Teemu Lampainen sets course record, ties lead at European Open

Teemu Lampainen turned a championship layout into a scoring showcase at the European Open, firing a bogey-free 12-under to set a new course record and force his way into the lead conversation. On a par-63 track measuring 3,085 meters at Tallinn Song Festival Grounds, the kind of round that normally takes perfect control from start to finish became the day’s defining number.

That score carried real weight because this was no soft opening at a throwaway stop. The 2026 PDGA European Open is the second PDGA Major of the year, played June 18-21 in Tallinn, Estonia, and the Rockstar layout demanded precision on every hole. Lampainen, listed by the PDGA as a 1024-rated pro from Turku, Finland, already had 92 career events, 10 wins and $34,028 in earnings, but a round like this is the sort that changes the shape of a major.

The swing on the leaderboard was as important as the number on the card. Early live scoring had Gannon Buhr in front at 11-under, with Richard Wysocki one back at 10-under and Lampainen sitting among the chasers at 6-under. By the time the scoring settled, Lampainen’s charge had moved him to 18-under and into a tie for the lead, one shot behind Buhr at 19-under. That is the anatomy of a course-record round: not just a hot run, but a line drive straight through the field.

What makes the round especially interesting is how clean it was. A bogey-free 12-under on a major setup does not come from one lucky burst. It comes from stringing together the kind of stretches where pars feel like mistakes and birdies become routine. On a layout listed at 18 holes and par 63, Lampainen did not merely survive the course record chase, he owned it.

The venue matters, too. Tallinn Song Festival Grounds had already hosted the European Disc Golf Festival in 2025, and the 2026 European Open was organized with the same team behind that event. That familiarity should not be ignored heading into the weekend. A player who can dissect a course this thoroughly, at a site with recent competitive history, looks less like a one-round outlier and more like a serious weekend threat.