Paige Pierce

Last updated
Paige Pierce
 Disc golfer 
Paige Pierce Putt 2023 Portland Open.png
Pierce putting in 2023
Personal information
Full namePaige Ashton Pierce
Born1991
Plano, TX
Height5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
NationalityFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Career
Turned professional2009
Current tour(s)PDGA National Tour
Disc Golf Pro Tour
Number of wins by tour
PDGA National Tour27
Disc Golf Pro Tour30
Best results in major championships
PDGA World Championships Won: 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019
USWDGC Won: 2014, 2017, 2018, 2021
Aussie OpenWon: 2017
European Masters3rd: 2014
European Open Won: 2013, 2019, 2022
Champion's CupWon: 2022
Women's National ChampionshipWon: 2020
Japan Open2nd: 2014
Achievements and awards
PDGA Female Rookie of the Year2010
National Tour Series Champion2014, 2015, 2017, 2018
PDGA Female Player of the Year2015, 2017, 2018, 2019

Paige Pierce is a professional disc golfer from Plano, Texas. She has won 5 World Championships and 17 total Major Championships (the most of any female player), 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. [1]

Contents

Pierce began playing disc golf at the age of 4 with her father and his friends. She went professional in 2009 and started touring in 2010.

In addition to holding a number of PDGA National Tour wins, she is the all-time leading women's winner on the Disc Golf Pro Tour, founded 2016 by Steve Dodge and Nate Heinhold, with 30 DGPT wins as of August 2021.

After winning the US Women's Disc Golf Championship in 2014, Pierce made history by becoming the first female to ever win the USDGC Performance Flight division. [2] She narrowly missed qualifying for the Open division in 2015, missing a playoff for the fifth qualifying spot by two strokes. In 2017, she earned a qualification for USDGC at the Aussie Open. In 2018 she once again earned a qualifying spot when she won the United States Women's Disc Golf Championship. [3]

In 2023, while practicing for the PCS Sula Open, Pierce slipped on a bridge on the course and broke her ankle. This led to her taking the rest of the season off, and she was still recovering during the 2024 season. In 2023, she married her partner Ayla Pierce.

Professional career

In addition to Pierce's five World Championships, she also holds two Mixed Doubles World Championships, both with Jeremy Koling. [4]

Majors (17)

YearTournamentStroke MarginWinning ScoreRunner UpPrize Money
2011 PDGA World Championships -3(89-89-91-88-60-28=445) Valarie Jenkins $2,000
2012Stockholm Open-8(62-65-65-72=264)Valarie Jenkins$1,302
2013Copenhagen Open-6(67-65-72-67=271)Valarie Jenkins$931
2013European Open-17(68-79-68-68=283)Valarie Jenkins$1,300
2013PDGA World Championships-1(58-63-61-59-56-59-54-35=445)Valarie Jenkins$2,000
2014USWDGC-6(55-68-57-72=252)Valarie Jenkins$2,300
2015PDGA World Championships-1(68-62-65-65-64-60-32=416) Sarah Hokom $2,500
2017Aussie Open 2017-20(62-64-59-69=254)Jennifer Allen$1,100
20172017 United States' Women's Disc Golf Championships-6(53-65-61-48=227)Jessica Weese$2,200
2017PDGA World Championships [5] -5(65-60-68-66= 259)Valarie Jenkins$5,500
2018United States Women's Disc Golf Championships-2(67-59-59-61=246)Vanessa VanDyken$2,040
2019European Open-17 [6] (61-62-65-66=254)Henna Blomroos$2,030
2019PDGA World Championships-5(64-57-59-52-52=284)Eveliina Salonen$5,000
2020Women's National Championship-4(60-65-66-68=259) Catrina Allen $3,000
2021United States Women's Disc Golf Championships-13(50-47-47=144)Hailey King$4,400
2022Champion's Cup-2(68-64-64-67=263) Kristin Tattar $8,000
2022European Open-3(71-65-65-63=264)Eveliina Salonen$8,000

Majors playoff record (0–1)

YearTournamentOpponentResult
2012US Women's Disc Golf ChampionshipCatrina AllenLost

National Tour and Elite Series (27)

YearTournamentStroke MarginWinning ScoreRunner UpPrize Money
2011Memorial Championship-1(58-61-63-56=238)Valarie Jenkins$1,300
2011Kansas City Wide Open-5(64-51-70-59=244)Liz Lopez$675
2013Memorial Championship-11(54-52-58-52=216)Valarie Jenkins$1,600
2014Memorial Championship-10(55-51-54-59=219) Catrina Allen $1,600
2014Texas State ChampionshipsPlayoff(72-71-75=218)Catrina Allen$857
2014Kansas City Wide Open-4(60-66-58-33=217)Valarie Jenkins$900
2014 Maple Hill Open -3(64-65-61-65=255)Catrina Allen$1,500
2014Rochester Flying Disc Open-10(58-53-56-55=222)Catrina Allen$900
2015Memorial Championship-2(55-62-48-61=226)Valarie Jenkins$1,775
2015Glass Blown Open-11(58-56-61=175)Jennifer Allen$1,200
2015Masters Cup-7(78-72-72=222)Valarie Jenkins$1,800
2015 Maple Hill Open -5(61-63-59-70=253)Catrina Allen$1,600
2015Disc Golf Hall of Fame Classic-2(57-74-67=198)Valarie Jenkins$1,300
2016 Vibram Open -1(66-63-59-57=245)Catrina Allen$1,500
2017Gentlemen's Club Challenge-3(57-60-57-68=242)Catrina Allen$2,000
2017Dynamic Discs Glass Blown OpenTie(62-55=117)Hannah Leatherman$1,500
2017Masters Cup-9(77-73-58=208)Jennifer Allen$1,500
2017 Beaver State Fling -18(58-60-57-59=234)Valarie Jenkins$2,000
2018Las Vegas Challenge-3(64-57-64-59=244)Sarah Hokom$2,500
2018Dynamic Discs Glass Blown Open-2(53-61-53=167)Lisa Fajkus$2,000
2018Santa Cruz Masters Cup-12(78-73-56=207)Catrina Allen$2,000
2019 Beaver State Fling -3(60-57-62-66=245)Catrina Allen$2,250
2020Memorial Championship-14(48+49+48+55=200)Jennifer Allen$1,500
2020Dynamic Discs Open-10(60+61+66=187)Missy Gannon$1,500
2020The Preserve Championship-13(55+56+55=166)Catrina Allen$1,600
2020Discraft's Great Lakes Open-6(59+58+59=176)Ellen Widboom$2,000
2021Master's Cup+1(72+75+79=226)Catrina Allen$3,500
2021Las Vegas Challenge-1(52+69+57+62=240)Catrina Allen$4,000
2021OTB Open-1(67+65+60=191)Catrina Allen$3,000
2021Portland Open-3(61+65+63=189)Catrina Allen$3,000
2021Utah Open-3(53+59+60=172)Catrina Allen$1,720
2021Ledgestone-11(64+54+54+67=239)Missy Gannon$4,000
2021Idlewild Open-3(65+70+65=200)Missy Gannon$5,000
2022Texas State Championships-4(58+63+63=184)Kristin Tattar$4,000
2022OTB Open-4(67+58+68=197)Natalie Ryan$5,500
2022The Preserve-5(57+60+65=182)Missy Gannon$5,000
2023Open at Austin-2(61+58+62=181)Catrina Allen$4,000
2023OTB Open-4(60+55+61=176)Ohn Scoggins$7,400
2024Portland Open-4(65+61+58+60=244)Holyn Handley$8,000

NT playoff record (1–3)

YearTournamentOpponentResult
2013Kansas City Wide Open Catrina Allen Lost to birdie on first extra hole [7]
2014Texas State Championships Catrina Allen Won with par on second extra hole [8]
2015Ledgestone Insurance Open Catrina Allen Lost to par on first extra hole [9]
2016 Beaver State Fling Catrina Allen Lost to birdie on first extra hole [10]

Summary

Competition TierWins2nd3rdTop-5Events*
World Championships540711
Other Majors10421416
National Tour271554245

*As of January 1, 2017

Annual statistics

YearEventsWinsTop 3Earnings$ / EventRating World
Rankings
2007202$0$0890-
2008201$0$089935
2009301$50$16.6790435
20101718$3,643$214.299348
2011291322$11,249$387.909484
201227924$12,209$452.199604
2013261123$18,128$697.239613
2014241422$17,661$735.889761
2015292027$26,571$916.249621
201621720$18,556$883.629583
2017272124$36,328$1,345.489751
2018241521$26,877$1,119.889691
2019241321$33,630$1,401.259791
202014811$28,114$2,0089911
Career269119227$254,698---

At Year End

Major championships timeline

Tournament2010201120122013201420152016201720182019
European Open 2141
US Women's Disc Golf Championships 552T71T23112
PDGA World Championships 517121T2121
Other majors41121
Other majors (cont.)T3
Tournament2020202120222023
European Open 1
US Women's Disc Golf Championships 1T21
PDGA World Championships 2T5
Other majors1129
  Win
  Top 3 finish
  Top 10 finish
  Did not participate
  Tournament not held

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References

  1. "PDGA World Rankings".
  2. "Pierce Makes History".
  3. "Windy then Wet Qualifier".
  4. "PDGA Player Page: Paige Pierce".
  5. "2017 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships". Professional Disc Golf Association. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
  6. udisc.com
  7. "Paul McBeth, Catrina Ulibarri win at 2013 Kansas City Wide Open".
  8. Michalowski, J. "Wysocki, Pierce fight the elements to win 2014 Texas States".
  9. Parcell, Z. "Ledgestone Insurance Open: Simon Lizotte, Catrina Allen take down largest disc golf purse".
  10. Hill, S. "Wysocki Flies To Third Straight NT Win At Beaver State Fling".