beating out Finland’s Spin18 club & Jussi Meresmaa, the Old Dominion State will host its 1st Worlds on two untested courses - New London Tech and Ivy Hill Golf Club. Both had Paul McBeth involved in the designs.
He called his shot five years ago when he first moved to the area for his wife’s family. These courses will feature rolling hills, demanding fairways, and scoring separation with high pars.
While Virginians are proud, Europeans are upset and raising eyebrows. Back in July, Meresmaa tried calling his shot and declared plans for Worlds in Finland.
It would finally be the year the sport goes international. But with his recent controversy and Heinold’s track record, Finland will have to wait.
If McBeth wins his 7th 8th World title on courses he designed, will it take away from his accomplishment? His haters have over a year to figure out the excuses.
As for 2023, McBeth already has his sights set on Europe and plans to skip the US Tour in June & July. For 7 tournaments, he’ll play in Croatia, Konopiště, and others leading up to the European Open.
He’ll miss the Dynamic Discs Open, Des Moines Challenge, The Preserve, and smaller events. This is great news for Euro events getting the attention they deserve, mild news for competitors stateside, and bad news for Europeans hoping to beat him.
Contracts are Coming
The new year is days away, and the rumor mill is buzzing. Will Lone Star Discs continue to collect up pros like infinity stones?
Will Innova bring on fresh faces to replace their laundry list of drops? What big moves are yet to come?
🚨 NEW 🚨
Ben Callaway was downgraded from Discraft’s Elite Team to their Tour Team. This means he’ll no longer have a tour series disc with his name on it
Andrew Presnell re-signed with Discraft for the 5th consecutive season. He couldn’t get the bump up to the Elite Team even with Callaway’s spot open
Gavin Babcock will not play for Prodigy next year. Things could get a little awkward as he’s one of the key members of Alden Harris’s vlogs
Thomas Gilbert - Team Thought Space Athletics for 2 years
Chris Clemons re-signed with Dynamic Discs for 2023. To celebrate, they released his Lucid-X Verdict that comes in two flavors - opaque for flat and less OS vs. translucent for slight pop top and more OS
Emerson Keith - Switching from Lat64, Keith got added to the most likable team in disc golf, Lone Star Discs. For a 1-year contract, he will have multiple tour series discs
In 2022, Cole Redalen switched to an open bag with Infinite plus a putter contract with EV-7. Halfway through the year, he lost confidence in the EV-7 Phi and switched back to his old Lunas. Moving forward, Redalen will announce a new sponsor
Andrew Fish re-signs with Discraft’s Tour Team for his 7th year
RUMORS
Chris Clemons has some inside info and shared that one of the “big boys” is making a move. With most of them tied up, there’s seemingly only one possible big move: Simon Lizotte
But there’s no way the German Wonderkid would ever switch from Discmania, right? Reddit user u/response_unrelated thinks otherwise:
If this comes true, then I’ll eat my Mind Bender 🤞.
Fresh Plastic
Sponsored by Powergrip USA… A PRETTY GOOD disc golf shop.
👉 Powergrip’s Highlight: Thought Space Athletics
In honor of Thomas Gilbert moving to Team TSA, we’re highlighting some of his favorite new discs.
Originally an artwork-only company, TSA now has 13 molds manufactured by MVP. So those gyro plastics you know and love can be found in every TSA disc but with their eye-popping art.
With his new contract, Gilbert will bag 50% TSA and 50% open including Destroyers, Sexton Firebirds, and Zones. Of the TSA molds, he’s been really digging these:
Pathfinder (5|5|0|1) - This dead-straight mid has slight fade at the end of the flight and will hold any angle. If you like the idea of a Buzzz but not the hand feel, then pick this up.
Votum (7|5|0|3) - This is an easy replacement for your beat-in Star Teebird. It won’t flip on you and has reliable fade.
Random Triples
1️⃣ Per Ultiworld’s fandom survey, the pendulum is swinging towards live watching over post-produced.
Back in August, I asked for your takes, and the results differed slightly 👇. 2023 could be the last year JomezPro and others have the DGPT filming rights.
2️⃣ As one of the pioneering pros for brand building, Drew Gibson shared his 2023 moves. His disc brand - Finish Line - will release 4 new molds, not including the Supra (Buzzz imitation) and the Pace (OS putter).
For his bag, he’ll continue to collaborate with Squatch and release a smaller bag to their lineup. If Squatch’s current trend continues, this bag will be a Pound Rufus imitation.
3️⃣ During vlogmas, Uli shared his most important fieldwork drill. He promises it will tighten up your touch and release point.
Using 2 cones/discs, create a gap 40ft from your release point. Then place 1 cone/disc 5ft from your release point. Practice hitting the gap and ensuring your release point goes over the 1st marker.
You’ll get instant feedback on your aim while increasing your gap-hitting confidence. If you want another upgrade, head to a hardware store and pick up “72in Orange Reflective Rods”. Use a pair of them to mimic a gap.
Meme of the Week
Thanks for reading today. Get out and enjoy the holiday!
- Charlie
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