\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHolyn Handley Cashes In<\/p>\n
Holyn Handley put an exclamation mark on her incredible season with her first Disc Golf Pro Tour Championship victory. Handley shot -19, winning by four strokes, and took home the $30,000 payout.<\/p>\n
Handley entered the event as the points champion with 2,262 points, earning the -8 head start and early lead going into the tournament. Her advantage proved crucial as she started out slow, shooting -2 total on Thursday and Friday at New London.<\/p>\n
Holyn stayed within striking distance, just two shots back of the lead heading into Championship Sunday. Then Handley did something rare in the FPO field this season; she took control of the tournament. Holyn shot -7 on the final day, seizing full command and enjoying her victory lap on the back nine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silva Saarinen shot +3 and played herself out of contention on Sunday, while late bogeys derailed Paige Pierce\u2019s chances to apply pressure. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Handley reflected on her 2025 season:<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah it\u2019s been tough cause I was playing so well and it seems like the more success you have the harder it is to find that calm and let go of those expectations which is what you have to do to continue to win. I felt so in the zone at Krokhol and then getting sick again and then struggling the rest of the European swing. And then yeah the last several months the frustrations been real.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrying to find that thing in me that fights back even when I am down I\u2019ve had a couple tournaments where I saw flashes of it and so just having the trust that it\u2019s still there and today I was trying to monitor the way I was talking to myself and how I was handling when I didn\u2019t do something well and telling myself to shake it off instead of berating myself and it\u2019s really hard to do but it worked today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holyn Talked about what the win meant to her:<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially with how slow the last few months have been, to comeback and get the win kind of reminds people kind of reminds myself that I am one of the best players in the world. I can win on any given weekend and don\u2019t count myself out and remind everyone else don\u2019t ever count me out.\u201d<\/p>\n
This win gives Holyn the most FPO wins on tour this season with five. This will surely spark more debate in the FPO Player of the Year race, since she now has five Pro Tour\/Elite victories to Missy\u2019s four.<\/p>\n
A five-win season is no easy task. Handley dominated the first half of the season with three victories, eight podiums, and didn\u2019t finish outside the top five. Holyn cooled off after Worlds but rediscovered her game later in the season. Handley\u2019s win garners importance because of the dominance she displayed on Championship Sunday at Ivy Hill. She seized control of the tournament on the final day, erased a two-stroke deficit, opened up a lead, and kept her aggressive scoring down the back nine to close out the victory.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
*Missy Gannon\u2019s win at Throw Pink Women\u2019s is an A-Tier victory<\/p>\n
Holyn Handley and the rest of the touring players will likely use the offseason to rest, recover, and improve. With this recipe, Holyn will once again be a top contender at every event next year and is poised to put together another elite campaign.<\/p>\n
Calvin Heimburg Wins in Dramatic Fashion<\/p>\n
Calvin Heimburg proved he wasn\u2019t a one-hit wonder this season, capturing his second win and the $30,000 payday in Virginia. He earned his -7 starting strokes and went on to win by three strokes over Aaron Gossage.<\/p>\n
Heimburg locked into ultra-scoring mode on Championship Sunday. His strong finish, combined with Aaron Gossage\u2019s misfortune, secured the victory. Focusing on the final five holes, Heimburg erased a five-stroke deficit to Gossage and a two-stroke deficit to Isaac Robinson. He went -4 over that stretch, carding an eagle on the par-five 15th (getting the three on both days) and a birdie on the difficult 16th. The proverbial dagger came on 17, where Heimburg parked the island green and tapped in the birdie to seal the win.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Heimburg talked through his final round and his mindset down the stretch:<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I ever gave up. I definitely knew the odds were stacked way against me. Kinda was starting to feel pretty out of it, just strung together a lot of good golf there at the end. I needed other things to go my way as well you know, there was a lot of things that had to go my way to end up here. I generally like to try to go out on my own terms whether it\u2019s good or bad. I don\u2019t like to leave it up to other people. I went for them all and it all worked out for me today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calvin reflected his season and time on the road:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know being out on the road all the time is a really really big grind. I am away from home for about eight months out of the year so all the friends I have on the road and family back home, huge shoutout to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heimburg capped his fantastic season in style, taking the win and the largest payout. He sank the putt of the year to win the European Disc Golf Festival, erasing any doubt about his ability to win a Major. He accumulated his points through top finishes throughout his 21 starts this season: two wins, four podiums, and 19 top-ten finishes. Calvin Heimburg is Mr. Consistent and knows how to win. With a strong offseason, he will continue to be in the mix, competing for victories alongside the sport\u2019s top players.<\/p>\n
Goose\u2019s Gamble: Island Hole Looms Large<\/p>\n
Aaron Gossage was on the brink of his first win yet again but saw his opportunity slip away down the stretch. Gossage shot -17 on Friday and Saturday, carding an impressive -9 round at New London. This put Goose at -26, two strokes behind the leader, Isaac Robinson, heading into Championship Sunday. Gossage scorched the front nine on Sunday, shooting -6 to take a two-shot lead. He jammed a birdie putt from circle\u2019s edge on 13, extending his lead to three over Isaac and five over Heimburg heading into hole 14.<\/p>\n
Everything changed on hole 14 when Gossage carded a triple bogey. Rain had begun to fall as he approached the tee, and a slip sent him OB. As he lined up his approach shot, he missed the island green and failed to advance to the drop zone. On top of that, he received an excessive time warning.<\/p>\n
His fifth shot landed 40 feet long, and he two-putted from there. However, heading into 15, Gossage was still tied for the lead at -31, with Isaac Robinson and Heimburg being just one stroke behind. In the end, Gossage and Isaac ultimately stumbled, while Heimburg shredded the final four holes to win the tournament by three strokes.<\/p>\n
This was another devastating loss for Aaron and a tough way to wrap up a great season. Once Gossage locks in his putting and continues to improve his consistency under pressure, a tournament victory is inevitable. An early win in 2026 for Goose could lift the burden, and result in a historic season that we all know he is capable of having.<\/p>\n
Luke Taylor\u2019s Course Record at New London<\/p>\n
Luke Taylor entered the event in 21st at -1 for his starting stroke advantage. After an even starting round on Thursday, he showed the world that double digits at New London is possible. Taylor scorched the course, shooting -10 for the course record. His bogey-free, 1050-rated round propelled him 16 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for seventh at -11.<\/p>\n
Following that, Taylor shot -15 on the final two days at Ivy Hill, resulting in an impressive tie for fourth place with Ezra Robinson at -26.<\/p>\n
He saved his best performance for the finale, finishing 4th \u2014 his highest tour finish of the season. His previous best finishes were fifth at Ledgestone and MVP Open. Taylor ended the season 22nd in the DGPT MPO World Standings with 915.98 points, earning five top-ten finishes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Luke Taylor has the skills and is one of the young players poised to contend for a win in 2026.<\/p>\n
Pierce Wraps Up Season with Second-Place Finish<\/p>\n
Paige Pierce had strong moments in 2025 and closed out her season with a solo second-place finish at the Disc Golf Pro Tour Championship. She shot -15 to take home the $15,000 payout. Pierce shot under par all weekend, including a -6 total at Ivy Hill, enough to earn her second place.<\/p>\n
Pierce collected her lone win of the season at the first DGPT Playoff event, the Discraft Green Mountain Championship, besting Ohn Scoggins and Missy Gannon in a playoff. In addition to her victory, she had five podiums and eight top-ten finishes this season, compared to one podium and eight top-tens in 2024. Pierce remains a legend in the sport and still has the winning edge\u2014a key piece of the touring puzzle that young players are striving for.<\/p>\n
Donnecke Earns Fourth to Wrap Up 2025<\/p>\n
Sofia Donnecke earned the highest DGPT finish of her career, placing fourth at the Tour Championship this past weekend. She shot -10 over four rounds, including a career-best round of -6 on Saturday at Ivy Hill. An eagle on hole 15 highlighted her impressive moving day: she ripped her drive into the fairway, found the fairway once more on her second shot, and then laced her third into the chains from 145 feet out for the eagle. Her 1020-rated moving day saw her move up three spots into a tie for seventh.<\/p>\n
Donnecke shot -3 on the final day, jumping up three spots to secure the solo fourth-place finish. This is another feather in her cap after an impactful start and finish to the season. Donnecke began 2025 with an 11th-place finish at the Supreme Flight Open and did not place outside of the top 15 for the next four events, including a 10th place finish at the Northwest Disc Golf Championship and 12th at the United States Women\u2019s Disc Golf Championships. Sofia rediscovered the strengths and consistency in her game towards the last five events of the season, collecting four top-ten finishes in that stretch.<\/p>\n
Donnecke proved she has the skill and talent to climb to the top of the leaderboard. It will be exciting to see how large a leap she can make next season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Holyn Handley Cashes In Holyn Handley put an exclamation mark on her incredible season with her first Disc…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1991,2057,2047,1443,2060,2059,2056,2053,2058,1389,2049,2055,2051,2048,2054,2052,2050,525],"class_list":["post-2957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bmw-championship","tag-1991","tag-barbasol","tag-bedford-county","tag-bmw-championship","tag-calvin-heimburg","tag-dgpt-championship","tag-disc-golf-pro-tour-championship","tag-event-preview","tag-holyn-handley","tag-how-to-watch","tag-ivy-hill","tag-luke-taylor","tag-lynchburg","tag-new-london-tech","tag-sofia-donnecke","tag-the-10th-disc-golf-pro-tour-championship","tag-va","tag-virginia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}