2026 Taranaki Open | Final RD F9 | FPO | Chocek, Smiley, Hokom, Mertsch
The 2026 Taranaki Open is part of the Tour Down Under, brought to you by Go-Throw and MVP Disc Sports. Sarah Hokom calls the action alongside Taylor Chosec as they bring their expertise to this highly anticipated event. The tournament takes place at the picturesque Inglewood Golf Club, nestled under the majestic Mount Taranaki volcano. A star-studded field of American players competes for top honors, including leaders Jennifer Smiley and Cat Merch, who are vying for third place. As Hokom navigates her way through the commentary booth, she discusses strategies and techniques with Chosec, covering topics such as wind direction, disc placement, and approach shots to overcome obstacles like OB on the left. With a tight battle unfolding on the course, viewers can expect an exciting conclusion to this Tour Down Under event.
Watch top FPO players clash at the 2026 Taranaki Open: Chocek, Smiley, Hokom, & Mertsch in thrilling final round action.
Watch on YouTubeVideo Transcript
Welcome everyone to the 2026 Taranaki Disc Golf Open part of the Tour Down Under brought to you by Go-Throw and MVP Disc Sports. I'm Sarah Hokom here with Taylor Chosec to call the action. Hello, I'm so excited to be back for round three. We are back here at the gorgeous Inglewood Golf Club right under the Mount Taranaki, the volcano in the area. And some of these holes are absolutely picturesque showing this volcano just shadowing the course. We've had quite a weekend so far. Taylor is up first. She's minus six leading the pack. Had a really couple really good rounds and is out in front by four strokes. Over our second place, which would be Jennifer Smiley playing for Team MVP. She got a couple strokes under par yesterday and is pushing to try to get that top spot today. Yep. And a new face on the lead card here is Sarah Hokom right here in the booth with me. She's also playing for MVP coming out of Idaho. And lastly, a familiar face. We've got Cat Merch out of Rose Bud Arkansas also sitting at plus one. So, pretty tight battle for third place here. Although you never know what could happen. Yeah, I mean, I was even talking to Jen and she said that she was more concerned about Cat and I catching her at this point in the round. So, here we are at hole one, par five, 738 ft. First shot is a distance shot. OB on the left. There's a right to left wind that's pushing it over there. Players are going to want to mitigate that. Next shot, players are going to want to push a disc out to this left side to have an easy approach for a couple hundred feet or less to this basket that's situated right by this beautiful tree with OB looming just beyond it about 20 ft to the right. here at the Taranaki Disc Golf Open presented by MVP Discs. You're watching the first event here on the MVP Disc Tour Down Under for the 2026 season. We're entering the final round of action here at the beautiful Inglewood Golf Club and have a star-studded card of Americans vying for the first Tour Down Under title of the year. And now we welcome our players. First, she's led in the first and the...
