OTB Open: A Podium Powered by Prodigy
The West Coast Swing is underway. The Prodigy Team was in Stockton, California for the OTB Open Disc Golf Pro Tour Elite event and was throwing hot rounds at Swenson Park on the tour’s hottest stop yet.
A common theme: hot rounds and podiums
Isaac Robinson set the pace early with an opening day 10-under par hot round to sit in solo first place after 18 holes. Parker Welck would follow Robinson’s lead on Saturday and do him one better with an 11-under par round on Moving Day. Gannon Buhr closed the door on the three-round tournament with a Championship Sunday hot round of 11-under that included nine consecutive birdies on the back half of the course.
Buhr’s late charge moved him up 10 positions to finish in solo second place at 21-under par, and Robinson earned a tie for third at 18-under par total. OTB Open was Robinson’s third consecutive podium finish at an Elite event or Major, all started with his Major win at the Champions Cup. It was Buhr’s third podium at an Elite/Major in 2023, which includes his win at the Open at Austin, but does not count the Silver event victory at the Blue Ridge Championship.
So far this season, Prodigy Team players have finished on the MPO podium in six of seven Elite/Major professional events, with two wins and 15 total top 10 finishes. A Prodigy player has finished top five or better at every Silver event or higher in 2023.
Top 25 Results & More
In addition to Robinson and Buhr, Väinö Mäkelä moved up three spots on Sunday into solo ninth place for his third top 10 at a 2023 Elite/Major. He was ranked ninth in the division in strokes gained from Circle 2 (3.19)
Alden Harris followed up a second place showing at the Santa Cruz Masters Cup the prior weekend with a 13th place effort in Stockton, his third top 25 at an Elite/Major this year.
The hot round on Saturday was just the start for Welck, who shot 8-under on Sunday to move another 38 spots up the leaderboard and into 23rd place, his second Elite/Major top 25 this season. Welck has already earned a spot at the United States Disc Golf Championship after finishing third at the 2023 Challenge @ Goat Hill Park.
For the OTB Open, FPO players Lykke Lorentzen (T-27th), Lydia Cochran (39th), and Hannah Stefanovich (T-43rd) round out top 50 finishers.
Elsewhere around the country, Brandon Brown won his first professional A-tier event over a 75-player field at the Lexington Open XXV, and Dutch Napier won the MP40 division at the same event.
Sunday also marked Mother’s Day, and we asked several Team players to share a memory of their moms and disc golf.
