Stockholm Disc Golf Open
August 24 & 25, 2002

The Stockholm Disc Golf Open has the reputation for being the best tournament in Europe. I have no reservations in saying that it is the best run tournament in the world (OK, it is the best run event that I have attended - and I've played in probably close to 200 events). If you've read the journal entry for August 21, you already know how much we love the Jarva course. Add to that catered lunches, giant score boards, hundreds of spectators, tents, chairs, music, and much more. Everything was on time. You knew exactly what to expect.

Round 1: Shawn shot a 48 which put him in third behind Timo Pursio by 1 strokes and Jesper Lundmark by 2 stroke. Timo has won this event the last two years and he is undefeated so far this season. Jesper is best known in the states for his 3rd place finish at the 2000 World Championships. In the women's division, I was amazed by all the women that played. There were 16 pro women (more than attended the World Championships this year). I shot a 57 first round and found myself 1 stroke back of Niloofar and 6 strokes ahead of Birgitta. Birgitta has been the dominate female player this year, but Niloofar is an incredible player as well. Last year Nilo represented Sweden at the World Games and brought home the silver medal.

Round 2: Shawn shot a 49 which put him in a three way tie for first with Timo and Jesper. I shot another 57 and gained a stroke back on Nilo so we are now tied.

On day one, the best open players were in the A pool. Which played the first and third round on the Jarva course. The other pool consisted of the Women, Juniors, and the left over pro men and they played the second and forth round. (There are no Am divisions in Stockholm). Another interesting twist is that the groups are randomly arranged for the first round (just as in many US tournaments). For the second round, the groupings are arranged by score regardless of division. So I played with three pro men the second round instead of being placed with the other women. On the second day, everyone played another 18 hole round then there was a cut for a 9 hole semifinals and then another cut to the final 9 holes.

Round 3: Shawn shot 50 which kept him on top with Timo. Jesper dropped a little and is now three strokes back. I shot another 57 which gave me three strokes over Nilo.

Semifinals: Shawn shot 26 to Jesper's 23 and Timo's 25. Which puts Shawn in 3rd 3 strokes behind Jesper and one back of Timo. Nilo and I tied.

The finals were held for both the top 4 men and the top 3 women. We played the back 9 of the course. The women started and would play a hole then waited for the men to play the same hole. This way the gallery (which was huge) could see both the groups. Brigitta played well in the women's final as Nilo and I battled back and forth. In the end, I was able to hang onto my three stroke lead to win the women's division.

The men's final was the most exciting I've ever seen. The group consists of Shawn, Timo, Jesper, and Christian Sandstorm who currently holds the world distance record (at 820 feet).

Going into the final hole of the final 9 Jesper had a one stroke lead on both Timo and Shawn. The last hole plays about 260 feet long, but it is really technical. There is a hard low, tight tunnel shot available but most people throw a little turnover stall over the top of the trees to drop down by the basket. Jesper went 40 feet past the basket, but left himself with an open putt. Timo hit the last tree on the right and rolled back a little bit to leave him with a difficult 55 foot slight turnover putt. Shawn threw a thumber and also hit the last tree on the right and was left with about a 45 foot low ceiling putt. Timo putts first and has a beautiful shot that hit dead center. Shawn then steps up for his straddle putt and also puts it right in the basket. Jesper is next and he will win if he puts his putt in the basket. He missed and went even farther away from the basket giving him a difficult comeback putt that he needed to hit in order to stay in the tie for first. Jesper was unable to make that putt as well and had to settle for third.

Now Shawn and Jesper are in a playoff for the win. They start on hole one. Jesper has the honors. His drive is a little right but hits the trees and deflects back into the fairway about 60 feet from the pin. Shawn throws a thumber and puts his disc 10 feet from the basket. Timo's putt looked like it was right on line. It did hit left chains, but didn't fall in the basket. Shawn then dropped in his putt for the win.