The Disc Golf Pro Tour is in full swing after a successful beginning to the year and the women’s open division is looking as exciting as ever. The opening titles of the year have found residence with victors both adept and budding as Paige Pierce and Kona Panis won the Las Vegas Challenge and WACO, respectively. In the following weeks, tour veteran Catrina Allen kick-started her season with a victory at the Open at Belton, just a weekend before Jonesboro, Sarah Hokom picked up her first win of the tour at the Vintage open.
The Jonesboro Open promises similar, if not more, excitement than previous events. The long fairways, punishing roughs, and cool temperatures promise to offer equalizing conditions and competitive fields.
Madison Walker has see
n her fair share of the Jonesboro Open, finishing thirteenth in 2019 and second in 2018. The sloped greens and punishing rough rarely find Madison because of her solid upshot game and putting. Madison converts inside C1 84.25% of the time and her birdie percentage of 24.6%, 8th on the tour, reflects that. Stats aside, Madison’s game is well-rounded, preparing her for every lie Jonesboro has to offer her.
This is Deann Carey’s second year on tour following a superb final stretch of the 2020 Disc Golf Pro Tour. She has cashed in thirteen of her last 21 tournaments and finished within the top five on six of those occasions, winning one. At the Lone Star Classic two weekends ago, Deann finished in seventh place after shooting a 981 rated first round, the third highest-rated round of her career. She has had a rough start to the year, but her game exudes confidence and the same belief in herself that her supporters have in her.
Heather Young hasn’t missed cash since 2018 and has finished within the top three at 10 of her last 17 events. Despite being relatively new to the tour, her statement of intent was sent upon her PDGA accounts inception, and the stats back it up. Heather successfully scrambles 50% of the time, partially due to her 73% conversion rate within C1X. Even without this, only 12.82% of her drives miss the fairway, of which only 7 have gone OB. Heather is searching for her first Pro Tour win and Jonesboro looks as likely a candidate as any.
The long, sprawling fairways may be threatening to some, but not Hailey King. She doesn’t care about your distance, she doesn’t care if you birdie, and she certainly will not be bothered by bogeys. Hailey has birdied the hole after a bogey on 40% of occasions, the third-highest of the women’s open field. Her game is well equipped with proficiency in both her backhand and sidearm abilities. She has birdied 49 of the 180 holes she has played and parked 20 of them. Hailey finished third in the Jonesboro Open last year and is looking to take home her second win of the season after her victory at Texas State Disc Golf Championships, her first National Tour victory.