Heimburg Ace

Calvin Heimburg moved up two spots during the final round of the MVP Open to finish in a tie for fourth, and picked up at least a stroke on the field by acing the 268-foot hole 5.

Heimburg tossed a Millennium Draco on a forehand line over the water to find the chains on the elevated basket. He was playing on a card with Paul McBeth, Ricky Wysocki, and Ben Callaway.

This wasn’t Heimburg’s first ace at a DGPT event in 2021. He also rang up hole 15 at the OTB Open.

The Open division will be without two top-rated pros at the MVP Open this weekend due to travel issues.

Simon Lizotte, who holds a German and Canadian passport, is currently in the middle of a required 14-day quarantine in Canada after returning from a trip to Europe. Lizotte will return for next week’s Green Mountain Championship.

Anthony Barela is not currently quarantining, but did get hit by a late cancelled flight. His American Airlines flight to Boston was axed on Thursday with the next available flight not offered until Friday morning.

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Cale Ace

Even for a player of Cale Leiviska’s pedigree, you can still have those unbelievable on-course moments.

While playing a one day B-tier in Bridgeport, Connecticut on Saturday, the Brewport Open, Leiviska had one of those moments, hitting a skip-ace on the final hole of the two-round event to take the lead, and subsequently the victory.

“The most magical moment I’ve ever had on the course was yesterday in Connecticut,” said Leiviska. “I was one stroke down on the final tee when this happened. It still doesn’t seem real when I think on it. I’m so happy my friends and wife were there with me to witness and share in the joy! This would turn out to be for the walk off win as the leader, my good friend Bobby [Cowperthwait], would go on to par the final hole.”

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Hannum Ace

Austin Hannum’s immaculate back 9 during the final round of the Delaware Disc Golf Challenge helped him to an 11-under day and second place finish, and it had a career highlight to boot.

On the 400-foot hole 15, Hannum flexed a forehand that crested the final ridge near the pin before fading back right and finding chains. The basket can’t be seen from the pin and Hannum and the second chase card did not react to the ace until being told by the GK Pro team.

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Jeremy Koling withdrew from the 2021 Delaware Disc Golf Challenge PDGA National Tour event before round 1 began Friday citing a knee injury.

“This is annoyingly the third time I’ve had to drop out of playing Iron Hill due to injury — dislocated pinky finger sometime around 10 years ago, sciatic nerve pain in 2019,” said Koling. “To put that in perspective, I’ve only dropped out of any other event in my career due to injury once. This time it’s due to a knee injury that that I will be diagnosing as soon as possible. My hunch right now is a torn meniscus. This is my favorite (and historically best finishing) stretch of the season and I’m starting to fear that I will be watching the action from the sidelines.”

Koling recorded three consecutive top 25 finishes at Elite Series events heading into Delaware, and his best Elite Series finishes in 2021 have come at other NTs in Santa Cruz (9th) and Texas (11th).

Thursday is the final day to get a launch pair of Idio Sports Syncrasy disc golf shoes on the company’s Kickstarter. Close to 1,900 people have backed the project as the campaign nears its end.

Idio founder Craig Kitchens set out to make a custom-tailored shoe to meet the demands of disc golf, and with ambassadors such as Nate Sexton on board he seems to have succeeded.

Idio Sports Thinks It’s Cracked The Disc Golf Shoe

Nate Sexton announced Tuesday that he would be withdrawing from upcoming Disc Golf Pro Tour events due to the surging Covid-19 delta variant.

“My wife and I have decided to pull our daughter back out of daycare again. Unfortunately this means I am forced to withdraw from the MVP Open in MA and the Green Mountain Championships in VT,” said Sexton. “I’m disappointed to miss two of the best tournaments in the world, but it really isn’t a choice when it comes to keeping my daughter healthy and safe. USDGC remains a top priority for me and I will do all I can to be ready to compete at my best in Rock Hill.”

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Valerie Mandujano did not play the Idlewild Open due to burning her throwing hand in a cooking accident, and is taking some time off to allow her injury to heal.

“I was unable to play due to an incident… which involves an InstaPot,” said Mandujano, also confirming she did not miss the event due to Covid. “As I was opening the pot the contents exploded on my throwing hand which caused second degree burns. I tried throwing [Thursday] but it only ended up making the blisters worse so I had to drop from the event.”

Mandujano recently began touring in an RV with her sister, Alexis, and partner, Mason Ford, and had a season best Elite Series finish at Ledgestone two weeks ago. She intends to return to play later in this season.

dickerson ace

Chris Dickerson’s opening round Friday at the Idlewild Open got a lot more interesting with an ace on hole 9.

Dickerson put a turnover line on the 258-foot hole to crest a small ridge before fading right and into the chains to card the eagle. He barely reacted.

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One of 2021’s breakout stars is taking a hiatus from touring to rest and diagnose an injury,

Gavin Rathbun announced after the Ledgestone Insurance Open that he would be taking a few weeks off to deal with a nagging shoulder injury on his throwing arm.

“I played this tournament without throwing a sidearm outside 200 feet. Well, actually threw one and my arm wasn’t ready for it,” said Rathbun after The Preserve Championship. Following up a 36th place showing at Ledgestone he confirmed the decision to rest, noting he’d be seeing a doctor this week.

Rathbun has made a number of lead cards this year, and earned his first Elite Series podium at the Des Moines Challenge. He says he hopes to return in time for the USDGC, DGPT Championship, and, if he qualifies, the DGPT Match Play Championship.