2026 NZ Open | Final RD B9 | Hokom, Mertsch, Smiley, Donnecke
The 2026 New Zealand Open | Final RD B9 | Hokom, Mertsch, Smiley, Donnecke features Sarah Hok and Jennifer Smiley as they provide live coverage of the final round's back nine holes at Auckland's orchard course. The duo discusses the current leaderboard, which sees Cat and Smiley in a tight battle, while Sophia plays cleanly and Paige makes up ground from the chase card. The discussion turns to the keyhole 10th hole, a par five with significant elevation changes and out-of-bounds areas along the right and left fairways. Smiley shares insights on her preferred disc for this hole, including the Fission Defy and Halo Destroyer models. Hok chimes in on her approach, discussing the differences between various discs and sharing her own strategy for navigating the challenging layout.
Watch the intense final round of the 2026 NZ Open as Hokom, Mertsch, Smiley, and Donnecke compete in a thrilling battle on the course.
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Welcome back everyone to the final round coverage of the 2026 New Zealand Open. This is the back nine. This is Gothro coverage from the Tour Down Under brought to you by MVP Disc Sports. I'm Sarah Hok here with Jennifer Smiley. >> Hello everybody. What's up? Um, we are out here at the orchard in Auckland, New Zealand. And, uh, honestly, today weatherwise has been the best of the three days. We do have a little bit of sprinkles and some wind, [music] but uh, it's definitely been a lot calmer out there. This course has a lot of elevation changes and uh, can cause some trouble with the OB. But right now, here's the leaderboard. Uh, it's all pretty tight. Yeah, Cat and I have been pushing. She's up one by one. And then Sophia's playing pretty clean. And then Paige has been coming up from the chase card. We aren't going to get to watch it, but we're going to keep track. On to hole 10. Par five. 707 ft. This a big one. First shot is out to this left and then you're going to approach kind of to where this other basket is. And then that third shot, want to get it close to the pin and make your putt. There is OB along that right side and the left side all the way up the fairway. Um it's but it's pretty getable hole. >> It is. I think this is one a lot of us are hoping to get. >> I have yet to birdie this one. I'm thinking today is the day. >> Heck yeah. >> That's a fision defy. >> So for you, what's the difference between the fision defy and the division or fision photon? >> Defy has a little more turn. A little flippier. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, I use it as a compliment to the fision photon. This is a Halo destroyer. >> Beautiful shot. That'll put her in a fantastic landing zone to approach to the pin. I am also going fision defy. >> Twinsies. >> Yes. My more stable one. I think that one's more stable than the one I'm throwing right now. >> Yes, that one is definitely more stable. >> Little freakish stable. >> Um I don't know. It is max weight though. >> Do you do you drop down the weights a little bit?...
