The sport is similar to regular golf. Participants start at a launchpad and throw discs at a metal basket. Each hole is assigned a “par” number. (Photo by Alyssa Polc/Cronkite News)
The Pro Disc Golf Association kicked off its season in Tucson recently with an All-Star Weekend that set the tone for competition in 2022. (Photo by Alyssa Polc/Cronkite News)
TUCSON – Though more people are taking up the deceptively difficult sport of disc golf as a hobby, it has long been a way of life for pro disc golfers, some of the best of whom participated in the recent season-opening All-Star Weekend in Tucson.
“Everyone here is amazing,” said Lisa Fajkus, a competitor from Texas who has earned more than $90,000 on the tour. “All the competitors are good. Beyond good.”
While the COVID-19 pandemic complicated the sports landscape, it also inspired some to seek new outdoor options. Disc golf was that for many. Membership in the Pro Disc Golf Association increased from 53,366 in 2019 to 71,016 in 2020, according to the PDGA. And from 2010 to 2020, total prize money jumped almost $2 million to $4 million.
The sport is similar to golf. Participants start at a launchpad and throw discs at a metal basket. Each hole is assigned a “par” number.
Opening the season with All-Star Weekend is unique to professional disc golf. In most sports, the all-star competition typically takes place midway through the season or near the end. The thinking behind the placement of the disc golf tour event is that it serves as a kind of trailer for the season, giving fans a glimpse of what they can expect from their favorite disc throwers in future matches.
Disc golf tournaments attract fans of all ages include Bodhi, left, who was there to cheer on her favorite competitor, Heather Young. (Photo by Alyssa Polc/Cronkite News)
“It kind of gives me spring training vibes,” said Hunter Pickard, a disc golf amateur. “You have these great players in one city, on one field, basically, warming up for the season ahead. I think it encourages more people to get into the sport because they see how competitively fun it can be. It’s fantastic to watch and be a part of.”
Fans come from all over the country to attend live disc golf events, including many who travel in renovated vans and buses from tournament to tournament just like most of the players do.
One at All-Star Weekend was Bodhi, who is described in her Instagram bio as a “toddler traveler.” She tours full time with her parents, Stephanie and Taylor, in a “skoolie,” where they live and explore different parts of the country, all while attending disc golf tournaments.
Bodhi could be spotted in her plum-colored attire. Her bubbly and rollicking personality was as hard to miss as her colorful wardrobe. She held up a “Go Heather” homemade sign as she cheered on one of her favorite pro disc golfers, Heather Young.
This year, the PDGA made the decision to spice things up and add a snake draft to the mix for the very first time. The snake draft consists of captains taking turns picking players to create teams. For the women, team captains included Paige Pierce and Catrina Allen. Eagle McMahon and Calvin Heimburg served as captains for the men.
The tournament lasted three days at El Conquistador Resort. Friday consisted of a skills competition between teams. Doubles matches were held Saturday, followed by singles matches on Sunday. Each event drew intrigued fans who stood around and watched.
“You know, these fans are dedicated to watching and coming out each season and to each tournament,” Disc Golf Pro Tour owner Todd Rainwater said. “We want to give them the best experience possible. They’ve traveled from all over to be here, and they deserve to have a good time.”
Rainwater is banking on the fans returning home and talking to their friends and families about the event. “That’s how the sport continues to grow,” he said.
With tournaments all over the United States between February and October, people have ample opportunities to take in a disc golf event – either in person or through live streaming. All-Star Weekend was a perfect example of the different ways to experience the event. Hundreds of people of all ages surrounded the course and followed the players from hole to hole. Those not able to physically attend streamed the tournament online at DGPT.com. With improvements in technology, course setups, and streaming, attendance is expected to continue to increase in the coming years.
“We have a nice foundation,” said Rainwater, who added, “These players put in so much work and are great at what they do. That needs to be displayed for people to see and enjoy, whether that’s online or in-person.”
Related story
Disc Golf is one of the fastest growing sports, according to Disc Golf Mentor. With the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacting the sports world in 2020, people looked for new ways to stay entertained. Suddenly, disc golf became the new fad.
“It was never something I had even thought about, let alone doing,” Pickard said. “When the pandemic hit, there was nothing going on. Nothing was open, and if it was, there were so many safety regulations and hour changes.
“So, I ventured to a park near my house to get some fresh air and noticed the disc golf baskets. I figured, ‘Why not try it since I’m not doing anything else?’”
Pickard is just one example out of the thousands of people who recently got into playing disc golf. According to Sabattus Disc Golf, approximately 50 million rounds were played in 2020, triple the number played the previous year.
All-Star Weekend was a big hit with the fans and competitors alike.
“Getting that text was so cool,” said Rebecca Cox, a pro disc golfer and president and founder of Diversify Disc Golf. “It was a fun surprise for me. …I got kind of lucky being an All-Star. I had to take advantage of this opportunity.”
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DutchNews.nl is publishing 10 articles focusing on the 10 cities where most international residents live in the run up to the local elections in March. Part 3: Leiden.
Twelve political parties will be vying for control of ‘Sleutelstad’ in this year’s elections, but the safe bet is the three that have dominated regional politics for over a decade will remain in power. The current and presumably future reigning trio are D66, GroenLinks, and VVD.
If they hold the line and retain their current coalition on the city’s executive board, they’ll be tasked with helping it bounce back from two years of lockdowns that have impacted both small businesses and arguably its biggest: Leiden University. These are just a few of the concerns Leiden voters are taking with them to the polls in a few weeks.
‘The council has succeeded in some areas, such as better cycling paths and garbage disposal/collection, but failed in others, including the provision of affordable housing to rent or buy,’ one voter said in a recent survey by the International Community Advisory panel about the local election.
‘They should focus more on the transition to green energy use, affordable housing and social services,’ said another.
Safe streets
The largest focus of many local parties this year seems to be how to manage Leiden’s streets. It’s become one of the most contentious topics in town. On one side of the debate, those who would like to see as many vehicles as possible booted out of the centre of the city and the maximum speed limit reduced to 30 kph. On the other, locals who are determined to keep the streets open to car traffic and increase the amount of parking.
D66 would like to move forward with a proposal that includes a car-free centre that prioritises pedestrians and cyclists over vehicles. They’d like to keep car traffic limited to only locals within the Singel, the ring of waterways that encircle the core of Leiden.
The VVD disagrees and wants to retain as much parking as possible. Their stance: ‘After all, a car is often not a choice, but a necessity for many people. For example for work or care.’ Meanwhile, no one seems to know what to do with the city’s buses or which streets to allow them to drive down.
Not enough housing
As with many other cities around the country, Leiden has a housing shortage that has led to eye-watering prices on real estate listings. The situation boiled over in February when local members of PvdA and GroenLinks fled a heated protest organised by a group called Woonrevolutie (housing revolt).
Some 23 demonstrators were later arrested after allegedly hurling stones at police. Squatters have also taken over an old building on the Van der Werfstraat that had been neglected for a decade, much to the chagrin of the VVD. They’ve been posting about their efforts to hang on to it over on their Twitter page.
Photo: Brandon Hartley
It’s a situation that recalls the protests and squats of prior generations. As the costs of mortgages and rents continue to soar and the university’s students continue to struggle to find suitable accommodations, party leaders have been searching for solutions and how best to encourage self-occupancy obligations.
GroenLinks remains committed to building affordable social housing, student residences, and starter homes. Leaders over at D66, meanwhile, have been crowing about their party’s contributions to housing initiatives that have led to the construction of hundreds of homes around the city.
Other issues
Additional hot topics this election season include proposals to help cafes and bars recover from the crisis, funding accountability among the parties, if the maximum limit for new buildings should be raised above 70 metres, whether or not to experiment with municipal cannabis cultivation, and various proposals for Polderpark Cronesteyn.
D66 wants to construct a green sky bridge and a walking path that will connect the beloved park to Oostvlietpolder. A grassroots effort successfully convinced the council not to convert a portion of it into a disc golf park earlier this month. This was just the latest debate in a long series about whether to keep Leiden’s green spaces green or turn them into sporting facilities.
The race to the election
Many parties around town seem to be racing to make up for lost time with campaigning. On Saturday, 19 February, there were few signs, both literal and figurative, around town of the upcoming election. The usual billboards that feature party posters hadn’t gone up, but volunteers from both the CDA and GroenLinks were handing out flyers at the outdoor Saturday market along the Nieuwe Rijn.
‘Because of the lockdowns, it has been difficult to organise public events,’ one Groenlinks campaigner explained. ‘We only have about four weeks until the elections, so we won’t be able to do one for internationals.’
Photo: Brandon Hartley
Key facts:
Current council executive: D66, GroenLinks, PvdA
Current council make-up: D66 (9), GroenLinks (7), VVD (6), PvdA (6), CDA (3), PvdD (3), SP (3), Partij Sleutelstad (1), ChristenUnie (1), Leiden Participeert (1), Fractie Marcel Terlouw (1; former member of GroenLinks, will participate with new party Klimaat Actie Nu)
New parties participating Studenten Voor Leiden, Klimaat Actie Nu
Total number of voters: 103,189
Number of international voters: 10,000 (9,8%)
Local election information in English Voting compass Expat center website GroenLinks PvdD (national website) The city will publish voting information at a later date PvdA and Leiden Participeert to follow
Election events for internationals None planned so far
Additional reporting by Jan Douwe Krist. This article was made possible by a donation from Stichting Democratie & Media.
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl
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Cranbrook’s professional disc golfer Casey Hanemayer has his sights set on his biggest year yet, and with an extension with his sponsor Prodigy Disc Golf and a spot on Team Canada for the World Flying Disc Federation’s (WFDF) World Team Disc Golf Championships in Croatia this summer, he’s off to a good start already.
“Being able to resign with Prodigy has been awesome, they have given me the support that I need to play this season,” Hanemayer said. “Since I signed with them two years ago the relationship has grown, and I am happy with everything that they have done for me.”
Hanemayer had a great year in the 2021 season, winning numerous tournaments, and securing himself a spot at the United Disc Golf Championships in Rock Hill, S.C., but this year he intends to play a lot more events in the U.S., less hindered by COVID-19 travel restrictions.
READ MORE: Cranbrook’s Casey Hanemayer qualifies for United States Disc Golf Championship
“This season is going to be my biggest tournament and travel season yet,” he said. “I’m going to be playing in multiple Disc Golf Pro Tour (DGPT) events in the U.S., along with many tournaments in Canada.”
His trip to Varazsin, Croatia from August 17 to 20, will not be the first time Hanemayer has travelled internationally to play disc golf, and in fact not his first time representing Canada at the World Team Disc Golf Championships.
READ MORE: Cranbrook’s Casey Hanemayer performs well in Thailand disc golf tournament
“I played in the World Team Championships in Estonia in 2019 which was a great experience and I will be bringing that to this year’s event,” he said.
Hanemayer will be one of 10 Canadians, six of whom are from B.C., heading over to play in the event, which consists of multiple games, singles and doubles, all in a match play format.
According to CandDiscGolf.com This year the team assembled “features a mix of the highest-rated athletes and some of the most experienced Team Disc Golf Championship veterans Canada has to offer.”
“To be named to the team again is a great feeling and I hope with the previous experience I can play with more confidence and give Canada the best possible chance to win.”
Hanemayer plans for the first event of his season to be the Dynamic Discs Open in Emporia, Kansas: an historic venue for the sport and the site of this year’s 2022 PDGA World Championships. This year the DDO runs from April 28 to May 1.
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GLENS FALLS — A professional disc golf tournament is coming to Crandall Park later this year.
The city’s Recreation Committee on Wednesday approved plans submitted by the Crandall Park Beautification Committee to host a pair of disc golf tournaments in the park for the weekend of June 12 and 13, including a Professional Disc Golf Association sanctioned tournament with nearly 80 competitors.
The tournament will coincide with the official opening of the newly constructed 18-hole disc golf course spread throughout the park.
People have been playing the course for months, but rubber tee pads and other amenities have yet to be installed. The finishing touches for the course should be completed sometime in May, said Elizabeth Little Hogan, the president of the Crandall Park Beautification Committee.
“I have to tell you, I underestimated the popularity of this,” she said.
The weekend will get underway on Saturday June 12 with a “Learn to Play” event from noon to 2 p.m., according to the plans.
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Families or household groups of four to five will be assigned a tee time and will play the first two holes of the course with an experienced disc golf player, who will show them how to play the sport.
Each group will be allowed to play either the front or back nine, and groups will be spread out to ensure social distancing. Volunteers will be on hand to help direct players and ensure there are no large gatherings.
There will be a $25 registration fee, which will include four or five discs. Families who cannot afford the registration fee can apply for financial assistance.
All participants will be required to register for the event online in advance.
Beginning at 12:30 p.m. that same day, an 18-hole recreational tournament will be held.
The tournament will be broken into separate divisions including novice, men’s and women’s, and youth.
A $35 pre-registration fee is required, which will provide participants a pack of two new discs and a coupon book to Stewart’s Shops.
Everyone would be required to sign up online in advance and mask wearing will be mandatory, according to the plans.
Participants would begin play at separate holes in order to ensure social distancing.
Prizes for the tournament will be awarded via PayPal.
On June 13, a Professional Disc Golf Association tournament will be held, with an expected 72 participants.
The tournament will include players of all skill sets from professional to beginner.
A registration fee ranging from $25 to $55 will be required, depending on the player’s ranking, according to the plans.
The tournament will consist of two rounds, and all players will be required to stay within their group.
The first round of the tournament will start at 9 a.m. and the second will begin a 1 p.m.
There are also plans to reach out to local restaurants to sell food during the event, though whether those plans would be allowed depends on the pandemic.
Members of the committee were eager to approve the plans, though Mayor Dan Hall said he has concerns about parking.
The disc golf course is adjacent to a playground in the park, and with outdoor recreation becoming increasingly popular, there’s a concern about safety.
“I’m starting to be real nervous about parking in Crandall Park,” Hall said.
Little said she shares the same concerns and will be directing all participants to park near the soccer fields and is working on applying for permits needed to temporarily close roads near the course during the tournament.
“We’re on the same page,” she said.
Chad Arnold is a reporter for The Post-Star covering the city of Glens Falls and the town and village of Lake George and Washington County government. Follow him on Twitter @ChadGArnold.
Over the years, Texas has safeguarded numerous magnificent land areas to offer people an opportunity to get away from the crowds of the city–resulting in a plethora of fantastic camping locations around Dallas.
Wildlife sanctuaries and conservation activities have replaced livestock roads and open fields. There’s a place for you whether you’re searching for a more traditional camping spot or some fun glamping near Dallas!
In every region of Texas, you’ll find RV parks, rustic camping areas, and fully-equipped campsites.
Here’s where you may go camping near Dallas, Texas!
Cedar Hill State Park
With huge tracts of open ground and pathways to wander, Cedar Hill is a terrific natural destination to visit near Dallas. Fortunately, Texas state parks offer free fishing in the park’s lakes.
The Vineyards Campgrounds and Cabins
During the 4th of July, visitors flock to Grapevine Lake to watch fireworks. There is, however, a lovely lakeside resort with cottages and RV sites where visitors can enjoy the lake all year.
This region differs from other campsites around Dallas in that it isn’t fully distant from the city, which is ideal for first-time campers or people who are hesitant to travel to a state park. There are washing and dryers on-site, as well as fully equipped cabins.
Twin Coves Campground
Twin Coves Campground is the place to go if you’re searching for a basic campground close to Grapevine Lake.
There are both rustic and fully furnished cabins and RV sites available for rent. With 19 furnished cabins and 22 RV sites, the property fills up quickly during the holidays! Linens and dishes are provided in the cabins.
Outdoor activities like disc golf and horseshoe are offered in this area. Water sports can also be done with a single or tandem kayak.
Willow Grove Park
Willow Grove Park, on the banks of Lewisville Lake near Dallas, has both RV and rustic campsites.
Within a 30-day period, campers can remain for up to two weeks. Because primitive campsites are first-come, first-served, you should arrive early in the day if possible to get a nice place. It is also perfect for a romantic gateway.
Ray Roberts Lake State Park
Ray Roberts Lake State Park is a terrific place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and let the sounds of traffic and commotion drift away.
Depending on your needs, there are group campsites and more basic campsites available.
Equestrian campsites are accessible near the equestrian paths, which is an interesting feature of the park.
February 24, 2022 by Christopher Wiklund in Rankings with comments
Photo: DGPT
Welcome one, welcome all, to the premiere of the 2022 Ultiworld Disc Golf MPO Power Rankings!
Can you believe it? The 2022 professional disc golf season is upon us, along with the debut of the unified tour under the direction of the Disc Golf Pro Tour. We start things off in Las Vegas where, over four days and three courses, the competitors will show us what they’ve been working on all offseason.
The courses in the desert tend to play fast, skippy, and scorable. Over the past three years, the winner in MPO has averaged 45 strokes under par, so it is absolutely crucial for players to come out hot and keep it going with rounds at least double digits below even. Big distance is key–no surprise on golf courses–but what makes Vegas unique tends to be treacherous basket locations and the need to control where the disc goes after it lands. The fairways and landing zones tend to be a bit faster than some of the other golf courses the tour hits over the duration of the year, so big skips can turn a look at birdie into a layup for bogey pretty quick.
Without further ado, let’s get to it.
Methodology: We combine an algorithmic objective ranking with subjective ballots submitted by UWDG staff. The algorithm uses a standardized scoring model to compare elite events, awards competition, and cash bonuses, and features a decay function that gradually phases out past results.
MPO Power Rankings:
1
Ricky Wysocki
2
Paul McBeth
3
Eagle McMahon
4
Chris Dickerson
5
Kyle Klein
6
Calvin Heimburg
7
Adam Hammes
8
Kevin Jones
9
James Conrad
10
Matt Orum
11
Nikko Locastro
12
Drew Gibson
13
Nate Sexton
14
Linus Carlsson
15
Garrett Gurthie
16
Ezra Aderhold
17
Joel Freeman
18
Paul Ulibarri
19
Chris Clemons
20
Thomas Gilbert
21
Mason Ford
22
Bradley Williams
23
Emerson Keith
24
Gregg Barsby
25
Jeremy Koling
Notes on the Top 10
The ‘recent unweighted’ category, above, includes the last 15 rounds from elite series, cumulative-stroke play tournaments in 2021: USDGC, Music City Open, Green Mountain Championship, MVP Open.
Player
Average ’22 Power Ranking
Player Rating: Recent Unweighted vs. Current Overall
’22 Best Finish
1. Ricky Wysocki
1
1056 (U) | 1054 (O)
TBD
The 2021 PDGA, DGPT, and Ultiworld Player of the Year had the most consistently excellent season of any player last year. Wysocki had 14 podium finishes in 2021, including six wins. After a short stint with Innova, Wysocki is back under contract with the Trilogy family of discs by way of Dynamic Discs. We’ll be seeing the return of the Harp, and certainly Wysocki will continue to grab some wins at the Elite Series events. The real question in 2022, though: can he win at a Major? Wysocki hasn’t taken one since 2017.
2. Paul McBeth
2
1046 (U) | 1050 (O)
TBD
By win total, McBeth didn’t have a stellar 2021 season, but he closed out strong at the USDGC. Had it not been for a miraculous shot by James Conrad, he’d also very likely be out reigning World Champion, too. McBeth admitted on The Upshot that his putting hurt him all season, and perhaps he was a bit overextended with various off-the-course endeavors. He says that he is entering the 2022 season with a renewed focus. Good news for McBeth fans, bad news for everyone else.
3. Eagle McMahon
3
1045 (U) | 1053 (O)
TBD
McMahon is looking to defend his title in Vegas, and it’s hard to imagine a better course for this particular horse. Or bird. Birdhorse. Anyways. McMahon is probably the favorite this weekend, and for good reason. He shot a 48 under par last year. Will his lack of a 500-foot forehand dampen his title defense?
4. Chris Dickerson
4
1052 (U) | 1045 (O)
TBD
The Limestone Lazer, which is an absurd nickname and I love it, has never played in Vegas, so we don’t have much to go on for how he will perform in Sin City. First take: probably not well since he tends to prefer wooded courses, but then again, he is a USDGC and 2X DGPT Tour champion. Perhaps the real question is how well he knows his new bag? In a race for birdies, any lack of comfort could mean losing crucial strokes.
5. Kyle Klein
5
1033 (U) | 1039 (O)
TBD
Klein was my breakout player of 2021 and earned himself a promotion to Discmania’s top level sponsorship alongside Eagle McMahon and Simon Lizotte. Klein did not play exceptionally well in Vegas last year and didn’t really find his stride until around the midpoint of the season when he took down the win at Idlewild. Can Klein avoid the sophomore slump?
6. Calvin Heimburg
6
1035 (U) | 1047 (O)
TBD
Heimburg made sure his two Elite Series wins in 2021 were profitable, splitting the title and cash at Ledgestone with Ricky Wysocki, and taking home a cool 10k from the match play championship. Heimburg is in the final year of his contract with Innova and is probably on the shortlist to be the third million-dollar-man (that we know of) in the game. Recall, Heimburg won the 2019 Las Vegas Challenge and should be among the favorites to win this weekend.
7. Adam Hammes
7
1042 (U) | 1040
TBD
Hammes is coming off a 2021 season with two Elite Series titles and a dub on the Silver Series for good measure. His victory at Maple Hill was a statement win, coming from behind to snatch the top spot away from Eagle McMahon. Hammes used to be one of those “up and comer” type players, but that categorization probably doesn’t fit anymore. Hammes has arrived and knows how to close out a win when he has the opportunity.
8. Kevin Jones
8
1029 (U) | 1037 (O)
TBD
This offseason, Prodigy let go of Matt Orum, Chris Dickerson, and Catrina Allen but kept Jones on board and announced that he will be getting his own bespoke line of discs. This is huge for Jones and a big gamble for Prodigy. While Jones is easily one of the most marketable players in the game and a world class player, he didn’t win an Elite Series event last year, never finishing better than third. Jones was in striking distance of a win many times and seemed somewhat snakebit, so fingers crossed in 2022 he can limit the rollaways and bad breaks.
9. James Conrad
9
1028 (U) | 1035 (O)
TBD
Conrad won the 2021 World Championship in dramatic fashion with a shot that may forever reign as #1 in disc golf history. Otherwise, he had a pretty mediocre 2021. Really, he has yet to put together a full, start-to-finish season of excellent play on tour. But he’s a two-time major winner and a two-time DGPT champion. He has more elite wins than most of the field. This will be his second full season with MVP discs, so he should be more comfortable with his plastic in 2022, which could lead to improved overall results. After all, Conrad is known for expertly manipulating well-seasoned discs.
10. Matt Orum
10
1039 (U) | 1044 (O)
TBD
Matty O leaving Prodigy for Westside was a shocker of a development this offseason. Losing the sixth highest rated player in the world is no small thing. Orum did tell The Upshot that his new sponsorship deal will allow him to tour more regularly, which rules. More Matty O is better for everyone. He’ll be out of the field at LVC, unfortunately, after having his appendix removed.
Other Quick Hits
Drew Gibson (#12) had the strongest season of his career in 2021, finishing in the top ten in 12 of the 20 events. Critical to his success was improved putting. Gibson converted C1X putts at an 82% clip in 2021, up from 79% in 2020 and 78% in 2019. A couple percentage points doesn’t seem like much, but with the field as deep and talented as it is now, every stroke saved can be the difference between top ten and missing the top 15. Look for Gibson to rise up the rankings this season.
Linus Carlsson (#14) is the only European player in our top 25. He won seven A-Tiers in 2021. He played in nine events. I don’t think there’s really a need to elaborate on why we’re excited to have him stateside this year. The knock would surely be that he lost, barely, to Niklas Anttila at the 2021 European Championships. Anttila could well crack these rankings with a strong start to his US tour.
Other players in the top 25 who we’ve got our eye on but need to show a little more consistency in their 2022 campaigns in order to crack the top 10 include Ezra Aderhold (#16), Chris Clemons (#19), and Emerson Keith (#23).
Christopher Wiklund
Chris is a contributor at Ultiworld Disc Golf. He lives and works on Cape Cod in Massachusetts where he plays as much disc golf as he can, and reminds people he lives on Cape Cod. He likes spending time outside when he isn’t playing video games and watching TV.
MPO Power Rankings:
1
Ricky Wysocki
2
Paul McBeth
3
Eagle McMahon
4
Chris Dickerson
5
Kyle Klein
6
Calvin Heimburg
7
Adam Hammes
8
Kevin Jones
9
James Conrad
10
Matt Orum
11
Nikko Locastro
12
Drew Gibson
13
Nate Sexton
14
Linus Carlsson
15
Garrett Gurthie
16
Ezra Aderhold
17
Joel Freeman
18
Paul Ulibarri
19
Chris Clemons
20
Thomas Gilbert
21
Mason Ford
22
Bradley Williams
23
Emerson Keith
24
Gregg Barsby
25
Jeremy Koling
TAGGED: Disc Golf Pro Tour (DGPT), World, Adam Hammes, Bradley Williams, Calvin Heimburg, Chris Clemons, Chris Dickerson, Drew Gibson, Eagle McMahon, Emerson Keith, Ezra Aderhold, Garrett Gurthie, Gregg Barsby, James Conrad, Jeremy Koling, Joel Freeman, Kevin Jones, Kyle Klein, Linus Carlsson, Mason Ford, Matt Orum, Nate Sexton, Nikko Locastro, Paul McBeth, Paul Ulibarri, Power Rankings, Ricky Wysocki, Thomas Gilbert
In the early 1990s, Wayne Pierce would play disc golf with his friends on the weekends in Plano, Texas, while pushing his infant daughter, Paige, around in a stroller. Once Paige grew old enough, she started throwing alongside them, with her dad dangling ice cream rewards if she made par.
As Wayne improved, eventually placing second in the amateur division of the 2002 PDGA Disc Golf World Championships, so did Paige. By age 12, she was outdriving the grown men she’d grown up learning the sport from.
“You’d always hear about the 12-year-old girl out-throwing the dudes,” recalls Eric McCabe, the 2010 men’s world champion who became a family friend after competing with Pierce’s father. “She had better form than any other person—not just lady, but any other person in the sport.”
“That really got me hooked,” Pierce said. “I realized it’s not just my dad showing me support because he loves me; I’m actually pretty good at this. These claps and cheers are genuine and not just some show of support for a young girl.”
Photo Illustration by Dan Larkin; Courtesy of Alyssa Van Lanen/PDGA
Wayne, who works as a plumber, registered her for disc golf tournaments all over Texas during the summer, when school was out and her favored sport, soccer, was out of season. He ended up selling his own collection of discs to help pay for travel costs.
“It was sort of like she was living my dream,” Wayne said. “I wanted her to be able to take advantage of her youth and say that it worked. Because she had it from the beginning … I always believed I could make her into something that even she didn’t know she could be.”
Pierce has done far more than live out her father’s dream. She’s raised the bar for disc golf competitively and financially while helping out the women who may eventually knock her off her perch. Just don’t bet on that happening anytime soon. Pierce boasts the driving distance (upwards of 500 feet) to thrive on wide-open courses, the technical ability to win in wooded environments and the accuracy to sink putts from seemingly impossible lengths. The Texan with a warm smile, aw-shucks aura and lean 5′ 5″ frame may be the most dominant athlete at any level of any type of golf—ball, disc, you name it—or perhaps even any individual sport.
As the COVID-19 shutdown forced the world to socially distance and avoid indoor gatherings, most sports were put on hold. But disc golf—played outdoors and socially distanced even in normal times—experienced unprecedented growth. Professional events were broadcast on CBS Sports and ESPN2 for the first time, filling programming vacuums left by the abrupt stoppage of nearly every sports league of note.
And though disc golf probably won’t be the only sport on the airwaves again anytime soon, its days toiling in obscurity are over. Disc golf is here to stay.
Credit: Photo Illustration by Dan Larkin; Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images (James); Gaelle Beller Studio/Getty Images (Mask)
Read More Stories On the Year of the Shutdown
The first recorded instance of golf being played with flying discs occurred in 1926, when a group of Canadian kids fashioned the game of “Tin Lid Golf” around the grounds of their elementary school. But the modern movement that led to disc golf’s legitimization as a sport started in the early 1960s in various U.S. locations including the tree-lined campus of Rice University, the streets of Newport Beach, Calif., and Pendleton King Park in Augusta, Ga. Early players would target water fountains, trash cans or whatever else was deemed suitable.
The first specialized disc golf course was designed and installed in 1975 in Pasadena, Calif., by Ed Headrick, who also invented the Frisbee and the prototype for the modern disc golf “hole”—the Disc Pole Hole catching device, which consists of 10 chains hanging in a parabolic shape over an upward opening basket. Players must land discs—which are smaller, faster and more aerodynamic than Frisbees—in the basket to complete a hole. Headrick was motivated to create a standardized target in part to stifle arguments among his friends over whether someone actually had hit one of the objects in their makeshift courses.
The following year, Headrick formed the Disc Golf Association (DGA)—a company to build equipment for the sport—and later the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA), a not-for-profit that oversees the sport’s top-level competitions and generates the majority of its revenue from annual membership fees ($50 for amateurs, $75 for professionals) and event sanctioning.
For decades, disc golf was mostly regarded as a hobby for college kids and stoners working their way through a six-pack as they played. It has matured over time; however, and especially experienced incredible growth in 2020—likely partially due to its ability to be played outdoors and socially distanced. But it was also the continuation of a growth trend that occurred through the 2010s.
Nearly 50 years after the PDGA’s humble beginnings, it now boasts 150,000 members, with 70,000 of those retaining active status for tournaments—a figure that’s doubled since 2016 and is roughly an 80/20 split of amateurs to professionals. Last year alone saw the registration of more than 20,000 members, continuing a 13-year streak of record membership growth.
These numbers don’t account for casual players, who surely outnumber PDGA members and have far more courses to play on than there were just a few years ago. As of November 2020, there were 11,300 courses in the world. That’s a 66% increase from the last count performed in May 2017, when there were 6,800. Roughly 8,000 of those are in the U.S., with Finland, Canada and Sweden coming next on the list of 71 countries that host courses, which are often woven into community parks or even share space with ball golf. An average of 3.5 courses were built each day in 2020, and 70% of courses have been built in the last 10 years, according to a study published by UDisc, the official scorekeeping app used at PDGA events. The same study found 91% of courses are free to play.
“Disc golf is just so readily available for anyone to pick up,” Pierce said. “You spend $20 and you get a disc, then spend $5 to play—or a lot of courses are even free to play. You can be outside in nature for $20 and have a great time.”
The sport’s true home is in the forest, where skill is required to avoid trees that can send your saucer flying off-course. But more open, expansive courses have grown in popularity and provide a chance for the sport’s most powerful throwers to showcase impressive drives that are more easily appreciated by the layperson. While the PDGA offers course development resources, local clubs take on the responsibility of raising funds by pitching public recreation officials or private donors on the prospect of providing a cheap way for the community to get active. And those pitches have gained a lot of support in recent years.
“Our numbers have astronomically skyrocketed in every way: PDGA memberships, views on Pro Tour livestreams, disc sales,” Pierce said. “All the manufacturers had to buy more machines and go to three shifts. So they’re running shifts 24/7, and they still can’t keep up with production right now.” Indeed, a representative at Discraft, a disc golf equipment manufacturer, and one of Pierce’s sponsors, confirmed many of the company’s goods are sold out.
That increased interest in participation is translating to rising television viewership, which generates more money for competitors. In fact, 225,000 people tuned into ESPN2 for the Disc Golf Pro Tour (DGPT) Championship when it was aired on the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, making it the channel’s most-watched program of the day. The event awarded $20,000 to the winner of both the men’s and women’s competitions, the most ever awarded to a disc golfer at a single competition. The total purse was $130,400; second-place finishers netted $10,000, third place earned $5,000 and fourth place got $3,000.
With more money flowing through the sport, Pierce is set to cash in both on the course and off it. Her latest sponsorship contract with Discraft multiplied her previous salary tenfold, and she made about $500,000 in 2020 between her sponsorship contracts (which include performance bonuses and a portion of sales from their signature discs), tournament winnings and Patreon/YouTube accounts. It’s by far the largest annual earnings for a woman in the sport, and is believed to trail only Paul McBeth’s estimated $1 million pay among all disc golfers. But those two are outliers.
Courtesy of Alyssa Van Lanen/PDGA
Playing disc golf professionally usually means committing to a nomadic way of life. Many touring professionals spend nine to 10 months of the year on the road. Some live in customized, souped-up vans; others couch surf through connections in different cities, living paycheck to paycheck. Most have to take on second jobs within the scene by selling apparel out of their trunks or offering lessons. Mind you, Pierce’s van (which she’s dubbed “Vanna Kendrick”) is an impressive beast decked out with a bed, couch, fridge and closet. She enjoys the convenience of being able to wait out a rain delay in her makeshift home, along with the freedom of having an “endless backyard.” But it’s not a way of life everyone could get used to.
From the early stages of her career, Pierce has been able to make a living from her frequent purse winnings—having been the highest-earning woman on tour in six of the last eight years, usually topping out at around $30,000—and sponsorship money, which far exceeds tournament earnings for the sport’s biggest names. In 2013 she was among 12 of the world’s best players who signed endorsement deals with disc manufacturers guaranteeing them monthly salaries for the first time, along with performance bonuses and tournament purses. Pierce estimates that group would earn around $60,000 to $75,000 if they played to their potential. About 60 to 75 players now operate under similar contracts.
Tournament purses are increasing across the sport’s pro circuit, even adjusting for inflation. The DGPT was purchased in 2019 by Todd Rainwater, the son of the late Texas billionaire Richard Rainwater. The younger Rainwater, who was initially drawn to the sport by its laid-back atmosphere, injected the pro tour with cash, raised the requirements for purses and brought a renewed focus on broadcasting competitions—in addition to the breakthroughs on television last year, YouTube livestreaming for events grew more popular during the pandemic. There are now 219 men and 42 women who qualify as PDGA Premier Pros, or national tour participants, though not all of them can afford to play full-time.
That’s still a big step up from how it used to be. Until the mid-2010s, the prize money for tournaments was almost entirely the sum of its entry fees. The best players would make money from everybody else, and not much at that. Ken Climo, who won nine straight world titles in the 1990s, kept his day job as a construction worker during much of his sporting career. As a disc golfer, he never made more than $20,000 in a single season.
So, even after Pierce gained child prodigy status and played in tournaments every weekend during high school, she wasn’t sure it was possible to make a career out of her greatest passion. After graduating high school in 2009, she enrolled in nearby Collin College to study criminal investigation; an interest born out of her love for CSI. But after her freshman year indicated that path wouldn’t be all it was cracked up to be on TV, she entered the following summer unsure what she wanted to do.
McCabe, looking for a tour partner who could help out with driving, asked her to ride shotgun with him for the summer.
“We were scraping by, sleeping in cars, going stop to stop. Most of the time, I was fortunate enough where I had been doing it long enough that I had a spot in every town where I knew someone who could put us up,” said McCabe, who remembers his teenage companion blasting a lot of Justin Bieber songs on the road. “I wanted the world to meet Paige Pierce, because I knew she had something special and that everyone needed to see it.”
It didn’t take long. In her first tournament that summer, the Beaver State Fling, she placed second and lost by one stroke. Just two months later, she placed fifth at the world championships.
“She went on tour for summer, came home after three months and was No. 5 in the world,” Wayne said. “She said, ‘Dad, I don’t think I ever wanna come home. I wanna go play disc golf.’ I said, ‘Go, travel the world, do your thing.’ ”
Pierce won her first world championship the following year, in 2011, and has claimed the same trophy in every odd-numbered year since, breaking records along the way.
Pierce has won nearly half the events she’s participated in during her career, with 136 wins in 287 PDGA events. For reference, McBeth, a five-time world champion on the male circuit who’s widely considered the best male disc golfer of all time, has 131 wins in 344 events. And Pierce’s win rate has only increased since earning her first title at the Texas Women’s Championship in 2007, when she was a 16-year-old amateur. Since 2016 when she earned the first of four Player of the Year awards, she’s placed first in a staggering 92 of 148 events, good for a 62.1 winning percentage.
Three years ago Pierce set the women’s record for player rating—a metric that evaluates a player’s skill and adjusts with each competitive round—and has steadily set the bar higher on a pace to become the first woman with a 1000 player rating (she currently sits at 996, with McBeth owning the world’s best rating at 1055). If the 29-year-old takes home her sixth world championship in June, an opportunity that wasn’t afforded to her in 2020 due to the pandemic, she’ll become the first woman to do so.
“Being able to be her dad, I’m a lucky person, man,” Wayne said, his voice cracking. “She’s really humble, she’s not gonna tell you the whole story. … She’s my role model.”
“She’s definitely the greatest of all time in her division,” McCabe said. “You’ve got players like Des Reading, Elaine King, Juliana Korver—those ladies back in the day who all have multiple world titles. But they weren’t doing it against the stacked field that we have today. And she doesn’t just win, she dominates. There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s not just the greatest woman of all time, but one of the best players of all time.”
Pierce has achieved her status as the most dominant disc golfer in history in relative obscurity. When she was a teenager plying her craft in Texas, there were few women peers to compete with at the youth level. Even now 7% of PDGA members are women, though the level of competition has risen as the sport has gained popularity. Still, life for even the most talented disc golfers isn’t what most athletes would consider glamorous.
Even Pierce doesn’t have the built-out team you may expect from an athlete at the top of her sport. She retains a strength coach who gives her daily workouts and guides her nutrition, sleep and mental health habits. But other than that, she’s mostly on her own. No coach specialized in her sport. No agent to negotiate contracts. No p.r. team (not that she’s needed one to build her popular YouTube channel).
Most professional athletes, even those who compete in individual sports, aren’t accustomed to going it alone in almost every aspect of their career. Many, at least for a while, were forced to during the shutdown. But disc golfers are used to running a one-person operation, which prepared them to plug along and provide a massive opportunity for their sport while the pandemic represented a roadblock for almost everybody else in athletics.
“Disc golf is small enough right now to where we are kind of our own agents, which is good and bad,” Pierce said. “It’s fun for me because it allows this creativity and genuineness in interacting with fans. I do want to somewhat continue that, but I think that as we grow, the sport is going to change. So it feels like a responsibility to sort of lead that way, where we want the sport to head and how we get there.”
SHENANDOAH JUNCTION — For those unfamiliar with disc golf, eyebrows can be raised as they see what appears to be a net on a pole in the middle of a field or wooded area.
For those who have a love of the emerging activity, the course is a cherished place for enjoyment.
“Disc golf has been a part of Sam Michaels Park since 2018,” said Tommy Van Vliet, recreation coordinator for the Jefferson County park system. “While we started out slow, it has exploded in popularity over the past few years.”
The first organized meeting of the Eastern Panhandle Disc Golf Club was held in spring 2019, Van Vliet said, mentioning it attracted 14 attendees.
“Since then, each March through October, the club meets on Thursday evenings, in rain or shine, to play a round together,” he said, adding that most nights average between 15-20 players. “The league is free to play, and players of all skill levels join in.”
The open environment of the club has seen the membership grow significantly, with the numbers most recently rising to over 240 active members.
“Not only has disc golf grown rapidly in our area, but, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a renewed desire to be outdoors, disc golf, as a sport, has grown in leaps and bounds across America,” Van Vliet said.
According to Van Vliet, the Professional Disc Golf Association, founded in 1976, now has a membership of more than 200,000.
Sam Michaels Park is currently the only public disc golf course in Jefferson County. The course offers a mix of open field holes, shots through trees and across ponds and utilizes the natural features of the park. The range of difficulty challenges more advanced players, while the less-challenging holes encourage novice players to try the sport.
“According to statistics provided by UDisc, the official scorekeeping and course directory app of the PDGA, Sam Michaels Park Disc Golf Course was played an estimated 6,500 times in 2021, by nearly 700 unique players,” Van Vliet said.
“You can find players of all ages out on the course throughout the day, playing through rain, wind and even snow,” he said, mentioning that Sam Michaels Park was also the site of the Eastern Panhandle Disc Golf Club’s first Glow-in-the-Dark Disc Golf League.
The players in that league spread play over six weeks in October and November on Thursday evenings, using lights to illuminate each basket, along with flashing LED lights or glow-in-the-dark tape stuck to their discs, to enjoy the course in a fun new way at night. Prizes were awarded to the top three finishers over the six-week series, in both recreational and advanced level divisions. The rest of the money collected, as part of the series, was the first step in fundraising for continued growth in disc golf at Sam Michaels Park.
According to Van Vliet, plans made by members of the Disc Golf Club were approved by Jefferson County Parks & Recreation management to make additions to the course in 2022. The current expansion plans will add a new, second tee location to each hole, allowing players the option on each hole to choose between a more challenging starting position and one that is slightly easier and/or closer to the basket.
Additionally, each hole will also have a dedicated “juniors” tee location, allowing younger players or those new to the game to experience the course by starting each hole roughly 100-225 feet from the basket, without any large trees or obstacles to navigate. A small number of baskets will also be slightly moved to increase player safety with higher numbers of players on the course simultaneously.
To raise the additional funds needed for the planned work on the course, the club has organized a GoFundMe page to accept donations.
“Our current goal is to collect $3,500, which will cover the cost of all the planned updates, as well as serve to assist Jefferson County Parks & Recreation maintenance staff with the upkeep and maintenance of the course throughout the year,” Van Vliet said.
Any additional funds raised with the GoFundMe campaign will be put towards future disc golf projects in Jefferson County. Club members hope to raise more to self-fund this project, rather than asking Jefferson County Parks & Recreation for any additional funding.
“We hope that, with increased use and future tournaments being held at the course, that Sam Michaels Park Disc Golf Course and any other properties containing disc golf courses can be revenue-generating features within our parks & recreation system,” Van Vliet said.
Van Vliet can be reached via Jefferson County parks and recreation at 304-728-3207 for more information on the disc golf club.
February 24, 2022 by Charlie Eisenhood in News with comments
The Media Director of the Disc Golf Pro Tour and lead producer for the Disc Golf Network, Mahmoud Bahrani, answered questions from Reddit r/discgolf subscribers yesterday. Here’s a selection of interesting questions and answers from the Ask Me Anything. And don’t miss Bahrani’s recent interview on The Upshot podcast.
What is being done or can be done to maintain quality broadcast signal during coverage? This is one of the biggest issues I’ve seen compared to watching post production coverage.
We use these little backpacks called LiveU units to send the signal from the camera to our control room in Milwaukee. This past offseason we upgraded all our LiveUs and also added extra modems to hopefully alleviate signal issues. There will always be hiccups – it’s live sports, it’s never going to be perfect – but hopefully what we’re doing, coupled with natural increases in 4g and 5g service, will help improve signal quality over time.
What improvement or feature are you most excited about for this season?
A lot of what we’re doing this year is taking the best parts of last year and making them more consistent week-to-week. We’re adding a drone to most broadcasts (only had it at a select few last year) and this year we’ll be having split broadcasts for all the Elite Series events, so we’ll be able to cover more cards in both FPO and MPO. If you remember how exciting GMC or Worlds were, we’re hoping that that can be every weekend, for every Elite Series event.
It feels like we’ve reached some sort of stagnation with announcers where it’s become a sort of “this is who always does it so get used to it” type of deal. I have love for Terry and Nate and Val for all that they’ve done for the sport but they are below average commentary. Can you please talk about your plans for the future in this area?
I personally really enjoy all of our commentary teams, but we’ll always incorporating new people and voices as much as we can. Hopefully as the Silver Series continues to grow and become more flushed out, that’ll be a great place for us to develop new commentators that we can rotate into Elite Series events. Eventually, there will be so many events and feeds that even if you don’t like a certain commentator, they won’t be on all the time.
What are some “simple” suggestions that people often have for DGN, that are actually 20000x more complicated than they probably think?
Show every shot! Players don’t wait for each other across the course, and they’re often throwing shots at exactly the same time across three cards. Almost every shot you’re seeing during the live broadcast is in replay, and we do our best to fit in as much golf as we can, but it’s not as simple as, “show every shot from every player.” It’s almost always a juggling act in terms of which shots we want to show, and we’re trying to balance showing as many shots as we can while being more deliberate with shots that matter, and trying to give context to those shots. That’s a big part of what I’m trying to figure out in real time. It’s just a constant decision making process throughout the entire 3.5 hour broadcast, and it is mentally exhausting, but it’s also super fun when you catch an awesome shot and you’re excited to figure out how to show it to people!
How’s the growth been in your subscriber base over the last few years? And how much growth are you anticipating?
The growth has been absolutely incredible, and we’ve been blown away by the support coming to us from everyone in the disc golf world. I’m personally just so thankful that people enjoy what we’re doing – I know there are a lot of people who hate on live and leave mean comments, but there are also a ton of people that genuinely really enjoy what we’re doing. That really fires me up, and no matter how hard or how stressful doing live broadcasts can be, that gets me through it.
How many employees are there in the filming and production of a live broadcast? And what training or skills should be developed for someone aspiring to work with the DGN in the future?
Right now we have 7 camera operators, a producer, a director, a replay operator, and a graphics operator. This year we’ve added an AP/AD who will be doubling as an A1. So 12 total, not including talent. It’s a pretty tight production.
Training depends on what role you’re trying to fill, whether you want to be a camera op in the field or a producer/director whatever. I always recommend that folks, if they’re interested, go to broadcasting school, or write for their local newspaper, or go volunteer for their local TV station.
Have you considered additional fixed camera feeds where we can have a second window open to watch particularly good ace run holes?
Yes of course! We had that during USDGC/Throw Pink (Hole 1, 7, and 17) and those cameras caught quite a few aces. It requires a bit of infrastructure, but it’s definitely something I’d like to do at every tournament, not just USDGC. It might be a little ways off, but believe me, we’re thinking about it.
What is your perception of the public’s view of the broadcasts? Seems some love it, some hate it. Would love to hear the network’s take. Thanks!
Yea it’s definitely interesting! Disc Golf lives in this unique space where there was no live coverage for a really long time, and post production is all that anyone consumed – so a lot of people see what we’re doing and don’t like it because it’s not post production. What we’re attempting to offer is a more wholistic view of the tournament and the storylines that are building all over the course. A lot of disc golfers aren’t necessarily looking for that though – they just want to enjoy the shots from the lead card with laid back commentary. They’re really different products, so when people say they don’t like live and prefer post, we really don’t take it personally.
What do you miss about Connecticut disc golf?
Oh gosh, so much. Mostly my friends. In terms of the golf itself, I miss how quiet the courses in Connecticut are. My favorite thing in disc golf is playing alone and having the course to myself and just really enjoying having a quiet mind while I focus on this singular repetitive task, and that’s not exactly possible in a lot of places in the country like it is in CT. I really miss my daybreak rounds at Page and Rockwell, and I miss playing Thorn on the weekends. They’ve built so many new courses since I left, I’m excited to go back and try them out someday.
What efforts are being made to sway the average viewer away from post production? Seems the disc golf community tends to move away from live coverage.
We’re not actively trying to get people to stop watching post at all! In my mind they’re complements, not substitutes. It’s not really an either/or kinda thing, it’s more like, sweet, now you have lots of different ways to consume this awesome disc golf action. Some people prefer post and some people prefer live, but honestly so as long as people are excited about professional disc golf I don’t really care too much how they watch.
Is the network financially solvent yet?
We were not the last couple years, but if we break even this year it’ll be really exciting!
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