2026 Taranaki Open | RD1 B9 | Ellis, Humphries, Orange, Williams
The 2026 Taranaki Open is underway, and the back nine of round one is filled with challenging holes and strong play. Veteran disc golfer Nate Perkins joins host Luke to break down the course and the strategies at play. The duo focuses on the wind, which is a dominant factor on this particular course, blowing straight out of the Tasman Sea between New Zealand and Australia. The island green on the first hole proves tricky, with a misplaced teepad 15m further back than intended adding to the challenge. Nate Perkins shares his insights on how Brad Law's precise throw was affected by the tailwind, while Luke highlights the importance of angle and luck in navigating this wind-swept course. With players pushing themselves to navigate the tricky terrain, it's clear that the Taranaki Open is shaping up to be a thrilling competition.
Watch the thrilling disc golf action from the 2026 Taranaki Open! Ellis, Humphries, Orange & Williams compete in a battle for victory on the course.
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[music] [music] Welcome in everybody. This is the back nine of the first round of the 2026 Tadanaki Disc Golf Open presented [music] by MVP Discs. I'm joined in the booth by Mr. Nate Perkins, [music] a veteran of the travels down here into the Southern Hemisphere. And we got a windy [music] one. Yeah, it's it's an honor to be here with you, Luke, working on this Gothrow coverage. It looks better and better every season. [music] And yeah, once again, we're talking about the wind. I don't even think we talked about it enough during that front nine. If you go back to 2025 and look at the coverage, it was actually a little bit windier, but same direction out of the west blowing right off of the Tasmin Sea, the sea between New Zealand and Australia. It gets wild out there. It It's just They keep telling us it's not this 1D. I just I don't believe them at this point. Don't believe them at all. Starting with a [music] island green in the wind. It's a tricky shot left to right today. And they actually they messed up and put the teapad about 15 m further back this year than they intended to. And that's why it feels a little further. I don't know if you tuned into that yet. >> No, I did. I threw 83 last year and what was this Brad Law? >> This is a Champ Rockx3 and you could see great angle. I think he probably threw it almost exactly how he wanted to and the tailwind just slammed it. >> There's a little valley. The wind is always weird over this valley. It either pancakes you or it rises you. >> And look at that. >> That lift didn't come down. Pretty close to him staying though. Hitting that wall. He had turned around about halfway through the flight acknowledging that it's continued motion was not a good sign. >> We're also right. >> It is. Yep. He's ripping. It's still going to come up short. It's a roll of the dice. >> It feels like it is. >> The angle's important, but it it feels like a little bit of luck is involved. Look at that slam right away. Dancing. There's the lift >> dance floor about dancing. That's hard to do. >> Yeah, it was. That's a 750...
