Maple Hill Open is an annual disc golf tournament held at the Maple Hill Disc Golf Course in Leicester, Massachusetts.
For six years, the event (formerly known as The Vibram Open), had the largest MPO and FPO payout of any stop on the PDGA National Tour. In its formative years, the event was known as the MSDGC and established itself as one of the touring pros' favorite stops on the pro tour.[citation needed] The course is highly rated as a top 10 course in the world.[1][2]
The event has been covered by ESPN,[3] NPR,[4] photographed,[5] Chronicle, numerous regional outlets (Worcester Telegram, Blackstone Valley Press, WTAG, WAAF), and basically every disc golf media source (PDGA, Ultiworld Disc Golf, Smashboxx.TV, Disc Golf Planet, Disc Golf Monthly, Disc Golf Live, thediscgolfguy) and blog.
The Maple Hill Open / Vibram Open / MSDGC has been an innovative disc golf event and has helped pioneer:
- Annual DVD reviews of disc golf tournaments
- Live scoring
- Live video broadcasts
- Live audio commentary
- The Spirit Award in disc golf
| Year | Event | Men's Champion | Women's Champion | Big Dog Award | Results | Event Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | MSDGC | Ron Russell | Des Reading | Bob Graham | Recap | Ron Russell beat Steve Brinster in a one-hole playoff. |
| 2005 | MSDGC | Kevin McCoy | Des Reading | Jay Reading | Recap | Kevin McCoy beat Walter Haney in a one-hole playoff. |
| 2006 | MSDGC | Chris Sprague | Des Reading | Lesli Demark | Recap | Chris Sprague held off 3X World Champion Barry Schultz to win by one. |
| 2007 | MSDGC | Cale Leiviska | Des Reading | The Frizzaks | Recap | Cale Leiviska beat Geoff Bennett in a three-hole playoff. |
| 2008 | Vibram Open | Avery Jenkins | Valarie Jenkins | "Big Dog" Sweeton | Recap | The Spirit Award was renamed the Big Dog Award. |
| 2009 | Vibram Open | Barry Schultz | Sarah Stanhope | Jeremy Koling | Recap | Schultz shot the first sub-50 round on the Maple Hill Golds. |
| 2010 | Vibram Open | Nikko Locastro | Sarah Stanhope | Jay Gobrecht | Recap | Locastro, Matt Orum and Dave Feldberg all had a chance to win on their final shots. |
| 2011 | Vibram Open | Nate Doss | Sarah Hokom | The Brittons | Recap | Sarah Hokom denied Sarah Stanhope's threepeat on the final hole. |
| 2012 | Vibram Open | Cale Leiviska | Catrina Allen | Dana Vicich | Recap | Cale Leiviska became the first 2X men's champion. |
| 2013 | Vibram Open | Paul McBeth | Valarie Jenkins | Mark Verrochi | Recap | McBeth shot a 45 on the Golds, perhaps the best round in PDGA history. |
| 2014 | Maple Hill Open | Jeremy Koling | Paige Pierce | Recap | Jeremy Koling the first Spirit Award winner to win the MHO. | |
| 2015 | Maple Hill Open | Ricky Wysocki | Paige Pierce | Andrew Streeter | Recap | Pierce won her second straight MHO by 5 strokes |
| 2016 | Vibram Open | Bradley Williams | Paige Pierce | Recap | Williams beat Michael Johansen in playoff for his first NT victory | |
| 2017 | Vibram Open | Ricky Wysocki | Paige Pierce | MPO Recap
FPO Recap |
Wysocki held off Eagle McMahon and Paul McBeth to win by two strokes.
Pierce erased a six stroke deficit with a 1005-rated final round to beat Valarie Jenkins. | |
| 2018 | MVP Open | James Conrad | Sarah Hokom | Recap | ||
| 2019 | MVP Open | Paul McBeth | Paige Pierce | Recap | ||
| 2020 | MVP Open | Paul McBeth | Paige Pierce | Recap | ||
| 2021 | MVP Open | Adam Hammes | Catrina Allen | Recap | ||
| 2022 | MVP Open | Simon Lizotte | Natalie Ryan | Recap | ||
| 2023 | MVP Open | Matthew Orum | Hailey King | Recap | ||
| 2024 | MVP Open | James Proctor | Missy Gannon | Recap |
References
edit- Maple Hill Open
- Vibram Open
- Professional Disc Golf Association articles about the Vibram Open
- ESPN's "Disc golf has a tour" article about Vibram Open
- NPR's Karen Givens of Only A Game on the Vibram Open
- Worcester Telegram 2013 Vibram Open article
- Worcester Telegram 2013 Vibram Open, Notable things to do article
- Disc Golf Guy interviews Cale Leiviksa/Catrina Allen, 2012 Vibram Open champions
- Disc Golf Guy highlights and interviews from the 2012 Vibram Open
- Disc Golf Planet TV interviews Nate Doss, 2011 Vibram Open leader
- 3X Emmy Award winner Derek Hastings intro reel to the 2010 Vibram Open
- Worcester Telegram 2010 Vibram Open article
- Disc Golf Live segment on the 2010 Vibram Open
- Worcester Telegram 2009 Vibram Open article
- Disc Golf Monthly highlights the 2009 Vibram Open
- GoLocalWorcester Course Reviews mention of Vibram Open