Week in Review: Winthrop delivers—and the Powerball Cup is next

Winthrop saved its best drama for Sunday

Championship week gave us exactly what Winthrop is built to produce: late lead changes, one-stroke decisions and players trying to balance aggression against OB lines that never stop asking questions.

By Sunday evening, Calvin Heimburg had his first United States title, Holyn Handley had her second Throw Pink crown and both champions had only a few days to prepare for another title defense.

That last part is what makes this week especially fun. The USDGC and Throw Pink are over, but the season is not. The Powerball Cup begins Thursday at Ivy Hill, where the standings leaders start below par and a record purse waits at the end.

Before we get there, here is the Blue Jay recap of what mattered at Winthrop—and what landed in the disc golf world alongside it.

USDGC: Heimburg runs down Buhr

Gannon Buhr began the final round four strokes ahead of Heimburg. At most tournaments that is a comfortable cushion. At Winthrop, it is just enough room for one aggressive decision, one bad kick or one OB stroke to change the shape of the afternoon.

Heimburg made the chase count. His closing 57 was the round he needed when the title was available, moving him to 23 under par and two clear of the field.

Buhr finished with a 63 and shared second at 21 under with Ricky Wysocki, whose eight-under final round nearly produced a comeback of its own.

Two lead changes on Sunday tell the story better than any single highlight. Heimburg did not win by waiting for the tournament to come back to him.

He kept scoring while Winthrop tightened around the lead card, and he walked away with his first USDGC title and second career Major.

Throw Pink: Handley stays patient and wins by one

Ohn Scoggins carried a one-stroke lead into the final round, which felt especially valuable on a course where her putting can turn difficult pars into routine ones.

Handley answered with the best FPO round of the day, a four-under 65, and finished at 18 under for the championship.

The margin over Scoggins was one stroke. That sounds simple after the scorecard is final, but the round was anything but.

The lead changed, Winthrop punished mistakes and Handley still had to manage the closing stretch without letting the moment speed her up. She now owns Throw Pink titles from 2023 and 2026.

Scoggins finished at 17 under, and her week deserves more than a runner-up footnote. She entered Sunday with the lead and stayed within one throw of the title.

The difference between winning and finishing second at Winthrop was not a difference in quality; it was one stroke across four days.

The plastic that arrived with championship week

Championship week is never only about the scorecards. Discraft brought a Winthrop release lineup that ranged from a ColorShift Confetti Zone SS and Chunky Glitter Paige Pierce Passion to the 2026 USDGC Anthony Barela CT Swirl Focus and a MEGA GLO 3X Claw Ares.

They are the kind of event drops that work as throwers, souvenirs and conversation pieces all at once.

The MVP family also has two releases worth watching as the season closes. Eagle McMahon's Sage artwork appears on the Streamline Electron Autopilot, a 2/3/0/1.5 putter, while the Simon Line Neutron Balance brings a 5/5/0/2 flight to stock production.

Availability can move quickly, so I would treat any release calendar as a starting point and check the linked manufacturer pages before planning a purchase.

What I like about this part of the season is that the pros give those new molds immediate context. A flight number is useful, but watching players solve real championship lines reminds us what matters most: whether a disc fills a job in the bag and earns the next throw.

Newest on the Blue Jay rack: a Slomez-stamped Dagger

The newest arrival in the Blue Jay rack is a used Latitude 64 Dagger with a JomezPro Slomez stamp. It weighs 175 grams and carries flight numbers of 2/5/0/1—the deep, high-glide putter profile that has made the Dagger recognizable for years.

This is the exact disc shown, not a stock-photo stand-in. It is currently listed at $7.50, though availability and price can change after publication.

Open its Blue Jay product page first to inspect the photo, condition and comparable discs, then continue to eBay only if it is the one you want.

Coming up: the Powerball Cup

There is almost no time for a victory lap. The DGPT Championship—now the Powerball Cup—runs October 15–18 at Ivy Hill in Lynchburg, Virginia. Its $350,000 purse is the largest in disc golf history, and first place pays $50,000 in both divisions.

The format makes the standings impossible to ignore. Players earned starting strokes across the season, so Gannon Buhr begins MPO at seven under, Ricky Wysocki at six under and Heimburg at five under.

In FPO, Scoggins starts at six under and Handley at five under. Winthrop's two champions arrive in form, but each begins behind the player who just finished closest to them.

Heimburg and Handley are also the defending DGPT Championship winners. Back-to-back finale titles are available to both, but this time they have to chase before the opening drives are thrown.

That is a terrific setup: the hottest players in the sport, their closest rivals already holding a scoring advantage and four rounds to decide the season.

Find your gamer before the next round

The pros spend all season learning which disc they trust when a landing zone gets small and the pressure gets loud. Our bags deserve the same honesty.

The best gamer is not the newest mold or the fastest number; it is the disc you understand well enough to throw when the line matters.

If that slot is still missing, use Find My Discs to match the live Blue Jay rack to your throwing distance and the flight you need.

Every recommendation leads to the exact disc photographed, so you can compare the condition, weight and price before deciding whether it belongs in your bag.