Lizotte, whose son Emmett just turned 100 days old this week, completed a dramatic return to form with his first Elite Series win since the 2018 Memorial Championships.
In doing so, the 29-year-old Lizotte became just the second man to win an Elite Series event as a father, following Nate Sexton’s win at the 2018 Ledgestone Insurance Open.
Paige Pierce celebrates after defending her title at the 2022 OTB Open. Photo: Kevin Huver/DGPT
Defying the Odds
Since she began competing at Elite Series and Pro Major events in 2010, no player has ever come back to beat Paige Pierce when she held a lead of five or more heading into the final 18.
Entering Sunday’s final, Pierce had nearly doubled that previously insurmountable lead – carrying a nine-throw cushion over second place Natalie Ryan.
You would be forgiven for thinking the outcome was settled.
Only two people gave Ryan much of a chance: Paige Pierce, who had said that she was going to play like she was behind and gunning for the win, and Natalie Ryan.
OTB Open tournament director Sean Jack overlooks the action in Stockton. Photo: Kevin Huver / DGPT
(This is the latest in a series coming to PDGA.com spotlighting the tournament directors of the PDGA Elite Series and beyond)
Tournament directors are often the unsung heroes of disc golf competition. They spend their time preparing and hosting disc golf tournaments all over the world.
Get to know Sean Jack, PDGA No. 36762, the tournament director for the Disc Golf Pro Tour - OTB Open presented by MVP Discs Sports and the VP of Partnerships for the DGPT.
When famed course designer Leonard Muise set about reimagining the 18-hole layout at Swenson Park for the OTB Open, he didn’t do so with the world’s best disc golfers in mind.
What he had in mind, rather, was the future.
“More and more women are throwing much further than the norm even two or three years ago,” Muise said in his press conference appearance Thursday. “And unlike last year, this is not a temporary layout. This is essentially a permanent layout now. I did see that it was a little longer than maybe I would have normally liked, but I’m also designing something that’s got to last as the skills advance.”
A year ago, disc golf debuted at Swenson Park as the long-running San Francisco Open and the duo of Sean Jack and Shawn Mercy, alongside course designer Leonard Muise, made the move inland to Stockton. The course received solid reviews and delivered stellar action for both the MPO and FPO fields in its debut.
