Sunstein Open at 501 – Simon Lizotte, Kyle Moriarty, Harry Chace, Josh DiBattista [RD 1 Front 9] GMT

Sunstein LLP and Greatest Media Team are extremely thrilled to bring you coverage from the 2024 Sunstein Open. This is our 4th year running this event and 3rd year here at the beautiful 501 disc golf course.

We got another special treat for everyone, as we are once again featuring one of the worlds most famous disc golfer’s Simon Lizotte (​⁠ @SimonLizotte8332 ), along with New England legends Kyle Moriarty, 978’s Harry Chace who won the event in 2022, and Josh DiBattista, whom is one of the best players joining us from the good state of Maine!

Huge thank you to Disc Golf 978, Thought Space Athletics, and 501 Disc Golf course for hosting the tournament.

Winner of this event automatically qualify for the Massachusetts Grand Prix, and the points for the sunstein series are worth 2x as much. Follow along at sunsteinseries.com. Make sure to also checkout https://www.sunsteinlaw.com for more details on how Sunstein LLP could support some of your best ideas and winning intellectual property.

This is the back 9 from the Round 1 feature card. Round 2 will be up in a few weeks only on GMT channel. Become a member and watch the insane coverage we have lined before anyone else does!

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Filmed May 25th 2024
501 Disc Golf Course
Layout: Blues, par 59, 7,200’

Players

1) Kyle Moriarty – sponsored by Disc Golf Brah, Disc Golf 978, Thought Space Athletics. Rated 1009
2) Simon Lizotte – sponsored by MVP Sports and Grip. Rated 1043
3) Josh DiBattista – Sponsored by Ackers Acres, Rated 997.
4) Harry Chace – Sponsored by Discmania, Disc Golf 978, Sedgly Woods. Rated 1015

Drone Footage by
GMT

Commentary by
Steve Abreu ( Sunstein LLP) and Kyle Moriarty

Cameramen
Corey Carlson (Catch) and Raivis Markons-Craig

Edited by
Raivis Markons-Craig (@PDGA75027)

Music by
Keith Lincoln

it’s world class players and perfect weather on an outstanding classic New England style wooded course what more could you want than this it’s a disc golf dream 2024 sunstein open in 501 in Warren Massachusetts a b tier Memorial Day tradition presented by sunstein LLP disc golf 978 you all know them our friends at thought space Athletics in Maine who make great quality discs and our media presenters greatest media team rivus Maron Craig and his team as always my name is Steve ABW and I’m joined by the 2021 rrey Champion Kyle morti Kyle who are we watching today yeah so first up on the card we’re going to have the man that needs zero introduction Simon lazat he is one of the greatest additions to the New England scene we also have Harry Chase coming out of Rhode Island and you can see down at the bottom we have Josh D Batista coming out of Maine some absolute studs and then myself will be on the card Kyle morard AKA wads taking a wide stance there did you do that or just enjoy doing that oh it’s it’s all for the pleasure no it’s it’s all situational it’s it’s a good tool to have in the bag if anybody any players are watching that needs tips learn how to straddle putt here in New England you need it all right so that was a shot of Tournament Central and me sort of addressing a crowd before the tournament this tournament is on the sunstein series and you can watch uh follow along with the points race at sunstein series.com we’re playing the blue course in round one and Simon lazat is about to start us off on hole one a par 3 368 ft going to the blue basket to the right 3 hours sleep yeah he tugs this one over a little bit I think he’s going somewhere around the Tesla speed kind of disc the distance isn’t as much of a problem for the pro field but getting this tricky kind of angle out of the T box you can see there’s definitely these very early trees you you really want to avoid here what are you throwing I’m throwing a construct an ethos construct just trying to let that disc do the work and turn and and I certainly turned for sure I was hyped up for this sh Harry he’s got the ability to throw that speed seven speed eight he can really throw anything he wants here he’s got power for days just pretty stable never really turned and he’s out in the field he’s going to have probably a pitch up I don’t think he’s going to have a look no I think what happened was he saw Simon’s Drive kind of turn early he saw my drive kind of turn a little bit so he thought maybe the wind is a little bit stronger than we can feel off the T box and the wind never affected his because there really is wind so Kyle what’s your general approach to this tournament and maybe playing 501 501 the blue course is I think by far the hardest course in New England to pun there are some holes where birdie is virtually impossible hole one is a hole where you’re looking at and if it’s not your first hole you’re looking your chops for the Birdie being the first hole of the day it’s not really a tall as but it’s a big as you know pretty wide open you can find some weird trees as you see Simon and myself throw some up shots you see Deo here have the ability to putt at the basket from distance so if you throw a bad shot you’re still somewhat putting going right off the band to start he’s he’s letting us all know he came to play he’s going to throw some drives he’s going to be throwing some huge putts and he’s going to be hitting a lot of M today so this hole came in as the second easiest I think it’s not the second easiest if this is your first hole of the day because it is a demanding shot shape but the scoring average was 2.83 and uh but everyone here I think took a part of start did you hole two is a par four uh and we’re going to the blue basket and it’s probably a must get birdie I would think one of the most must get birdies on the course yeah this whole is as a par four you’re looking at it where there’s a lot of players that are thinking hey this is a decent Eagle opportunity or throwing a big blasting drive to give you a nice short chip up you don’t don’t have to throw it super far to get the Birdie being only 485 ft so this is this is a ho that every player is to attack and get the three here’s Simon sort of just watching it Fly nicely through the Gap and then pass turning the cameraman around that’s exactly what you want he’ll have a look for two yeah we we knew the cameras are definitely in a great spot you can get a cameraman to turn around you know Simon’s used to the discol brour cameraman they’re used to filming Simon so they know better to you know they’re standing out the basket these are just local guys they’re following us so you’re G to see them turn a lot when Simon’s throwing I throw that construct again and I sneak through those that wood line quite nice definitely a lot more shorter than Simon but still looking at a nice easy three you got a great kick he C caught early in the left and kicked him back right and you did thread it through I remember walking down the Fairway looking for your disc in the junk on the right but it it found the Fairway no problem yeah th this hole really is simple if you land in the Fairway Harry was just a little bit to the left where he wasn’t quite comfortable but he threw a really good second shot he should be able to you know convert and still get his birdie I’m just shipping up with a heart saying hey you know what if it goes in for two awesome otherwise keep it right there Deo simple he should have this no problem this is a no-brainer for him even standing in some mud he is talented here’s Simon’s look for Eagle everyone else looks like birdie is an opportunity Simon the only one with an eagle putt yeah this would be huge to get not enough juice he said on the first te that he had had three hours sleep I don’t know if that’s true or just an over exaggeration but uh he has a newborn daughter and so that’s part of the reason why he’s playing this local tournament is because he’s here taking care of his daughter and uh so we’re thankful for him for playing but I think um he’s coming out you know par birdie not too bad but um I I think maybe he was just trying to shake off some Rust yeah and you know you look at that it’s when you’re not rting well and Simon’s certainly not used to playing a two round tournament the same day so there’s a lot that really kind of goes into this and when you’re used to playing one ground tea time and being one of the top 10 players in the world you get of the latest tea times when you’re playing you know starting off at 9:30 in the morning it’s a huge difference when you’re used at 2:00 in the afternoon and so you can see just what a dog leg right this hole is it’s a 262t dog leg right part three to the blue basket you’re really trying to get what towards the green basket Park the green basket and then give yourself a look I like just yeah securing oh Simon was talking to me about it and he was asking what I was throwing dude I’m throwing a forehand I am no help to you so he went with a slightly faster disc probably like that speed seven speed8 and he just pushed it too straight really unfortunate uh result for what seems like a really good throw and this is my just chip up forand pushing it somewhere over towards green try to beat that back tree line and just play it for a three I I’ve learned enough on this hole where it can get squirly yeah there’s not a lot of out of bounds on this course there’s definitely some we’ll get to some holes that are lots of out of bounds but this is one of them where the basket has out of bounds on three sides and that long out of Bounce just snuck up and got Simon you really don’t have a lot of time you have to get it turned very fast yep yeah and I you know you see players like Harry and Deo here I think they are both throwing Putters off the T box or or mid and you can see that’s the difference where sing through a driver I thought the putter would Glide but see the green basket right in front of Deo blue basket further away oh hung up there’s an unexpected error that you would really not expect to see out of there let’s see if you can handle it a little bit better and yep just flashing by you know it’s interesting Deo chose that like long out and around he did have a up thee Gap shot probably chose out and around because he thought it was safer and and hit the Guardian Tree anyway and so it didn’t pay off one tree You’ never see Simon took his meter and this is for par and that is about the most Simon lazat thing you’re ever going to see yeah I mean if you follow you know GMT on their socials they posted the Simon somehow saves a three and it’s ridiculous you know it he truly is not to say he’s in a field of his own but he he’s showing why he is one of the top players in the world he can go out of bounds and then connect on a 50 foot putt when he has to nice step put there by Harry that’s really nice so two in a row for Harry wow yeah Harry is Harry connected there but and that’s about one of the better drives you’ll see you won’t see a lot of drives get over that rock wall and he was just short of it Divo just off the front rim the iron was unkind in a kind of a a roll away that I’m sure he won’t appreciate he has some work to do for bogey yeah that’s not what you want to see you you go up that front cage you just want it to drop straight down not rolling but you know as a player that’s the mental toughness you have to show and you have to keep fighting okay whole four on the scorecard says 345 ft but it plays 545 ft I mean it is a w in front of you straight vertical and it’s pretty intimidating from the T box what’s your strategy teeing off here this is a hole where you can as a player like Harry you can get aggressive and you say hey I think I can gain Strokes on the field and try to get this to or those players that don’t have I would say 450 in distance in a straight line cuz this is a tunnel shot uphill if you don’t have that kind of distance you have to play for the three and you’re just playing to stay somewhere in the middle Harry’s going to have a 55 foot putt from that top of the hill it this is a it’s a hard hole Yeah Harry Chase has Elite distance and there how many guys locally or in New England have his distance three four I mean it’s a short list all yeah I would say Harry’s right up there with the longest throws he’s up there with Simon he’s up there with Nick Kos I really think that’s it for distance people in the Northeast I mean Deo here he is controlled he throws this with a lot of angle so he’s throws a lot of aners and it kind of force flexes to help him out he’s not a distance guy I’m older I used to be a further thrower but now I’m kind of pushing back to more just staying steady and playing a more golf game way way but yeah 25 he left a little bit for his cut Deo wow fighting through the woods yep little simple soft TP so here’s Harry’s drive and this is for his two Harry Chase he is special very Chase a little hop but enough spin that it held the line the entire way just never I mean couldn’t miss never had a chance of missing was online the entire time let’s see if Simon can follow that line absolutely oh of course he does Simon is not GNA let Harry just absolutely destroy him that’s a very nice butt but Harry’s three down through four having only part one and uh has got to be pretty happy uh with that start for sure there were only three birdies as you saw Nick economus Elijah Brandt and Harry wow yeah that that’s about a dream start here in 501 getting three through four whole five here and absolute beautiful disc golf B touch soft nobody’s really G to be there for the two but you’ll see some drives get up to that area where you have throws had a great shot little negative reaction tried little low anyway that’s okay you’re just trying to blast straight y That’s pretty nice nice ground play and you’ll have what maybe 150 from there yeah 100 130 140 something come on come on but it’s treacherous if you hit either way if you go off the right side there there’s a drop off there so you you need to make sure you hit this Gap otherwise you’re in trouble either way yep yeah for the pro field this is a very simple hole you know you should be able to hit that 40 foot 35 foot wide Gap no way I mean come on what just happened the the words that I was saying before dream start carry is five down through five eagles whole five with a huge forehand throw in I believe that is a tactic that he threw in by down through five on the Blue Force at 501 what yeah like that’s where you sit there if you finish your round at five down you feel great like that’s an incredible round five down5 gross let’s see if you can repeat that I’m not going to I’ll tell you that right now don’t expect that out of me I play for birdies not well it looks like you have a nice look at birdie laid off uh soft sat soft should be nice Simon with a bit Yeah Simon definitely plays for some Eagles he’s got some really good touch cleaning it up go he’s back now let me ask you this question when you get out of the car this morning are you thinking you’re going to win this tournament are you trying to win this tournament is that the goal absolutely yeah I don’t I wouldn’t play a tournament if I didn’t think I could could win it um you know going to some just go pro tour events and like worlds it’s it’s a lofty goal to win but you definitely set goals of you know for these local B tiers and knowing these courses you’re like yeah I’m I’m playing to win I’m trying to win this even though Simon’s in the field Simon’s beatable at a a course like this he’s beatable it’s it’s possible um it’s a big ass for sure but you know if you’re not playing and you’re not thinking you’re can win you know you you’re probably not going to find yourself on top cards as straightforward as whole five was we now have whole six yeah there’s no line to this basket there’s there’s not much to positive to say about this hole besides the scores because the scores always come in positive here you really don’t come in under I Birdie on this hole is absurd you can see this is a hole where you’re playing placement off the team yeah just hard to have a disc fly when it’s it’s not far the angle is not hard there’s just a few too many trees some out of bounds that’s really limiting and then the baskets elevated once you see we get further down insane Hol far I I don’t get it you’re a stat guy you have the numbers on this hole would to come in at yeah this is the third hardest hole on the course it was 66 overpar 3.66 I don’t think there were any birdies yeah so I always have a oh no he hit going to be L I try to mask over Harry going OB I always have a major gripe with a hole if there’s zero birdies on it you know like it’s okay if a if a whole plays hard but if it’s not getting birdied at all you got to really re-evaluate what’s happening here and as amazing as the basket is you really don’t want to move the basket you change the teapad change the part cut some trees something has to give like I think you’re right we have 72 Pro players playing in perfect conditions including Simon lazat and there wasn’t a single birdie so yeah and you know granted Simon’s playing mostly blind he hasn’t played the blue course he can see it um but still like for 72 pros and nobody gets the two mindboggling what about just changing it to a parkour see that’s where that’s where you get to a lot of like disc golf weirdness and it’s like do you really want to have a parkour that’s under 400 ft I let other people fight that battle well you are in for par and you’re gaining Strokes uh with a three and so that’s got great felt great getting that par really tough second shot a decent uphill elevated basket pot there you know gain Strokes on Harry so oh oh got one one birdie I wonder who birdied it Owen Hamilton of course hey kudos to Owen Hamilton I guess me saying this whole sucks is put my I wonder what happened how he got it so Harry double bogey he’s back to three so his dreams start you can wipe the eagle and five off of a double bogey he’s three under now yeah so we go from a pretty bad hole to an awesome hole hole seven is great really forced anheiser backand off you see Simon throw Tesla here one of his new hummingbird ones and it just stayed right on him I thrown a glow botm so speed seven disc and I thought there’s a little more wind watching Silence stay off to the right and I kind of flattened up and now I’m picking way yeah that’s a jungle this hole is very demanding not only is the angle difficult but the amount of Guardian trees off the tea is is substantial yes yeah dvo he threw sexon Firebird I don’t know what year but he loves throwing overstable plastic on that forc and Heiser so it just kind of flattened up a little too fast oh it’s still fought not bad yeah a guard but yeah and you know I’m in a jungle I’m in some pretty thick stuff over here trying to manufacture some sort of a line and hopefully get up and down for a part oh oh stop oh yeah I I thought I threw it close and then I saw where it landed oh no oh no was right that is right back down the hill for Harry that’s bad luck oh then you see like that’s ky’s aggressive mindset he’s I’m not going to lay up something from 657 I’m going for it also went for that you just can’t with the you know bushes once you get into the hilly terrain of 501 you can’t really lay it it’s so hard to lay it up there’s so much stuff that could put your disc on edge near the basket yeah I mean look at all these rocks and roots and bare dirt nice top of very good that’s a great three from where he was very far back had to throw that Fairway quite a bit and connected see if you can save your three yeah this is probably you know 35 37 just never elevated it never pulled it up four birdies on this hole that that’s not a lot of birdies but pretty good look at those people Joey a Matt Cobble Lucas o and Ryan Begley a nice Shout Out by GMT have the uh oh we’re getting a little extra here oh we get to watch Lucas cber Hyer Smith let’s see how he birdied it not not Smith over hyper H H yeah oh my goodness that’s how heed it filthy nice shot all right ho eight part three downhill into to this um circular shaped green with kind of muck all around it yes definitely one you’d like to birdie yeah definitely you know footage wise it’s it’s short it’s straight but man throwing straight downhills really hard especially trying to control the distance uh Deo just kind of tugged a little bit so I through what looks like a pretty good shot I’m going to throw prac this here hopefully you can just hold a nice straight line have a little turn to it a little too much turn yeah that’s a unfortunate kick to the right this actually was the easiest hole on the course averaging 2.82 yeah you know this hole has been played as an island in previous years and this year it was played not as an island which is very nice for us um you know because anybody that drive didn’t get to the you know to that island is no longer Obed you don’t have to go to a drop zone that’s 60 ft away which configuration do you prefer just to golf for the sake of golfing I think I like playing it as it is without the OB cuz you can have some really nice shots that get punished for no reason you know you throw a shot that just goes a little bit deep and it’s OB um when that’s you know it’s but you know at the same time you throw a good shot you should stick to Green oh yeah oh perfect nice pu by Simon held hot on the rim and drops in perver it takes him to three under yeah that’s excellent three under for Simon that’s I’m bad playing blind I mean three B three birdies and five cars and hasn’t bogey yet yeah staying clean is pretty huge the only unblemished card on the future card oh nice yeah straight to the heart from Harry yeah he’s back he’s like all right I let you guys have some fun I took a double I took a single bogey I’m back all right nicely done another crazy straddle probably to get around that tree I assume huh yeah that one tree that’s right there that you probably shouldn’t land behind yep definitely wow 23 burdens that is that is impressive all right we are going to the hardest hole on the course hole 9 blue this hole is is an adventure of a lifetime especially if you’re an amateur playing this hole let’s see how the pros handle it don’t hit that one dude you yes you don’t suck one yeah this whole you really have to get past you are not past the green basket you are not looking to birdie you’re looking at instant par works and there’s rocks there’s trees there’s all sorts of things you got to get by you to just hype this drive just miss that tree that Harry just kind of nestled past and hopefully you find a good look where the basket’s not in the way there we go [Applause] so har now I said this was the hardest hole that’s the hardest hole scoring average scoring average 4.28 but that’s to Absolute Strokes yeah to to par it’s right in the middle but I think I mean this is definitely a pro day to par because I will tell you that at am day and women’s day whole nine blue was the T of the town about how hard it was playing yeah it’s it’s a really hard hole and you know if you don’t if you’re not used to playing an elevation if you don’t know what that’s like and if you see part 4 only 522 feet you you really need to get here like it is special like you don’t know what playing 522 feet and gaining 200 ft in elevation is it is it is wild and there’s a dog leg left so to your point you have to get to the green basket on the first shot or at least on some shot to just to get in you could get stuck in that if you hit one of the two Guardian trees off the you are in abute danger scramble mode just to get back onto the course what where Simon landed he to throw around the green basket so even though it’s it’s not a tree it’s not a rock he had to go around the basket as well so now there’s you know baskets in the way trees in the way and this is what he has left for birdie oh just so is this your birdie putt yeah this is my birdie putt I had to remove that log and I’m left with this 25 foot straddle putt from a from a psh wow it’s in I’d like to be your Devil’s partner cuz I got there in nine yeah I would have saved you a lot of Strokes that’s a great birdie yeah yeah there was what did it just say there was six birdies for that round there all right that’s it for the front nine we should take a rest like most people do when they’re at the 10th T at 501 and uh we will uh here are the scores Simon and Harry at three down Kyle wads Army at two down and Josh at even par that’s our feature card score and I think we’ll recap you on the overall tournament scores when we come back but stick around for the back nine we have an exciting conclusion of this round one and uh wads it was a pleasure we’ll see you on the back nine let’s do it 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