The Konopiště Amateur Open brough people from all over the Europe and outside as well. We met up with a couple of them to share their stories and feelings about the tournament.
Balász-Peter Metzger (MA4)
Vienna, Austria
It was my very first time playing here and it was wonderful. I have never been to an international tournament this big in Europe. It was fantastic to see all the people from other countries, the Czech people were lovely, the Ferdinand beer was especially good. It was perfect weekend, I can totally recommend it to all my friends and I will go home and tell everyone: “Go to Czech republic and play disc golf”, it’s been wonderful.
I play a lot in Slovakia, I try to go every year to Hungary and last year I’ve been to the Amateur World Championships in the United States. This year I am trying again, it’s my last time, since I am turning 39 this year. I can’t wait to go there in August again, so I am soaking up the energy of everyone and trying to do my best.
Both courses were a bit different I have to say, Franz Ferdinand was spectacular, incredible trees, big old trees, long drives. You could really show what you can do and how much power you have, it was brilliant. The Gamekeeper’s Lodge was an interesting forest, a lot of technical little things, I expected to do better here but actually I really enjoyed Franz Ferdinand. Next time I come, maybe I will register for a higher division so I can play that course twice, but this was nice as well. I got birdies on both courses, so it was great.
I am just a tourist disc golfer and a hobby player. I never practice, just go on weekends and have fun. First time I heard about Konopiště was like 10 years ago when I started playing but I never dared to come to the Czech republic. I know you guys are very strong and I saw the homepage with thousand tournaments and I thought: “Okay, if you are a weak player, if you are not so professional, you should not go to the Czech republic because maybe they are angry at you, if you are slow and if you need more shots”, but it was the opposite. Everyone was so friendly, everyone was smiling all the time, I really enjoyed it.
Teemu Brusila (MA2)
Tuusula, Finland
Teemu (second from right) and his group of friends
I think four of our friends were here in 2023, but there are three newcomers. I like the atmosphere, for me one part of disc golf is seeing the nature. I like the nature over here, it is so different than in Finland. We have a nice competition center here and good people doing the same stuff, disc golf.
I play in MA2, so I played the Franz Ferdinand twice, it is nice, really nice course. I don’t think it’s that hard, but during the competition it seems to play harder than it is. And the other one is otherwise nice but the teepads are kind of small. I thought that the first time I went there, it felt like: “This is so bad”, but then when I was during the competition round, it felt good, it’s nice.
My result is okay, I shot -1 on Franz Ferdinand during the practice but not in tournament but it’s okay. At least I had fun, that’s the most important thing. I like disc golf, so this is really nice.
We were supposed to leave on Monday but our flight got delayed so we are leaving Tuesday morning. Tonight we will celebrate the victory of our friend (in MA2, their friend also won in MA1 later), tomorrow we leave to Prague, we will spend a day there and then go home.
Erik Västholm (MA40)
Knivsta, Sweden
I was here two years ago for the first time caddying for a friend, Kymen Modig. I wanted to come because Franz Ferdinand is the most beautiful course I have ever experienced. Both on video coverage and in person. This was the only course I wanted to play abroad from Sweden so when Kymen said he wanted to go, I said that I am coming with you just for the caddying job. I didn’t know there was an amateur tournament last time, so this year I really wanted to play. We signed up with a couple of guys from Sweden and we’re here.
We arrived on Wednesday so we had time to practice Franz Ferdinand twice and the other course once.
Was it enough?
It’s never enough (laugher). I think that there is not many holes where you don’t see the basket, so you just need one or two rounds to get a hang of it, but you can’t never get enough practice.
Howard Teff (MA40)
Carmiel, Israel
I heard about Konopiště years ago, like two or three years ago. Actually it was through the guy from Búřov, Silvestr. I played a tournament there two years ago and he was speaking very highly of it, he enjoyed it very much and so I think that’s what kind of pushed me into coming.
I had a big disappointment personally, because I missed the beginning of my round today. My laptop said 11:10 and the time it started was 10:10, so there was some problem with PDGA, where it adjusted my time, so I had the Israeli time. So I missed 4 holes and got +16 like that, otherwise I would be first in my card, so that’s a shame.
Actually the Gamekeeper’s Lodge for me was much more fun, because it is more technical and to figure out. And if you play very well you have a great chance for birdie. Both are different though, I don’t think most of the people play such a big course, it is good to have experience in different things. Some friends of mine, they say let’s not play when it’s raining or when it’s too windy outside, but I think that is the part of the challenge, so playing on a big course is also a part of the experience of disc golf. You don’t have many courses that are as big as this one, so it’s all good.
Szymon and Michał Rozynek (MA1)
Zabrze, Poland
Michał: I know this course from 6 years ago and I wanted to go here and play. Now that I played it I know it’s bigger than I thought. It’s harder but very nice course design and I like it. One of my favourite courses I played.
Szymon: It is my favourite and I played some courses like Song Festival Grounds in Tallin and I think it’s better and now I can also watch how pros play it and how I play it and compare my throws.
What was the realization?
S: That I am so bad.
M: We know now what to learn and what to work on. Especially how to play on the slopes.
S. For me the hardest was aiming with distance, to throw 130 meters and to aim good.
M: I have good distance but not to birdie all these holes, so I need 10 more meters to birdie. I was in C2 or C3 all the time. It’s always better when your third round is the best, so I am happy. Weather wasn’t so good but I will return next year if it will be.
S: I am very happy, because it is the best course and I will come next year.
Merit Makrjakov and Werner Grün (FA2, MA1)
Tallin/Harjumaa, Estonia
Merit: We were here two years ago for the amateur event and we wanted to come back. It’s amazing, the course is amazing, the organisation is amazing, everything is good.
Werner: I mainly came because of the Franz Ferdinand course and I like it because it is sidearm friendly. Every hole is reachable but again, it is all up to you.
M: It is really great to play courses that pros are playing so you can get the feeling they are getting and realize how good they are. It takes us a lot of time to get to the basket and you can see what they are actually playing, not just when watching TV.
W: You can relate and see the lines you will never gonna be able to throw. (laughter)
M: We arrived on Thursday afternoon. We travel by car so it takes us a lot of time, 18 hours of driving but it is all worth it. For the drive back we are staying in Czech republic and then start going home tomorrow morning.
W: We are staying at one of my cardmates from round 1. He was like, you can stay at my place. It’s like 3,5 hours from here, Nový Jičín.
What about the courses, what did you enjoy more?
M: I really enjoyed that course (Gamekeeper’s Lodge), because it’s more technical and I love wooded courses because I don’t have that much distance and it gives me more pleasure of playing, because I have to be technical.
W: I really enjoy Franz Ferdinand, although there is nothing I have against the Gamekeeper’s Lodge, just if somebody finds my putter, let me know. (laughter)
M: We are leaving with great feeling. Tough I am really sad for the other friends that didn’t come this year, so I am gonna tell them that they missed out on so much, because the community and the people and the courses and everything is just so fantastic.
W: One minus of course was that the BTM didn’t work, the beer teller machine.
M: It’s fine!
W: I was like: “Yeah, I am gonna get a beer from the BTM and throw the six hole course and yay!”.
Dima Gerashchenko (MA1)
Kyiv, Ukraine
When I started playing disc golf I was watching all events I could find and I found Konopiště and it was my aim to visit this course, I was waiting six years to visit it. It was much more harder than I expected but for me now it is my number 1 course I have played. It is the most difficult course I have ever played and I wanna play it every year.
We live in Poland for three years and we are travelling around Búřov, Komárno and we really like to play in Ostrava, because it is a lot of different holes. If it’s weekend, we are playing in Czech republic. For bigger tournaments we will go to Silesia Open, Moravian Open, never played there yet, but my main goal this year is Worlds in Finland.
Laura-Marie Vivet (FA1)
Mimizan, France
Laura (left) and her group
We wanted to travel for disc golf and we checked competition in other countries on Disc Golf Scene and we said: “Let’s go”. We didn’t know anything about the tournament before, but when I said I am going to Konopiště, my friend was here two times before and she said it’s good place and good tournament.
Justin Mullins and Gabriele Ilg (FA40, MA40)
Schondorf am Ammersee, Germany
Justin: We played here for the first time in 2023. We got humiliated so much by the course that we had to come back and try to redeem ourselves.
Gabriele: Yeah, to prove ourselves that we can do better.
How did you enjoy the two courses?
J: That one (Franz Ferdinand) still kicked my ass, fantastic. But luckily my arm wasn’t as tired this time around. After the first day my arm was completely like: “So we have two more days of this, I wanna go home now.” Whereas the Gamekeeper’s Lodge course I though is awesome.
G: I did like a couple changes on the Franz Ferdinand course, I didn’t like that they removed the drop zone on the pond hole. There is another route you can take, but you can’t take a birdie that way, but I was too afraid to lose a disc. The wooded course, I did like a lot, it’s a lot more technical and a lot more holes are reachable for players that can’t throw 100 meters. Overall I enjoyed this time a lot better, mainly because of the card. We had 5 people in the division so they put us all together and that was really good.
J: Love the course, it’s a great event, you guys do it really well here. Would definitely come back and would try to get others to come, but can’t guarantee that. (laughter)
G: I would definitely suggest staying in the hotel Nová Myslivna, because you’re just here. You don’t have to think about driving and parking, whatever, you are just here and experience it.
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