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Disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target; it is played using rules similar to golf.
The Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the promotion and sustainable growth of disc golf. The PDGA is the global governing body of disc golf. The organization promotes the sport through tournament development, course development, rules and competitive standards, media and sponsor relations, and public education and outreach.
Ken "The Champ" Climo is a professional disc golfer considered by some to be the best professional disc golfer of all time. Climo has claimed Twelve PDGA World Championship titles, including nine in as many years from 1990 to 1998.. Harold Duvall, Barry Schultz (2003–2004), Nate Doss, Paul McBeth, Richard Wysocki, and Isaac Robinson are the only other golfers with more than one open world title. In addition to his world titles, Climo has an unequalled record in the United States Disc Golf Championship, holding five titles. Named seven times as the PDGA player of the year, Ken Climo was inducted into the PDGA Hall of Fame in 1995.
Discraft is a manufacturing company producing flying discs for the sports of ultimate, disc golf, and freestyle founded in 1978 in London, Ontario, Canada. In 1979, Jim Kenner and Gail McColl moved to Michigan and started what is now Discraft Inc. The company sells discs to resellers and wholesalers worldwide.
The United States Disc Golf Championship is a disc golf tournament held at the Winthrop Gold Course, on the campus of Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The professional event has been held annually as a PDGA sanctioned Major since 1999. Along with the PDGA World Championships, it is one of the most prestigious major tournaments in disc golf. The primary sponsor for the event since its beginnings in 1999 has been Innova Champion Discs, a prominent disc manufacturer. Ken Climo currently holds a record five US Disc Golf Championships. The 2016 USDGC champion, Jeremy "Big Jerm" Koling, was leading the tournament after the third round. He was declared the winner when the fourth round was canceled due to inclement weather produced by Hurricane Matthew.
Nathan Sexton is an American professional disc golfer currently sponsored by Innova Champion Discs. Among his most notable accomplishments are his 2003 Junior I Boys PDGA World Championship and his 2017 United States Disc Golf Championship win, which is his first PDGA Major title as a professional. He registered as a professional with the PDGA in 2004, but has only been touring full-time since 2013.
Barry Schultz is a professional disc golfer based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has played disc golf since the early 1980s, and has been a professional since 1992. He is on the Innova Champion Discs Hall of Fame Team. For a number of years, he was one of the most dominant players on tour. From 2003-2009, he held the single season earnings record of $40,896, which was finally surpassed by Nikko Locastro in 2010. He is one of six men to win more than one World Championship. He is also a three time United States Disc Golf Champion, one of only four people who have won the event more than once, the others being Ken Climo, Will Schusterick and Paul McBeth. Schultz additionally holds two Masters World Championships. He and Climo are the only two men to earn both an Open and Masters world title. Schultz was inducted into the PDGA Hall of Fame in 2013.
Paul McBeth is an American professional disc golfer from Huntington Beach, California. He won the PDGA World Championships four times in a row and again in 2019 and 2022, making him a six-time champion.
Paige Pierce is a professional disc golfer from Plano, Texas. She has won 5 World Championships and 17 total Major Championships, and has been consistently ranked among the top professional women since 2011. In 2018 she broke the record for the highest PDGA player rating a woman had ever achieved at 978. Since then she has broken her own record several times, most recently at 996 rated in March 2021.
Catrina Allen is an American professional disc golfer. She is a US Champion and 2 time World Champion, and has been ranked among the top four women in the world between 2012 and 2019.
Jeremy Koling is a professional disc golfer from Charlotte, North Carolina. He competes on the sport's North American tour: the Disc Golf Pro Tour, and competed on the PDGA National Tour until its last season in 2021. Among his most notable accomplishments are his 2008 PDGA Amateur World Championship win and his 2016 United States Disc Golf Championship win. Koling is the only male player to win the PDGA Amateur World Championships and earn the PDGA Male Rookie of the Year Award in back-to-back years.
Sarah Hokom is an American professional disc golfer. She is a former World Champion and 2-time US Women’s Champion. Hokom is known best for her sidearm drives.
Alex Geisinger is a former American professional disc golfer from Lakeville, Minnesota. He has 26 career professional wins, including the 2014 and 2015 Minnesota Majestic. Geisinger was the 19th ranked player in the PDGA World Rankings at the end of 2016.
Steve Brinster is an American professional disc golfer from Warwick, New York, and United States Disc Golf Champion. He joined the Professional Disc Golf Association in 1996 and became a professional in 1997.
Modern disc golf started in the early 1960s, but there is debate over who came up with the idea first. The consensus is that multiple groups of people played independently throughout the 1960s. Students at Rice University in Houston, Texas, for example, held tournaments with trees as targets as early as 1964, and in the early 1960s, players in Pendleton King Park in Augusta, Georgia would toss Frisbees into 50-gallon barrel trash cans designated as targets. In 1968 Frisbee Golf was also played in Alameda Park in Santa Barbara, California by teenagers in the Anacapa and Sola street areas. Gazebos, water fountains, lamp posts, and trees were all part of the course. This took place for several years and an Alameda Park collectors edition disc still exists, though rare, as few were made. Clifford Towne from this group went on to hold a National Time Aloft record.
Disc golf is a popular sport in the United States played at the recreational, club, and international competition levels.
Eagle Wynne McMahon is an American professional disc golfer from Boulder, Colorado. He has 53 career wins and is one of the highest rated players in the world. At the end of the 2023 season he was ranked 1st in the world by UDisc.
Disc golf is a popular sport in Estonia, where it is played at the recreational, club, and international competition levels.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption to disc golf across the world, mirroring its impact across all sports. Throughout the world and to varying degrees, leagues and competitions have been cancelled or postponed.
Paul Ulibarri is an American professional disc golfer from Show Low, Arizona. In 2006, he won the PDGA Amateur Disc Golf World Championships and began playing professionally the following season. As of June 2020, Ulibarri has competed in over 500 PDGA sanctioned events and has 107 career tournament wins. His career earnings total over $304,000 making him the 7th highest earner in PDGA history. Ulibarri is currently the Discraft Team Captain and a member of the commentary team for Jomez Productions.
References
- ↑ "3D Model Agency - Finley - Portfolio". 3dmodelagency.com. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
- 1 2 "Innova Disc Golf | Holly Finley". innovadiscs.com. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
- ↑ "United States Disc Golf Championship - Performance Flight | Professional Disc Golf Association". pdga.com. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
- ↑ "OnMilwaukee.com Sports: Model of efficiency: From the runway to the fairway". onmilwaukee.com. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
- 1 2 3 "Holly Finley #51277 | Professional Disc Golf Association". pdga.com. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
- ↑ "2013 National Tour Elite Series Standings | Professional Disc Golf Association". pdga.com. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
- ↑ "PDGA Player Statistics | Professional Disc Golf Association". pdga.com. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
- ↑ "PDGA Player & Rookie of the Year | Professional Disc Golf Association". pdga.com. Retrieved 2014-05-17.