The disc golf off-season has not slowed down one bit, so let’s recap what happened.
I’m Jefferson from the Disc Golf World with the Weekend Wrap-Up, recapping everything disc golf you missed over the weekend!
I’ll start off with the Eagle McMahon rumors, but I promise not to go too in-depth because there hasn’t been any new information. Basically, if you didn’t watch the last episode of This Week In Disc Golf with Swiss, I’ll give you the cliff notes version.
Eagle McMahon accidentally leaked his departure from Discmania
Redditor u/Self_Aware_Meme posted a text thread of his friends in which he claimed that Eagle posted his leaving Discmania video early. However, he just so happened to be the only person on the internet who was able to see it.
This was the thumbnail, and he even went into the comments to further explain the video he allegedly watched:
However, as soon as people started to push back with common-sense questions the original poster went silent…
Also, the OP’s name is ‘Self Aware Meme.’ Yeah… NOT suspicious at all. And come on, you’re telling me that’s how your friends are going to react to Eagle McMahon leaving Discmania? Either they all throw Dynamic, or this was just fake.
The number one theory is him reuniting with former teammate Simon Lizotte at MVP, along with James Conrad. The company would then have Simon represent Axiom with the Time Lapse, Conrad still repping his disc line with MVP, and all of the soon-to-be-released Streamline discs will be Eagle’s, or maybe Gannon’s.
Don’t forget to subscribe because as soon as we know, we’ll make sure to update you all. For now, comment below and let us know where you think Eagle will end up.
Well, when I was editing this, I received the email from Discmania officially announcing Eagle McMahon leaving.
Just like Redditor u/Self_Aware_Meme said… Eagle talked about the gut feeling he had with Discmania, and now he has the same feeling with his new sponsor, which he has yet to announce.
Go check out Eagle’s video and share your speculations in the comments below. On Wednesday, Swiss and I will cover this in more depth together, so see you then.
I apologize, u/Self_Aware_Meme; it sounds like you were right. I apologize for ever doubting you. It seems like you need some new disc golf friends, so I got you covered.
Most of us are just waiting for the official announcement of Gannon Buhr to Discmania. He was recently seen playing with Kyle Klein too. That impression from Kyle was spot on.
Discmania’s HUGE mistake!
Discmania has made a terrible mistake letting go of the 2023 PDGA Rookie of the Year, Paul Krans, to MVP. For the second consecutive year, Discmania is losing a significant player to MVP.
Granted, this is nowhere near the loss of Simon; it is still noteworthy in my opinion. If the plan for Discmania is to pair Buhr with Klein and take over the younger generation, it seems like a waste to give away one of the most promising young players in the game for relatively cheap.
Who the heck is Paul Krans?
If you don’t know who Paul Krans is, he’s been making moves in his local disc golf scene for some years. If the name sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen him in Simon’s vlogs or, perhaps, it was his 1056-rated round at Worlds this year.
Being from the Northeast USA area, Krans has been exposed to elite disc golf from a young age – I mean, he’s still only like 12. Sorry, I had to throw one shot. That was for the comments on my putting live streams 5 years ago; yeah, I don’t forget.
You’re lucky you’re way better than me, or I would say something worse. Jokes aside, I knew Krans was a baller years ago only because he reminded me in the chat that he threw far as heck for being so young. And I’ll be honest; I didn’t believe him.
In 2023, he set four goals for himself. The first was to play consistently all year, and since he finished the season with a 100% cash rate, I’ll say that was a success. The next goal was to stay 1000 rated throughout the season. He ended 2023 1023-rated, so yeah, that goal was smashed. His third goal was to win a few notable tournaments.
He was able to snag three A-tier wins, which was impressive enough, but he also won five B-tiers and a C-tier for a total of nine wins in his season.
The last goal was to reach $10k in earnings, which he ended with just shy of $20k. Each goal he set out for himself, he would go on to obliterate in 2023.
2022 PDGA Amateur World Champion ⏩ 2023 PDGA Rookie of the Year. 🏆
Unfortunately, he would not qualify for USDGC the past year, as he would have the spot nearly locked up going into the final hole of the World Championships, only to triple bogey and lose the spot by two strokes.
As much of a bummer as it was, I think this will be a good learning opportunity for the young player. Krans will be able to take this moment with him for a time he’ll really need it. A huge lesson young players experience before something bigger happens.
I think of Gannon’s loss to Drew Gibson at LVC being a moment like that or Klein losing to Paul McBeth in a playoff at USDGC.
Each of these times was filled with emotions, and I’m sure it was hard for them to overcome. But the next time they were in a similar spot, they were not only able to thrive but end up victorious, partly because of the experience they already had to go through.
There are two things I know: MVP owes their soul to Lizotte because without him, there’s no way they’d be this popular, and I don’t know if they make this pickup without him. And Simon, get Paul his darn Big Mac!
Silva Saarinen joins Team MVP
MVP also made a great move picking up Silva Saarninen, the FPO Rookie of the Year. MVP is starting to look like a scary team!
Gannon Buhr & Alden Harris to Discmania rumors
Gavin Babcock also signed a 2-year extension with Discmania, adding more to the Alden Harris Gannon Buhr signing for Discmania. Are you going to make me mention the collector page on Facebook again? Because I will…
With as many setbacks as there have been for Discmania, a Gannon signing could quiet down the last two off-seasons, or at least make them quieter. If they did lose Simon and Eagle in back-to-back years, holy cow, that would look bad in the moment.
Gannon is probably the best prospect disc golf has seen, so if Discmania were able to secure him, rebrand under the House of Discs during their full takeover, make Buhr the face along with Klein as the young generation taking over the game, and, if we’re lucky, change the disc names.
What if…? We cheered for manufacturers and not players?
Based on the 2023 DGPT Points of top 50 MPO and top 20 FPO, here is how the manufacturers rank:
Josh Jones ranked all the manufacturers based on DGPT points, and last season Discmania found themselves ranked 4th. Dominated by Discraft and Innova, but it shows they have promise compared to the field.
There’s over a month before the season starts, so there’s plenty of time for some crazy moves to be made. So, for real, make sure to subscribe to not miss a single thing going on in disc golf.
Ali Smith with THE BEST off-season announcement yet!
The new wave really seems to be the Infinite and Thought Space pair as Chandler Fry and Lucky Lorentzen also join the squad.
Maybe someone else will be joining the team. Before you folks get carried away, I’m fairly confident this one’s just a joke, but I’m sure some enthusiastic person will take it to Reddit.
Erika Stinchcomb joining Team Trash Panda
Trash Panda is making a big move and siging Erika Stinchcomb to the team! Upping everyone with her Trifecta sponsorships.
Holyn Handley designing an FPO Championship-level course
Holyn Handley went on the Partee podcast to discuss the FPO championship-level course she is designing. We’ve been providing small updates on it, but she revealed in the interview that this course features a variety of shots, especially those targeting her weaknesses. It spans over 7000 feet, offering a mix of wooded and open shots, as well as par 3s, 4s, and 5s.
While there has been much discussion about how revolutionary it is to have MPO players designing courses for the game, I believe it could have an even greater impact on the FPO side.
Frequently, we hear complaints from FPO players about lazy course design. An excellent solution would be to establish an FPO tour that includes tournaments designed by top FPO players, such as Holyn’s course.
Personally, I would love to see that happen and believe it could bring about positive changes for the sport.
Would you pay $767 for a Discmania Cloud Stone?
Back to Discmania, they put up their own exclusive Cloud Stone C-line prototype on eBay. It eventually sold for a whopping $767. I don’t know if this is artificially boosted or what, because who would spend that much on this disc?
And if you thought there’s no way Discmania would be selling an exclusive disc to inflate the perception, it was confirmed. So, yeah, it seems a little weird if you ask me. Maybe they’re just trying to gather enough funds to secure Gannon for at least his 20s.
That’s all I’ve got for the Weekend Wrap-up! Don’t miss out on any new Disc Golf World episodes releasing every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. The best way to support us is by subscribing, liking, and sharing with your disc golf friends.
Oh, and if you want to hear about that one time Swiss and I lived in a mini-van for 3 months, following the Disc Golf Pro Tour, recapping everything along the way and almost getting banned, check out the video here.
Since you’ve made it this far, be sure to check out Brodie Smith’s HOT TAKE spree on Twitter!
Brodie tweeted “Give me your best disc golf hot take right now.” so naturally, we have to react! Continue reading here – https://discgolffanatic.com/brodie-smith-disc-golf-hot-takes/