DGPT returns to world No. 1 Ale for European swing showdown

Ricky Wysocki and Eveliina Salonen left Ale Disc Golf Center with the trophies after the DGPT’s July 3-5 Elite Series stop in Nol, Sweden. That was no ordinary midseason win: Ale carried the weight of being ranked the world’s No. 1 course, and it was set to host the 2027 European Open, one of the PDGA’s premier Major championships.

That reputation shaped the tournament from the first tee shot. Ale’s White Course sat atop UDisc’s 2026 world rankings, with the Yellow Course right behind at No. 3, giving the facility rare depth at the top end of the sport. The layout forced a full bag of skills, mixing tight wooded fairways with open power lines and demanding shot-making that punished anything less than clean execution. In a venue like that, pure distance did not guarantee separation and control alone was not enough.

The course also carried a sharper competitive edge because of what it had recently survived. UDisc said Ale was “nearly closed forever” in 2021 before its revival turned it into the sport’s highest-rated venue. The PDGA then awarded the 2027 European Open to Ale on January 16, 2026, adding another layer of significance to a stop that already sat at the center of the DGPT’s European swing. For players chasing points, confidence and positioning before the back half of the season, this was one of those weeks where the venue mattered as much as the leaderboard.

Wysocki made that point in the cleanest way possible. He entered Championship Sunday one stroke behind the leaders and closed with a 10-under final round for his 32nd Tour victory. The finish fit the track: Ale rewards players who can stay patient early, then attack when the course opens just enough to let a round run hot. Niklas Anttila had led the 2025 event before being overtaken late, and that recent history hung over the week as a reminder that Ale does not hand out easy wins.

Salonen was even more decisive on the FPO side. In her first appearance at Ale, she won by 15 strokes at 30-under par, collecting her third Tour victory of the season and the 12th of her career. That margin told the real story of the course. Ale exposed players who could not keep their tee shots and approach angles under control, and it rewarded the ones who could stack birdies without blinking. The European swing rolls on to Finland next, but in Sweden the results already said enough about who handled the sport’s toughest exam.