Salonen and Heinänen Make the 2024 European Disc Golf Festival Podium

​ ​The 2024 European Disc Golf Festival, held in Tallinn, Estonia, was more than just a tournament. The event offered a vibrant festival atmosphere with late night performances, a variety of vendors, food trucks, and more. Its prime location in the heart of Tallinn provided easy access for spectators in an area where disc golf is highly popular. This type of festival-style environment surrounding a disc golf tournament is becoming increasingly common as the sport continues to grow. Team Innova’s European athletes put on a strong performance on their home turf, with Eveliina Salonen taking 2nd place in a playoff, Joona Heinänen achieving his best DGPT finish yet, and new team member Väinö Mäkelä securing another top 5 spot. Salonen continues to have her best season yet, with five DGPT podium finishes, including two wins. She also won the PDGA Major Champions Cup and placed 2nd at the 2024 United States Women’s Disc Golf Championship. With the World Championships just a month away, Salonen remains a consistent top performer. At the European Disc Golf Festival, she led in several throwing statistics, including Parked percentage, C1 Hits in Regulation, and Strokes Gained Tee to Green. She also shot the hot round on the final day with a bogey-free, 1082-rated, -12. Though she narrowly missed a putt in the playoff, Salonen’s overall putting was solid, with positive Strokes Gained Putting compared to the field and a better C1 putting percentage than the tournament winner. This 2nd place finish moves her into 2nd place in the 2024 DGPT World Standings for FPO. Team Champion’s Joona Heinänen also had a strong showing at the European Disc Golf Festival, achieving his best finish at a DGPT event or PDGA Major with a 3rd place finish. He started strong in the opening round and improved his score with each subsequent round, tying the hot score on the final day with a bogey-free, 1082-rated, -12. Heinänen was 2nd in the field in C1 Hits in Regulation. This 3rd place finish marks his first podium on Tour and his first Top 5 finish. Since joining Team Innova, Väinö Mäkelä has had two of the top five best finishes on Tour of his career in the past month. He took 5th place at the European Disc Golf Festival, outperforming many of the top players in the field.