Preserve Championship Preview 2022
The Preserve Championship is happening this weekend. What happened last year? What can we expect this year?
Here we go with the 2022 Preserve Championship at the beautiful Airborn Disc Golf Preserve. This course was founded and designed by Cale Leiviska. The is the 8th stop on the Disc Golf Pro Tour Elite Series schedule (Not including majors). We are just past the half way mark for the 2022 season.
The course is on a beautiful piece of property in Clearwater, Minnesota, just a short drive south of St. Cloud, Minnesota. The eastern border of the course runs along the mighty Mississippi River with the western border the glorious Country Rd 74. All jokes aside, its nearly impossible to find a bad picture of this property. The course is well manicured and “open for disc golf play every day from sunrise to sunset.” I would think December and January are a little less player friendly for those living further south.
What happened at the 2021 Preserve Championship?
On the MPO side of the competition, Ricky Wysocki (-35) managed to hold off Eagle McMahon (-34) and Paul McBeth (-33). It was a fight to the wire with all three competitors tied with each other at various points through the round. A special shoutout to Gannon Buhr (-31) who finished 4th at the event.
On the FPO side of the tournament, Kristin Tattar (-19) dropped the people’s elbow on the rest of the field with Paige Pierce (-9) finishing the closest at 10 strokes behind. Starting that final round Hailey King (-5) was the woman to beat for second place. Unfortunately, King had some troubles through the middle of the course and let Pierce catchup and over take her for solo second place. King finished third with Jessica Weese finishing in fourth.
The Black Bear Layout
The course is largely unchanged from the 2021 layout. For the MPO, the course measures 10,896’ and a par 66; the FPO course is 9,665’ par 66. The MPO and FPO will shar tee pads on holes 5, 12, 13, 15, 17, and 18. For the other 12 holes, the MPO and FPO will have different tee locations. Looking at the caddy book and previous coverage, the MPO and FPO will have to execute very similar, if not identical, shots but from appropriate distances.
The Black Bear layout uses the entire property to create a challenging championship level. For those who want to experience The Preserve, you have the choice between three different courses. The Timberwolf is the hardest normal layout at over 8,000 feet and par 61. The Lynx is shorter but just as challenge. Finally, there is the beginner friendly Red Fox. This is a pay to play course where you pay $10 for the entire day. An annual membership will cost $280-$380 and allow you to fish on the property.
The Action
The live coverage starts with the FPO at 9am EST on June 24th. The MPO live coverage starts at 4:30pm EST. You can catch the feature card and chase card for the FPO and MPO on Jomez, Gatekeeper, and GK Pro staring June 25th.
