The Upshot: Niklas Anttila, Early Tournaments

Charlie Eisenhood and Josh Mansfield welcome Niklas Anttila to the show for the first time after he announced his re-signing with Discmania on a four-year deal. They also talk about the Shelly Sharpe Memorial and Asia Open with some early preseason results, and hit a big 30 Second Rule segment. Also: where exactly is the Midwest??

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Chapters
0:00 Where is the Midwest?
8:10 Preseason Results
18:50 Niklas Antilla on his new deal
24:30 Touring in the US
30:20 European FPO vs MPO Results
32:20 Growth & Areas of Focus
35:20 Team Discmania
37:50 Predictions for 2024
40:10 30 Second Rule

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Welcome to the upshot ulti World disc golfs podcast about the latest in the disc golf world I’m the editor Charlie Eisen Hood joining me is Josh Mansfield and Josh I got to ask you something okay you live in Idaho I do where would you say regionally Idaho is in the United States

Like you have like the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest and you have like groups you get the yeah yeah yeah um I have typically considered it like so northern Idaho kind of get loops into like the Pacific Northwest like up Port Lane sure is is cu like you’re

Pretty close to Washington right I mean it’s it’s an hour from spok can right so it that that typically kind of gets looped in up there but down here I’ve always just considered it like like Rocky Mountain right and when I think Rocky Mountain I think uh you know Idaho Colorado Utah

Wyoming uh and then you know maybe some parts of like Nevada so that that’s kind of my Geographic and New Mexico and New Mexico that’s right and Mexico I mean people put New Mexico in the southwest which is fine but if you called if you said Mountain West which is what I would

Call what you just said Rocky Mountain then I would consider that like sort of New Mexico fits in both because it’s on the rocky chain but it’s far enough South that it’s considered Southwest yep I thought about including New Mexico but I thought you might be the expert on

That one so I going to let you call it’s legit it’s legit it’s it’s it’s in the Rock I mean people think people think that New Mexico is like Arizona but New Mexico is a lot more like Colorado than it is like Arizona uh Albuquerque’s Mile High it

Snows in the winter okay it’s you know Four Seasons um Okay the reason I bring this up Josh there was a story in the Wall Street Journal this weekend about people considering what who considers themselves in the midwest okay put up this chart here on YouTube and you’ve got your typical Midwest

Boundaries that is defined by the US Census it’s the dtas Nebraska and Kansas and then across the bottom you’ve got Missouri Illinois Indiana Ohio and Michigan and then of course Minnesota Wisconsin and Iowa okay those are the states I don’t think anybody really disagrees with that Ohio people seem to

Be a little less clear but people in Idaho it’s like I forget what the I think it was 15% said that Idaho was in the midwest Josh tell me how that’s possible it’s outrageous I don’t know I I don’t know who would say that Uh I that that makes no sense to me

Because I I think I would consider Idaho if I had to pick right let’s say let’s say you took out a Mountain West right and that wasn’t a choice I would still default to Pacific Northwest before I would dis default to the Midwest yeah I mean like the Midwest

Starts to lose its meaning if it’s if it includes Idaho but I was shocked I mean 50% of coloradans believe that they live in the midwest that’s now like guess if you live on the very Eastern edge of Colorado right next to Kansas then you’re like kind it’s

Like kind of closer to being mid westish than it is to being Mountain westish sure but 50% same with Wyoming I don’t know how I don’t I feel like Wyoming like you’re like in cowboy country that is not the Midwest people in Pennsylvania saying they they live in the midwest

Which do you remember we had a chat about this about the Midwest and what the Midwest designations were I think it was last year oh yeah cuz we were like fighting about Missouri or something well I can’t remember I was about to ask you which state were we arguing about

Being a part of the Midwest now I don’t remember I don’t either but I I just found that very interesting and Oklahomans believe they live in the midwest even though that’s not official by the census like almost overwhelming like 70 something per of Oklahoma believe they which you know

What what is Oklahoma I think if you asked me I would probably say I would consider it Midwest I probably would too I would have said so I don’t know it’s just it’s like Texas North I sorry Oklahoma I was there once I’ve been there once in my life never been I’m I’m

It’s totally unfair I went for a frisbee tournament it was like 100° and horribly humid and I was like I’m good I’m never coming back here have you ever got I guess you said you’ve only been once got back and I haven’t been to like Tulsa Oklahoma City I’m sure they’re nice

But uh anyway so I I just I found this shocking this article was shocking the fact that there were people in idah who believe they live in the midwest was totally shocking to me it’s funny to me because Utah is closer to the Midwest than Idaho is but nobody in Utah thinks

That they live in the midwest because certainly some must but they they were not enough to get on the chart not enough to get caught by the the that’s the sample size oh my gosh so Midwest listeners let us know how do you feel about this does Oklahoma belong what about Colorado and

Wyoming this is uh this is this is this is blowing my mind a little bit all right we’ve got a great show Nicholas anela will join us shortly he just announced a reigning with dis Mania for four years so Josh it was all a Bru I don’t really this is just

Just what what a what a what a silly thing I’m sorry I mean I in a way I get it people talked about Nicholas and now here we have him coming on the show he’s right yeah but it’s just you’re just like lying to us I don’t like that yeah

Especially because I think there could have been a way to Hype your Sky team with your new additions and right I don’t I don’t fly them in or something um helicopter no that’s been done Charlie I private charter jet uh but but right do do some sort of Sky Team release and you

Know where you headline and you’re like our new Sky team and you hit Ganon and Kyle and then you have Nicholas like pop up in the middle and like announce his promotion as well and you hyp it with like a a really cool release and or sets of releases there was opportunity there

To do it well and I just I don’t think it was done well well he gets the bag he stays at DIS Mania I think one thing that’s hard for us fans to maybe realize is just how important the European market is to dis Mania and like how big Nicholas is there

Like as the multi-time Finish Champion like he’s probably the biggest star in Europe besides Kristen besides Christen yeah so like he has value there that goes above and beyond his you know recognition in the US right and it’s just a matter of time I feel like he’s gonna he’s going to win

A Tour event pretty soon yeah I I he could he could very well win one this year here he’s taken second at two majors Josh we had some real professional players playing professional frisbee tournaments it’s been a little while we G to talk about discol we’re gonna talk about discol is

That what we do here uh the Shelly Sharp Memorial happened over the weekend uh tell us about what happened Josh Parker Welk beats out an incredibly Deep Field for what is just an a tier before the season s in order to get a win and man I mean Parker Welk there

Like that this this is a win that I think is actually very important for Parker wel especially going into this season I mean how about this right he wins in a playoff over AB I mean Anthony Bella in Arizona in January and February is like vintage Jordan I mean it’s like

This man is unbeatable and for Parker Welk to come in and beat him on his home turf that is awesome and I mean it has to get you excited about like okay maybe it wasn’t just a flash in the pan with Parker wel maybe he really is that dude

I mean he shot some really nice rounds I’m looking at the round ratings right now uh 1037 1042 and then he closes out to to chase down Bella get to the playoff 1070 uh shoots a 50 and you know look ratings are ratings at this course but I think

To be able to go out there and beat like legitimate other professionals including Bella and Drew Gibson and uh couple other guys were there uh Aaron gosage to me this is like okay Parker wel I mean are we going to see this guy you know find some Rhythm on the tour this

Season uh I this this is this has to be a confidence booster for him to to do so over on the FBO side own Coggins beats out Jennifer Allen wins by a couple strokes this is another case where like if you go to Arizona you like you have

To beat Jen Allen right that’s that’s you want to win uh and you know that the difference I mean o and Jen were at 22 and 20 under respectively third place two over Emily Yale upshot listener congratulations to her um own though shoots a 1018 to open up the tournament

And just never looks back and and and plays Great Golf able to close out the win over Jennifer Allen and uh another year and owns cogin is is still shredding it’s onreal basically starting the season with a 1018 rated round I mean what’s the odds on own winning a major this

Year well let’s think I mean she’s got like a probably like a 20% chance or something like that is that a little too high I think it’s a little too high 10% maybe maybe be in that ballpark cuz let’s I I don’t know the fpo court but it doesn’t matter

Own can win anywhere own can that’s that’s what we’ve seen yes own I mean chrisen is so so so tough but like own can will be competitive yes all season again it’s amazing uh we also had the Asia open over at the Asia open uh people were getting a little bit of Buzz

Going because Jackie Chen who you know popped off it probably this tournament I I can’t remember if it was the Asia open or uh another tournament you know in Japan or something this was in Taiwan Jackie Chen opens the tournament with uh 1063 rated 43 um and looks like he might go you

Know beat Pho on his way to a win but not to be manabu kajiyama gets him in the end uh after he beats him by five Strokes in round three and wins by three Strokes Pho finishes one shot back of Chen so just nice to see Pho getting

Over there again and manabu nice tournament fun stuff I I think this tournament would be so much fun to play in I I mean yeah it it looks like a lot of fun congratulations to to manabu Jackie Chen 43 his 1063 rated round was an 18 under

Uh had a couple of eagles offset two pars uh and then is able to go perfect on the rest of the course so uh always exciting there just quick note on the foo side Chia Fang Chen wins by 19 Strokes she’s 928 rated so maybe somebody to keep an eye on in the

Future what’s next Charlie well uh we got to talk about some signings we’ve got a few more things like most of the pieces have now found their way into place of course Nicholas anela signing four years with dis Mania we’ll talk to him about that in just a bit uh Holland

Handley announced a two-year extension with Discraft the Discraft signing thing has been a little weird this year because players keep sort of being like Oh you know I haven’t really said anything but I resigned for two years and it’s just like there’s been no buzz on the Discraft side about it I don’t

Know if that’s intentional and we’re going to get a video this week or something but I just find it a little unusual but great resigning for Discraft y uh Holland is prob you know she’s clearly one of their highest upside fpo players yes uh I have to imagine as well

After winning thow pink that she’s she’s getting paid pretty nicely now um I imagine that first deal was probably a pretty Team friendly deal and now is is I think hanley’s going to be getting paid a little better now yeah I I wonder I’m sure it’s better I I wonder how good

It is yeah like it’s kind of an interesting but you know two years it’s uh seems like good good for both sides sides um but the big news this week DGA making a bit of a splash Josh as they come out and announce you know they had some previous player announcements

We already knew Cole ralin was back uh for you know he was still under contract Katrina Allen still under contract uh Andrew mared but they come out and they announce that they have signed Parker Welk Macy Villa Diaz Ellie midling Evan Scott and Sullivan Tipton now on their each of

These players individually I don’t think would be like necessarily some sort of groundbreaking thing now we were of course very curious where Ellie midling was going to land because of just the immense talent that she’s already showed right but taken as a package like okay DGA like you’re actually here playing in

The sponsorship market for real now you know it’s funny because last week I literally got done saying oh well you know I think DGA you know they’ve got Cole they’ve got cat that’s what you want from a smaller brand that’s part of a bigger manufacturer is you just want

Those two Headliners to sell discs and then DJ goes and does the exact opposite right and signs this very deep pool of players behind them and and I guess what what I think is interesting here and you talk about the package deal and that that’s really what I wanted to

Highlight here as well it is a package deal of young players who are probably gonna they probably have decent contracts but it’s it’s about the upside right what happens if Ellie midling goes on tour this season and you know beats Kristen in a major that lots of discs

Right lots of discs for uh the the price that I’m sure that they were able to get her at uh but but same thing right Evan Scott svin Tipton players who have shown upside shown real potential you get them on deals and then if they do really well

You get to profit from that and benefit from that publicity and you were their first as well you know you offer them their first contract more likely to stay it creates a lot of opportunity by signing this big Collective group of young players and it doesn’t require you

To have a crystal ball that says yep okay we’re going to sign one who do we think is the one guy who’s you know has the chance to really break out and and overperform for the next couple of years and and they get Macy Vaz presumably on

The cheap because DD let her walk Y and so you know even though she may not play that much this season assuming that they establish a relationship there that’s a nice piece for the future uh Parker well coming off the win at Chile sharp like hey good timing for that to happen yeah

Uh I just I really like the team dga’s put together they have some like players who can legit win tour events and have proven that and they have a like next tier of players who look like they could be big names in the next 3 to five years

And I mean this is all of a sudden I mean DGA kind of coming out of nowhere here and you know we hear what Discraft like acquiring DGA if this this would suggest that there’s some money coming in there and that you know will DGA start to become a

Company that people take a look at when they’re thinking about filling their bag uh I really like I really like the move m m could could end up being the best set of signings of the off season that that that’s a that’s a little bit

Of a bold claim but it is a bold claim but Ellie midling wins a couple events or EV you think about the value proposition too right exactly you want to pay up huge to get a Ganon or an eagle sure you know there’s risk there I think this looks like a relatively

Lowrisk set of signings All Things Considered with a lot of potential upside yeah completely agree all right time to talk to Nicholas antila and on the other side of that we’ve got a 30 second rule so don’t go anywhere we’ll be right Back at pound the quality of our gear runs deeper than the stitching that’s why we make everything right here in the US employing highly skilled well-paid professionals from bombproof Cordura fabric to YKK zippers and recycled Plastics we Source the highest quality us materials to make the most comfortable durable pack in discall our

Lifetime warranty stays with the pack not the purchaser so regardless of how you find us we will be here to make sure your pack stays on the course and out of the landfill pounds Integrity is held together with more than just Threat joining us now on the upshot for the first time is Nicholas antila who just resigned with dis Mania on a four-year deal as he moves to the Sky Team Nicholas welcome to the program thank you it’s nice to be here well it’s great to have you uh

Congratulations on your new deal you uh you you kind of played us here Nicholas we we all we were all waiting where where’s where’s he going where’s he going it’s it’s late January and it’s back to dis Mania how did this all come to pass uh was this a misunderstanding

Was is this an intentional move in your Instagram post uh tell us about it I mean yeah um I got a lot of people to talk about me that’s for sure um uh I have been keeping the secret from like mid December I think and we basically had two options because we

Knew that eagle was leaving and gon and Alden they were joining us so my announcement was going to be a little bit later in the January so we had two options to either stay stay like silent and not not say anything or then just U make people talk about this Mania and

Myself and yeah we we chose this one this time and I I knew that I was going to make some people mad but I I also made some some funny comments happen in the in the social media and stuff so I don’t know it was uh pretty fun for me

Uh no no publicity is bad publicity right yes yes um so I I I’m going to make a confession because you you got me really good here um I love your tour series PDS they’re my favorite run it’s the only ones that I keep in my bag and

When you announced you were leaving I went down to my local disc shop and I bought another one because I was like oh I got to get a backup because if Nicholas leaves I won’t be able to get more of these PDS oh I you owe him $20 Nicholas yes so I have

An extra uh Nicholas anelo pedd now sting in my basement because I was afraid that you were leaving team dis Mania so you got me uh but you know what it sold discs and that’s that’s the point of uh of your position right so you’ve got this new deal what are some

Of the differences in the terms in these new deals uh can you talk about what you’re getting in terms of like a base uh what incentives exist uh uh disc release plans just what’s included in this package yeah I mean I’m I’m the sky team

Now with Kyle and genon so that has been like um maybe a golf mine for several years now and I’m happy to be there right now uh in terms of like what’s different in the in the actual deal is maybe that I can have my own mold I can design my own

Mold um then people have the Nordic Phenom Academy which is like big thing for me because I can I can support like Junior players and that’s huge for me because I I think that when I was a bit smaller and I was like 15 16 years old

It was the biggest thing for me to to meet and get some support from like PA MC or SEO here in Finland so that’s a big thing for me as well um I can’t really talk much about like the the money side of things but uh I think it’s

Public that the guaranteed base base payment is more than Christine or or v v are making so yeah you see all I can say UC medma said uh to uh frisbee Gulf media a a Finnish news source that uh you have the biggest European contract which I think is what you’re referencing

And they asked if you would be able to achieve a million euros in earnings during the next four years and he said that’s possible even probable uh obviously that would suggest that that’s with incentives uh do you do you think that it’s possible even probable that you’ll hit that million euro

Mark I think so yeah of course I I can’t just like disappear now I need to do things and play good disc and even like even like my best disc I I need to win some tournaments in us to to do that but yeah I’m happy with my my base salary

And that’s that makes my my touring in you as possible like very easy and I don’t need to go like the cheapest way um every time and yeah yeah it makes makes things a lot easier for me for sure did did you um how close did you get to signing with another

Manufacturer yeah I I talk about this in in a like a finish podcast but of course you you can you can understand that and I I think you haven’t even seen the seen the episode so there were times that I was like almost for sure that I was going to

Leave dis Mania and in my head that felt like like oh my God is this really happening because um I have always seen myself like a like a dis Mania player and it’s only been it’s only been six years now so I’m happy that we are going to get at least 10 years

Together you talk a little bit about your the touring and that this is going to allow you to tour in the United States you obviously take kind of the break with Co you don’t come over to the United States back in 2022 you start coming to the United States again um

Playing kind of a mixed tour and that’s the year I want to come back a little bit to usdgc but so and then and and now you tour full-time what is it like being a European player who comes over and tours in the United States I mean there

Obviously has to be travel Logistics and complications that you deal with that not everybody else deals with yeah I mean it’s a lot more complicated than I would say like what US players have to deal with because it’s their own home country and they kind of feel at least somehow at home I

Feel like I’m on the road like almost the whole year where I’m playing playing this golf and we need to do like a lot more planning I think we need to book the flights and book the airbnbs and um I think it’s also it’s also different because I feel like I

Have more like European and especially like Finnish eyes looking at me when I’m in the tournaments and they want to see me do good so but I don’t feel like it’s like nothing it’s nothing negative in on my side I I like the pressure and I like to be like

The I like to be representing European and Finnish discov on the on the discov proor how do you balance playing in the United States where we have the biggest fan base the most you know the market is here in a lot of ways but the the sports

Growing a lot in Europe and you’re obviously wellknown and popular in Europe how do you balance playing in the US versus playing in Europe given the differentials in per size and and media coverage Etc yes it’s um again a bit different for me because I’m from Europe

So every year I want to play at least sometime in in Europe and in Finland because that’s my that’s my home and I also want to see like my see my see my guys back back home see my family and at the same time like I want I want all the Finnish

Juniors and Finnish fans see me play every year so that’s also important for me but uh because I want to be the number one disc golfer in the world I need to also play the biggest tour in in the world and that’s the diso proor in

Us so it’s it’s a lot easier now when the dgbt is coming to Europe and we also have the the GPT points that are counting to the world ranking so but I also want to play more in US every year that way I can make the Proto finals and

And even win the tournaments back back in the US so so just to follow up quickly do you have do you plan to play a similar schedule as you did this past year you you started in the US and played through uh Portland open and then

You went to Europe for about two and a half three months and then you came back to the US for worlds is it going to look similar this year uh actually actually no I’m going to play like I will start in Florida and I will play like six seven tournaments

It’s going to be like 8 week trip then I go back home I will be back home for one week then I will play the kopenhagen open in Denmark and then I will fly back to the West Coast wing and play OTB open Portland open and I think be States

Fleeing is the last tournament then I will go back home again I will play all the European tournaments and then I will come back at the latest for the World Championships so it’s going to be three trips next season and I’m excited for it that makes sense so you’ll probably play

Through Champions Cup and then come back to Europe yes that’s Champions Cup is going to be my my last tournament of the of the first trip and it’s going to be a lot more flying but I will do it a lot less driving be home yes less driving

And and more time back home so that’s important for me yeah got it I want to come back to something that I had mentioned usdgc 202 to you take second place that that I think is just such an important tournament I mean but then I you take second place at Champions Cup

In 2023 you have shown up and played well at the majors what what do you think that second place at usdgc did for you and your brand I think now I have been able to look back at that tournament and say to myself like that’s like a great tournament for

Me and I made my name in that tournament I think but for like the first year after that tournament I felt so bad about myself I was thinking about the tournament almost every day um I felt so disappointed in myself that because I was I was leading the tournament after

Every round but not the last round so that’s the that’s the only round that I actually counts and um I I felt like I lost the tournament in like pretty bad way because I missed a part of 14 and stuff but I I think that’s like a a big

Learning experience for me as well and it’s U it’s the big thing to have under my belt going forward and having a having a new chance at win so I know knew that I was going to I was going to win at some point it’s just going to be a later not not

Now so I want to follow up then with a little bit of a different line of thought and when we look at the European disc golf competitors on the disc golf pro tour on the fpo side you have Kristen who dominates the sport right now and yeah you know you’ve also had

Though like henna and neina in the past who used you know and they still are very good and excellent throwers especially Silva sarin and is just another up andc Comer and you look at those this fpo side and the European women are extremely competitive and you

Move over to the mo side and it doesn’t feel quite the same you know it’s been a long time since we’ve seen an no European uh player win a us-based major if that one’s even happened um yeah what’s the discrepancy there I don’t know I think

That at least in Finland um all the FBO tournaments all the FBO Fields they have been playing the same course as the n n guys for like I don’t know how many years but forever so I think that the courses have been more demanding for

Foo compared to us I think so I myself I feel very proud to be European because we have so many good FBO players and I think especially Christine she makes Europe very proud every year I think she’s the goat of fpo in my opinion the goat yep all right um but I

Don’t know I think more and more n players are going to make the trip over to us these coming years and I hope that we can we can also show that we have some we have some npl Talent as well and I can almost promise that in the

Next three years there’s going to be at least one European winner on The RK of proor at least I hope so I was just checking I I I went on stat Mando and I looked up you know how often have you shot 1040 or better as your tournament rating yeah and in 2020

You did it once at the tare uh Prodigy disc tournament you won that in 2021 you did it three times all in Europe this is still kind of like covid times you won all three of those tournaments uh then in 2022 you did five times one win at

Finish Nationals and then in 2023 you did nine times which included a Finnish Nationals win and the K pich win um so obviously your performance has been steadily stepping up because you know winning is not just about your rating it’s about being able to shoot like a

Above your rating for a weekend um how do you because you know I was thinking coming into this you know you had such a good 20122 closing out with the the second place finish at usdgc and then it felt like 2023 you know you didn’t earn quite as much cash you were obviously

Playing in the US more so that maybe has an impact there but it didn’t feel to me like quite as good of a season but actually when you look at the numbers you probably played better it’s just that the competition is getting better yeah and also I think that in 2023 my my

Badr wasn’t that bad it was very good for being a bad round and I think that’s the biggest difference compared to 2022 but also I didn’t have any like crazy good rounds so I wasn’t able to make lead cars or play for the win that often

And um yeah I think that I’m going in the right direction every year and I’m closer and closer to winning the tournament and yeah I just can’t can’t think about winning the tournament all the time I need to just keep my head calm and think about some other stuff

When when you look at this off season what aspects of your game are your areas of focus for improvement yeah so we have a lot of snow here it’s actually crazy and it’s so cold I think we had like minus faren Heights for a straight week like one

Week ago so I’m not playing outside at all I’m only throwing indoors and luckily for me I can I can be there every day when I want to and I go put and I can go to a gym as well so I think the the biggest thing for me

This offseason has been like my forehand I have always had like pretty good forehand it’s pretty accurate but it’s not the not the longest one so that has been like I have been trying some new stuff and I think it’s a lot better now than 2022 or

2023 you’re now on Sky team with Kyle and Ganon after all the shakeups of this offseason um you know eagle goes to MVP G Ganon Kyle you they each have a US dgc win you came close is it going to be motivating to you to try to be the Top Dog on this

Discmania team yes for sure I mean when I joined discmania in 2018 I think we had Simon and eagle and they were like the top dogs in the in the team and now I think yeah genon and Kyle they are bigger names in us than me but I also I’m

Bigger name in Europe Europe than them so it’s more balanced now for sure and I think it’s a lot of people talk about Eagle leaving and Simon leaving but I only see like good sides in this thing because we have very young team and also very promising team uh when we are going

To play like five seasons I think our team is going to be like very promising because we have so many young players and and also like on the FBO side we have Ella we have alen we have Gavin we have all the guys thas thas as

Well so the the team is probably the youngest on the tour but also maybe the most promising what there are some teams that you know we use team Loosely people players that receive money to rep a certain brand right uh but there are some teams that really do

Feel like teams uh Prodigy last year had a lot of friends uh and the guys were very close you know there’s obviously the shakeups and your team takes some of the biggest shakeups do you you know do you consider Kyle and Ganon friends of yours do you know when you’ve played

With them on tour or is that something that you’re looking forward to you know making better acquaintance with them this season yeah for sure I mean especially like um the end of last season I was hanging around with uh Allen and ISAC and ganner and Gavin and those guys and

They one of my best friends from us for and also Kyle he is very good guy for me because I have only been playing in us for two years now so and I’m not there like fulltime so I’m not hanging with them like all the time but

They are good friends of mine and every time I see them I’m very happy and they make me make me laugh out of times so it’s always good times with those guys give us some predictions for this 2024 season you know we’ve got all this shake up with the teams as usual but

Ultimately it’s the Archer not the arrow so are we going to see more Calvin dominance do you think uh you know you’re going to call your shot European no winner this season I know you said next three years almost guaranteed uh what what do you see happening this year as the as the

Tour kind of stretches out a little bit a little fewer events but also the European swing it’s kind of a it’s an interesting year coming up I want to see Christin win the Grand Slam again I know I know it’s it sounds crazy but if somebody’s going to do it it’s going to

Be Christine there’s like no one else in the sports can do it two attemps in a row b Christin um on the N side I’m going to predict that this Mania is going to win at least one major that’s my prediction all right uh I I just want to follow up what

Impresses you about Kristen tutar I think that she is just like she can throw like almost every shot her forehand is so good and I think the most important thing in this golf is like to be accurate and make your parts and Christine is so accurate with the

Forehand and also with with her backand so she’s not she’s not really giving up that much un like other players because she’s almost hitting the area line and hitting every P so it’s pretty difficult to win player like that all right well Nicholas we wish you the best

This coming season uh it’s uh it’s going to be uh exciting so we’ll see you are you going to be at the All-Star event or just at the Florida uh opener uh I’m not playing the allar event but I will play play in the Florida chess chess tournament okay well

We’ll see you there chess.com Invitational uh good luck this season and thanks for joining us thank you guys hope to see you guys Nicholas anelo with us here on the upshot we’ll be right Back welcome back to the upshot great to have Nicholas on the show with us I can’t believe we haven’t had him on before but uh I’m really excited to see where his career is headed next I I was surprised when I pulled up the stats

Josh that I that I read off there like round ratings above or event ratings above 1050 I was like oh wow like he his his level of play has continued to climb and you know has basically doubled his amount of 1050 plus rated events every year the last four years it it really

Feels like a matter of time before he gets a win yeah it is inevitable he he has been close um all right before we dive into into 32nd rule just want to let you know that uh our Thursday show this week is going to be a mailbag

Episode we have not done one in quite some time we’ve got a backlog there’s been some great emails coming in so thank you for sending those in it’s a great chance to get your questions or your comments on this offseason or the upcoming year or what your your predictions your major picks whatever’s

On your mind email us upshot oldworld decom we read every single email and of course if you are a subscriber to ultiworld disc golf hit us up in the Discord in the mailbag Channel with all of your questions and we will dive into that for our Thursday show and with that

It’s time for 30 second rule where we have 30 seconds to talk about every topic and if we go over it doesn’t matter Josh take it away first up the newest disc in the MC Beth line the Kratos has been announced this disc is a beaded Luna and when it first gained PGA

Approval internet sleuths quickly deduced this before any announcements around the dis as the PDGA image description says Beed Luda M PNG there’s yeah like if you just like right click the image and open it in a new tab it says beated Luna even though

Like the disc is called a CR nope it is it is a Beed Luna uh it and on on discraft’s Facebook they were talking about you know bringing it to uh um uh an expo where they’re going to be selling some of these test flight uh Kratos and they they said that because

The core is still the Luna and for time efficiency reasons your test flight Kratos will be stamped Luna on the inside not Kratos that that is this is a Luna with a extra strip of plastic around the bottom that is it um but they’re going to sell a lot of these

They’re going to sell these are going to sell so many of these because like how many people have just been like oh man I really want to love the Luna but it doesn’t have a bead you you create a you know that group of people with the people who buy

Every disc in the MC Beth lineup and you’re going to have some decent sales going to have some decent sales oh my gosh and they they’ve known this right so they just waited a while to like let everybody like get ready settle down and get ready to buy so here we go yeah

Christen tar announces her newest sponsorship deal with path PA pf.com it is a gambling company and you know this Charlie I’m really interested to hear your take on this you know she posts on her Instagram that it was a you know there’s another top athlete who’s an an

Olympic athlete who heads up this uh this company and you know they’re standing there holding a disc uh looks very nice but you know she talks about at the very end if we add path’s message of responsible gaming we’ve created a great foundation for starting cooperation Charley what what are your

Thoughts on this oh man this is a this is an interesting one all right so this is a risk for Kristen ttar like who knows what the money is I’m sure it was good enough at the end of the day when a gambling company is trying to sell you

That like they’re all all about responsible gaming and they are you know looking out for you like that is literally the antithesis of the business model I’m sorry it’s all marketing it’s all PR it’s total BS gambling companies take advantage of the players who are wasting money often addicted and they

Offer them VIP access and they give them Sports tickets and they do this and that I have no idea what the specific business practices of pf.com are but at the end of the day it is a slot machine online company and they have sports betting look I am someone who enjoys

Gambling I am not like anti Krist and tar taking a gambling deal there’s gambling I mean it’s honestly oversaturated at this point anytime you watch sports in the US and it’s been like this in Europe for some time although there’s more regulation there on where you can advertise just non-stop

Onslaught of DraftKings FanDuel MGM you name it and you know it’s not exactly the healthiest thing to have as a part of our society but at the end of the day people are going to gamble whether you make it legal or not um I do think some people are going to

Be turned off by this I think this is one of the first times that I can remember that Christen tar has taken kind of like a chance a risky move that people will be like I really don’t like that Kristen is doing this and when can you say that about something that

Kristen has done like she has been like exemplary in her you know Persona demeanor interviews all of that and you know paf can say all they want about responsible gaming but like the literal industry is built on people losing money yeah and it’s you know the Dak is literally stacked against

You so I I’m glad that Kristen is as successful as she is and that you know especially in Estonia she’s basically a star um and has these kinds of opportunities but I do think that you know acknowledging that I love sports betting and I like that I have access to

It on my phone and I enjoy going to the casino sometimes it’s still like the advertising side of it I feel a little bit more uncomfortable with um but you know I think Kristen surely weighed those odds yeah definitely will be interesting to see how how that evolves

And how long the sponsorship goes and and and the role that it plays for CHR what what do you think I I think I agree that it’s a I mean it feels like a controversial one and and it I think the hard part for me to to

It’s interesting if you type in you know and go to pf.com uh and pull it up I was expecting to see sort of like a DraftKings kind of thing and that’s it’s not what I saw at all like it’s it’s it’s very like they’re animated games

They look like a it’s slot machines yeah it’s slot machines and so it it it it’s a little bit odd to me it also makes me wonder what the reception is going to be like in like Estonia and Europe I mean I’ve never heard of this company um it

It it’s hard for me then to kind of create a connection to companies that I know and understand and have heard of before totally and so I’m curious to hear from some of our European listeners what their reaction was to this this sponsorship deal because they probably

Are more familiar with paf than than we are well I was looking at something um in the Estonian press about this there was like a a newspaper article about the fact that Kristen signed this and I believe that it seems like paf is kind of like some of the state lotteries in

The United States oh where the money that they make from the gambling is funneled into like the government coffers and into social projects so I think like the profits that are being made from this company like fund Estonian parks and education and stuff like that you know I I didn’t like do a

Deep dive into the how this company operates but that that was my impression from the article that’s obviously better than it like just going into the pockets of a corporation uh but you know it’s still at the end of the day like the same with the state lotteries it is a

Very regressive tax on people who are either susceptible to gambling addiction or poor and so you know you have those those conflicts but again I somebody I like to play the scratchers I like to go I like to play craps I like to bet on my

On my sports teams so it’s uh you know I’m I’m not going to be hypocritical and say that I think that she’s done something wrong I just think that this being involved in the gambling industry and and taking advertising money uh is it’s it’s a little ambiguous yeah like

If it was a cigarette company how would you feel yeah and people people would be like what the hell is this and in a way it’s very similar yeah that’s uh and and the other thing that I think is I would have liked better is if it was really a company around like

Sports betting and they were like oh we’re going to run some promotionals on disc golf right like let us bet on the disc because that that that brings eyes on the sport that brings attention that brings money to the sport and and does and and like but this this just

Feels it feels very disconnected a little bit and so that that even just further adds to the ambiguity they they do have a sports book through their website maybe they will have dis golf lines this year I would I really I really want us to be able to have a

Segment where we get to tell people where we think the lines are at yeah Best Bets yeah all right that was way over 30 seconds sorry continue uh yeah next up it so Charlie I I went to infinit disc.com the other day I I don’t

Remember what I was going to look up and when you go to infinit disc.com a a message pops up where if you enter your email address and sign up for their email then you get 10% off all Diss and I don’t know if I’ve noticed this before

Or and and how long it’s been this way or if I just noticed it because of some of the recent news but there’s now an asterisk that says discount does not apply to MVP Axiom or streamline products so any dis on infinite disc website you get 10% off except MVP family

Discs tell tell you what you need to know about where the market is right now yeah like the discs are still hard to get the demand is through their ceiling and infinite disc is trying to move other product right they got disc sitting on shelves that they want gone

But they sell the MVP even if they charge maximum MSRP yep exactly right it also makes me wonder about what wholesale costs of MVP stuff is like relative to other companies are they are they having to pay more just to get the wholesale MVP disc and so that would cut

Into margins too much if you were to offer that discount I just think why discount a product you know is going to sell anyway I completely agree it it’s very interesting man and I mean kind of confirms what every everything else that we’ve been hearing about MVP sales and that we’ve talked

About final piece of news Nick Dunlap is an amateur golfer from the University of Alabama sophomore there who played in uh the AMX or the excuse me the well AMX it’s the American Express tournament on Sunday um PGA Tour PGA Tour yes he won he becomes the first amateur since 1991

When Phil Mickelson W was an amateur to win on the PGE tour he is the first US amateur uh the US amateur winner reigning winner to win a PGA Tour event since Tiger Woods did it I mean he he has some illustrious names hype alert hype alert yeah very he’s in great

Company with a lot of his stats here’s the worst part though Charlie because he is a registered amateur he did not have the option to accept his prize money $1.5 million oh no got pushed down so essentially second place slides up it’s as if as if uh Nick here didn’t play and

They just slid everybody up one spot um he look he is going to get a lot of endorsement opportunities yeah he’s gonna make his money he’s going to make his money we don’t need to cry for him too much but being a sophomore in college and having to walk away from 1.5 million

Because you have to retain like because you’re an amateur and and are playing college golf uh that hurts that that must sting unbelievable I mean I I I now I’m like I’m looking at a little article about him at age 12 he shot a 59 he okay John Gibbons the head pro I’m

I’m quoting from a PGA Tour article the head pro at Greystone Golf and Country Club in Birmingham Alabama was getting complaints Dunlap not even a teenager then kept beating all the club’s members guys were getting super ticked Gibbon said they didn’t want him to play tournaments they knew he would win I had

To tell him not to play he’s 12 years old old incredible I mean what a story I and now with this like everyone’s going to know his name I wonder how quickly he’ll decide to go pro so he because of the win he has uh he’s eligible for a PGA Tour card through

2026 he said that he is going to be M talking with you know people to make the decision as to whether or not he has until the end of this year to announce if he’s going to go pro in 2025 it’s a tough call whether you want

To go pro or you want to stay in college and finish out your college career and get your degree and all that yeah but man like you’re kind of guaranteed to make a lot of money and he’ll probably pick up some sponsorships if he makes the jump now oh definitely but I wonder

What the nil deals are for college golfers well I feel like he could get something there I’m sure he could I I’m sure he can still make money from endorsements but I if I don’t know when I think about it golf is hard and and there I I I

Would think he wants to take advantage of having that PGA Tour card now take advantage of the momentum and and just go play on tour for two years with no stress and but I I don’t I mean what do I know right like it’s it’ll be an

Interesting story to follow uh one other stat I forgot to mention he is the youngest amateur to win a Tour event since 1910 wow holy smokes exciting stuff I wonder if we’re going to see a a they’re obviously have been some disc golfers who like draw similar comparisons but we haven’t

Really seen them like that age you know like as a 13-year-old where you’re like holy cow like this kid is going to be something amazing but we are literally right now in the generation where that’s going to happen where we’re going to have some kid like we’ve had some 16 and

17 year olds doing stuff like this but we’re going to have some kid who’s like winning local B and C tiers as a 12 12 year-old playing in no and or you know whatever let’s say playing the no track as an amateur they probably wouldn’t be

Playing no at that age but I I think it’s just a matter of time definitely I I completely agree awesome stuff that’s it for 30 second roll all right well and that’s it for the show so get your mailbag questions in upshot at ultiworld decom we will

Take them on Thursday um and in fact we’re recording the show on Wednesday morning so get them in today and overnight because otherwise they won’t make the show so uh thank you for being with us for Josh Mansfield I’m Charlie Eisen Hood saying so long we’ll talk to

You Thursday right here on the Upshot