Lead card action for Tattar and Tanner in Las Vegas

Las Vegas Challenge was the long-awaited first DGPT event for 2022. Especially the Europeans has been eager to make the jump over the pond as the pandemic has eased and travel restrictions has been lifted. Estonias Kristin Tattar is one of them, and she stayed on lead card for all rounds battling it out with Catrina Allen and Paige Pierce. When all dust was settled Kristin ended up on 3rd place. 

The 2022 season has started! What are your thoughts and feelings after taking 3rd place in Las Vegas?
I’m super happy to be back competing in the US and of course I’m very happy to take a 3rd place in my first event of the year. Coming off the snow and competing for the first time after a long break is always a little shaky, so overall I’m proud of how I played.

How was it to battle against Paige Pierce and Catrina Allen again?

I missed it for sure! So excited to be back and hopefully I can play my best to challenge the best in more events.

It was your first event with your upcoming signature disc Orbit Grace. What kind of shots are you using that for?
Yes, I had my new Orbit Grace with me and I threw my first shots with it here in LV. I immediately fell in love with it and trusted it so much that I was comfortable to use it in the tournament. I used my Orbit Grace for distance shots and I really like how the new plastic feels in my hand. I guess if you have a great grip, you know you’ll be throwing the disc good!

But the biggest surprise was Tristan Taner (well not to us, we know Tristan Tanner has the potential to win any DGPT event) who came to the event with a rating of 1001. This weekend he averaged 1046 for the event. He also played lead card for the final round and battled for the win, but fell back a bit and finished tied for 6th place. Still a stellar performance!

What a start of the 2022 season! How are you feeling about the Las Vegas event and your game right now?
– I am very happy with how my game is feeling now! I put in a lot of productive time into my practice this off-season and I believe that competing for
the win is the new normal for me, Tristan says.
Final round on the lead card, with lots of cameras and a big crowd. How was that for you?
– I love competing in front of as many cameras and people as possible. This may sound backwards but I think it reminds me to focus more and really be committed to every shot!
You got a 2 stroke penalty before final round, what was all that about?
– I have been asked a lot about the 2 stroke penalty. It was for a miss play on the triple island hole 6 from the first round. There was some misinformation being said about the ruling but ultimately it’s on me for not playing provisionals and honestly I shouldn’t have putted out of bounds…
How was your off-season, what have you been working on, and how did you prepare for the 2022 season?
– Consistency has always been my main issue, especially off the tee. This off-season consisted of a lot of field work focusing on 4 primary shots: stand still backhands from 225’ with Shields, standstill forehands from 225’ with Harps, backhand hyzers from 400’ with Pioneers and Forehand flat to hyzers from 400’ with pioneers. I’ll do that combo a few times everyday and putt from where every disc landed! I also kept score every round I played through the off-season to translate everything to tournaments, Tristan says.
Rive, Pioneer, Trust, Anvil, Justice, Harp, Shield, that’s a minimalistic bag. Was this specific for Las Vegas, or are you going for a more minimalistic bag from now on?
– My bag was fairly minimal for Vegas just based on the course setup. I also had Explorers, a Glory and an Adder in the bag this week but they only got thrown a few times for the whole tournament. My bag will modify itself through the season in terms of how many of each mold I will bag but those are all the molds I will be bagging!
Waco is coming up in two weeks. What are your thoughts and plans for that event?
– I have a little bit of a break week so I will take a few days off from playing and let my body and mind reset. After that I am going to stick to my practice routines and use this past week as fuel for another top finish, Tristan says.

Linus Carlsson has played event in Sweden and Europe during the pandemic, but for 2022 he is going to play against the best at the Disc Golf Pro Tour. He averaged a solid 1033 in rating over the event, and that got him a 17th place finish. 

Your first round on the 2022 US Tour, and there were cameras all over. Lots of nerves? Was it fun?
– Yeah it was definitely some nerves, but not really because of the cameras or the players, it’s more that it’s the first tournament of the year and my first round with Latitude discs. It was a lot of fun and a great experience to take with me for future events, Linus says.

Tied for 17th place, a solid start of the 2022 tour. What are your thoughts and feelings about your Las Vegas performance?
– I would lie if I said I was very happy with how I played, but at the same time it’s the first tournament of a long tour and I like wooded courses more so 17th is not to bad I guess. There’s a lot of things I could’ve done better, especially my tee shots, they were a bit off from time to time but my putting was decent.

Do you feel like you have dialed in your new discs yet? Found any favorites you are reaching for more often?
– Oh yeah, i feel very confident throwing my new Swedish plastic. I’ve been relaying on my Stilettos and Rives a lot in the wind we had, and Stiletto is a disc I’ve always been missing I feel like. My VIP Ricky harp and Opto Ice Justice had to work a lot in the wind as well. And obviously my putting putter Classic Judge.

Next up is The Memorial in Arizona. What are your thoughts and plans for that event? – –
– These courses are also pretty open, but the holes are shorter. So I feel like if I stay in bounds and make most of my putt then I have a good chance to fight at the top. But I’m especially looking forward to the nice Arizona weather, Linus says. 

Find the full stats and results over at Udisclive.com or Pdga.com.