European Masters is Back!
We’ve reached the 2nd half of July and it’s almost time for the 4th Disc Golf World Tour event of the year – the European Masters. This year serves as the 2nd time the European Masters is organised, as the inaugural Masters event was held almost on the same dates 2 years ago.
Originally planned to be a “sister event” to the European Open, which celebrated it’s 10-year anniversary this year, the European Masters is a Swedish equivalent of the prestigious EO. Put together by disc golf promoter extraordinaire Jussi Meresmaa, there’s a number of things similar to European Open you can expect from the 2016 European Masters.
Järva DiscGolfPark features beautiful surroundings and championship level course design.
A legendary venue
Number one thing about all DGWT events is the course itself. The legendary Järva DiscGolfPark in Stockholm, Sweden, is the oldest pay-to-play course in Europe and a true international player favourite. This amazing piece of land is fully dedicated for disc golf and thanks to over 2 decades and countless hours of diligent work put into the designing the different layouts and making sure all obstacles on the course serve a purpose, the Löf brothers have created arguably the best course in Europe, maybe even in the whole world.
Mats (pictured) and Jonas Löf have created one of the best courses in the world in the Swedish capital.
As the Järva DGP slogan says, this course truly is a challenge and a pleasure that requires skill, commitment, a wide selection of shots and a great game plan to play your best at this course.
European professionalism
Another elemental thing for the European Masters and all other DGWT events is a strong tournament organization consisting of a group of volunteers paired with Jussi Meresmaa’s highly experienced staff. Players and spectators coming to Järva can expect a highly professional event where things are made to run as smooth as they go.
The SpinTV’s cameras will follow the action this week.
Rich media content
With the experienced staff comes also the focus on media content. While there will be no live broadcast production from the Masters, the online audience can expect a mainstream ready package of The SpinTV produced tournament coverage videos, daily wrap up shows from each round and tons of live video updates on the DGWT social media outlets.
For those hungry for live coverage, Avery Jenkins will be on-site again Facebook live streaming parts of each tournament round. For those interested in seeing the true aesthetics of the Järva course, DGWT staff photographer Eino Ansio will be capturing the event through his set of lenses for the world to enjoy. See Eino’s work from our previous events here.
Full field of fine athletes
Paul McBeth is the defending European Masters champion.
As for the competition itself, you should expect nothing less but another epic race for the first place. The Masters serves not only as the 2nd to last DGWT event of the year, but also as the sole PDGA Major in Europe this season. This means that the player list is packed with the top talent of the sport.
McBeth defends the Masters title
Paul McBeth, who’s won 2 of the 3 DGWT events played so far, is a natural favourite to win. Paul knows the Järva DGP well, as this is his 3rd event on this course. Paul is also the defending champion of the European Masters with his McBeastly final round race for the first place from 2014.
KJ Nybo knows his game
KJ Nybo has performed great on the World Tour.
Talking about knowing the course well, Denmark’s own KJ Nybo has had his fair share of tournament rounds on the legendary course. KJ, who is known to arrive early to hone in his game plan to perfection has been playing great on all 3 world tour events so far and will undoubtedly be a force to be reckoned with again this week.
Time for Wysocki?
Ricky Wysocki has stepped up his game for this season.
Ricky Wysocki, who’s been on fire all year, almost had the European Open victory in his hands before Paul McBeth stormed from behind shooting 9 consecutive birdies to eventually win his 3rd European Open in a row. Wysocki is also familiar with the Järva course and many of the more technical holes suit his sidearm game well. Not seeing this man on the lead card come Saturday would be surprising.
Lizotte suffering from an injury
Simon Lizotte, who won the 2nd DGWT in Czech Republic, injured his knee a couple weeks back a Discmania Flying Circus event in Finland. Normally a sure favourite on the top spots on tour, Simon confirmed to the DGWT staff on Monday that he will have to pass this event to make sure he’ll be back stronger for the rest of the season.
Plenty of talent behind the top favourites
Will Schusterick won in Järva at 2012 Stockholm Disc Golf Open.
Outside the top favourites, there’s still a vast field of talent. Players like Nate Doss, Nikko Locastro, Will Schusterick and Jeremy Koling are serious contenders in all tournaments they attend. Nate Sexton, Eagle McMahon and Zach Melton are travelling to Stockholm for the first time, but all 3 can easily find themselves on the very top if they can get their game plan for Järva course perfect.
Pasi Koivu is ready to challenge the US Pro’s.
One must also not forget top European contenders like Seppo Paju, Teemu Nissinen, Pasi Koivu, Henrik Johansen and Dominik Stampfer, who will be happy to challenge the top American pro’s on their side of the Atlantic.
Don’t miss the action!
The weather forecast for the Masters week looks great so far.
Like ever so often in Stockholm in July, the weather forecast for the week looks just about perfect and the whole disc golf world awaits for the exciting week to unfold. Make sure you don’t miss any of the action and follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Below you can find other handy links for following the event online 🙂
