All the dust has settled from the 2023 pro disc golf season, and we finally have time to sit by the fireplace with a nice, relaxing stack of stats.
Now we invite you to nestle in your own leather armchair, stoke the coals, and find out which holes were the most difficult and easiest for FPO competitors in 2023 at the world's premier disc golf events. We have these stats because every elite professional disc golf tour on the planet was tracked with UDisc Live last season.
Hardest & Easiest Holes in Disc Golf: FPO 2023
General Info
Europe
- #1 Hardest Hole in Disc Golf: European FPO
- Top 5 Hardest Holes in Disc Golf: European FPO
- Top 5 Easiest Holes in Disc Golf: European FPO
U.S.A.
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- Pro Disc Golf's Best Rounds & Tournament Performances: 2023
- Pro Disc Golf Stats (FPO): Who Was Best In 2023?
- Pro Disc Golf Stats (MPO): Who Was Best In 2023?
European & U.S. Results Are Separated – Here's Why
Though European disc golf is on the rise, the strongest fields are almost always in the United States due to payout, audience size, and other factors. Top European competitors, including reigning world champion and current #1 FPO player in the world Kristin Tattar, spent most of their seasons in the United States. Since we ranked holes based on average score relative to par and field strength greatly affects that, it made sense to separate events in the two places.
Notably, there were also UDisc Live events played in Canada in 2023. Since those events' fields more closely resembled what was typical in Europe than in the United States, we grouped Canadian holes with European ones when looking for the hardest and easiest disc golf holes of 2023 for FPO. That said, no Canadian holes are in any of the tables below because they were not in the top five hardest or easiest when grouped with European FPO results.
Tips Before You Read
We wanted to make sure you could thoroughly investigate any hole featured below. Here are some ways we did that in the tables below:
- On first mention, all hole numbers link to a flyover of that hole on YouTube (except #1 hardest holes, which have embedded flyover videos).
- On first mention, all tournament names link to results on UDisc Live, so you can see for yourself how players performed.
- On first mention, all course names link to their UDisc Courses pages, so you can see photos, ratings, reviews, and more.
If you see any hole numbers, tournament names, or courses not linked, it's because we've talked about them in an earlier section and you can find a link there.
HARDEST & EASIEST HOLES IN EUROPEAN DISC GOLF: FPO
Hardest Hole in Disc Golf: Europe | FPO | 2023
The hardest hole for European FPO was the 1,076-foot/328-meter par 5 at Kippasuo Pro in Heinola, Finland, the host of the Heinola event of the 2023 Prodigy Disc Pro Tour. And, yes, this was a hole with a tee specifically for FPO as MPO played from even farther back.
It played 2.4 strokes over par, or, put more dramatically, the average was almost a double bogey and a half. There were no birdies and only two pars by FPO competitors during the Heinola event.
As you can see in the clip below, even a fast-flying drone takes quite a while to get up the twisting, wooded fairway of this monster hole:
Top 5 Hardest Holes in Disc Golf: Europe | FPO | 2023
| Rank |
Tournament | Course | Hole Number | Avg. Relative to Par | Par | Length | Birdie Total/Times Played |
| 1 | Heinola | Kippasuo Pro DiscGolfPark at Heinola DiscGolfPark World | 13 | +2.37 | 5 | 1,076 feet/328 meters | 0/27 |
| 2 | Copenhagen Open | Valbyparken Disc Golf | 18 | +2.22 | 5 | 1,072 feet/327 meters | 0/72 |
| 3 | Helsinki | Talin Frisbeegolfpuisto | 17 | +1.84 | 4 | 732 feet/223 meters | 0/50 |
| 4 | Belgian Open | Parc du Bourdon | 9 | +1.82 | 4 | 600 feet/183meters | 0/39 |
| 5 | European Disc Golf Championship | Lauluväljak | 7 | +1.74 | 4 | 610 feet/186 meters | 1/126 |
All of the hardest holes for FPO in Europe were par 4s and 5s where trees, distance, OB lines, or a mixture of these elements gave the field headaches throughout a tournament. Collectively, these holes were played by competitors 314 times, and there was just one birdie during one round on any of them in 2023.
Top 5 Easiest Holes in Disc Golf: Europe | FPO | 2023
| Rank |
Tournament | Course | Hole Number | Avg. Relative to Par | Par | Length | Birdie & Eagle Rate |
| 1 | Alutaguse Open | Mäetaguse | 9 | -0.59 | 4 | 433 feet/132 meters | 64.8% |
| 2 | Turku Open | Luolavuoren Frisbeegolfpuisto | 11 | -0.52 | 4 | 400 feet/122 meters | 58.6% |
| T3 | Tyyni Open | Sibbe Disc Golf | 5 | -0.44 | 5 | 591 feet/180 meters | 52.7% |
| T3 | Tyyni Open | Sibbe Disc Golf | 14 | -0.44 | 3 | 246 feet/75 meters | 55.6% |
| 5 | Alutaguse | Mäetaguse | 18 | -0.41 | 5 | 617 feet/188 meters | 57.4% |
FPO fields made easy work of these mostly short par 4s and 5s while also deucing Sibbe's short par 3 more than 50% of the time.
HARDEST & EASIEST HOLES IN U.S. DISC GOLF: FPO
Hardest Hole in Disc Golf: U.S. | FPO | 2022
The hardest hole for FPO competitors in U.S. pro disc golf was Lake Marshall's hole 14, a 555-foot/169-meter par 4, from the Lake Marshall Open. Players averaged 2.8 strokes over par.
With a par 4 at that sort of distance, you're probably wondering what caused all the problems. The answer? Water.
This par four asks players to go over water twice to landing zones on slopes. And those slopes lead...back to the water. The hole was played 39 times by FPO and produced no birdies, 37 bogeys or worse, and just two pars. It also doled out exactly 39 OB penalties.
When you watch the flyover below, it's pretty easy to see how this hole could get in your head and a bad break or two could produce some big numbers:
Top 5 Hardest Holes in Disc Golf: U.S. | FPO | 2023
| Rank |
Tournament | Course | Hole Number | Avg. Relative to Par | Par | Length | Birdie Total/Times Played |
| 1 | Lake Marshall Open | Lake Marshall - Lions | 14 | +2.80 | 4 | 555 feet/169 meters | 0/39 |
| 2 | Lake Marshall Open | Lake Marshall - Lions | 17 | +1.77 | 4 | 915 feet/279 meters | 0/39 |
| 3 | Beaver State Fling | Milo McIver - Riverbend Gold | 17 | +1.37 | 5 | 980 feet/299 meters | 2/132 |
| 4 | New World Championship | New World - Red | 8 | +1.25 | 4 | 800 feet/244 meters | 0/60 |
| 5 | Open at Austin | Harvery Penick | 18 | +1.20 | 5 | 612 feet/187 meters | 5/159 |
Big distance and/or plentiful OB on par 4s and 5s created the most challenging holes for FPO competitors at U.S. courses during the 2023 season.
Top 5 Easiest Holes in Disc Golf: U.S. | FPO | 2023
| Rank |
Tournament | Course | Hole Number | Avg. Relative to Par | Par | Length | Birdie & Eagle Rate |
| 1 | Zoo Town Open | Blue Mountain | 9 | -0.75 | 4 | 543 feet/166 meters | 76.2% |
| 2 | TPWDGC | Winthrop University | 9 | -0.64 | 4 | 362 feet/110 meters | 63.8% |
| 3 | Las Vegas Challenge | Innova Course at Wildhorse | 8 | -0.63 | 4 | 417 feet/127 meters | 65.1% |
| 4 | Zoo Town Open | Blue Mountain | 1 | -0.62 | 4 | 483 feet/147 meters | 58.7% |
| 5 | Great Lakes Open | Kensington Toboggan | 2 | -0.57 | 4 | 376 feet/114 meters | 61.8% |
It may seem strange that these are all par 4s and the longest one on the list came in as the easiest. The reason (as you can see in the flyover if you click/tap the hole number in the table above) is that there's a huge drop from the tee to the green, making the longer distance extremely achievable.
Thanks to Everyone!
Nothing you read above would have been possible without UDisc Live's partners or the amazing volunteers who scored and tracked stats for the pros throughout 2023.
We want to extend a huge "Thank You" to them all.
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