United States Disc Golf Championship

Last updated

The United States Disc Golf Championship is a disc golf tournament held at the Winthrop Gold Course, [1] 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. [2] 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. [3]

Contents

The 2011 USDGC was played in a different format to the previous twelve events. Each player was assigned a projected score on each hole based on their PDGA Player Rating. The player's official score was how they played in comparison to their projected score. [4] For example, if a player had a projected score of 90 and they finished their round at 81, their official tournament score was a -9. The player with the best official tournament score across all four rounds was John Key [5] [6] who scored -16. Because of the change to the format, Key is often omitted from the list of USDGC Champions.

USDGC Champions

YearDateChampionHometownMargin of VictoryPayoutFirst Runner UpSecond Runner UpResults
1999October 7–10 Ken Climo Clearwater, Florida 15$1,400Alan SchackCraig Gangloff PDGA
2000October 12–15 Ken Climo (2) Clearwater, Florida 5$2,000Alan SchackRon Russell PDGA
2001October 11–14 Barry Schultz Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin 1$8,000 Ken Climo Larry Leonard PDGA
2002October 17–20 Ken Climo (3) Clearwater, Florida 6$8,000 Barry Schultz Mike Young PDGA
2003October 16–19 Barry Schultz (2) Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin 0 (10 Hole Sudden-Death Playoff)$10,000 Ken Climo Scott Martin PDGA
2004October 14–17 Ken Climo (4) Clearwater, Florida 5$10,000Darrell NodlandCameron Todd PDGA
2005October 12–15 David Feldberg Springfield, Oregon 2$11,000Scott Martin Barry Schultz PDGA
2006October 11–14 Barry Schultz (3) Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin 11$11,000Brian Schweberger Steve Brinster PDGA
2007October 3–6 Ken Climo (5) Clearwater, Florida 11$15,000 Avery Jenkins David Feldberg PDGA
2008October 12–15 Nathan Doss Santa Cruz, California 4$12,000 Avery Jenkins Ken Climo PDGA
2009October 7–10 Nikko Locastro St. Louis, Missouri 2$15,000David FeldbergJosh Anthon PDGA
2010October 6–9 Will Schusterick Knoxville, Tennessee 2$12,000 Nikko Locastro Steve Brinster PDGA
2012October 3–6 Will Schusterick (2) Knoxville, Tennessee 2$7,500 Richard Wysocki Josh Anthon PDGA
2013October 2–5 Steve Brinster Warwick, New York 1$7,500 Barry Schultz Steve Rico PDGA
2014October 1–4 Will Schusterick (3) Knoxville, Tennessee 0 (2 Hole Sudden-Death Playoff)$8,000 Paul McBeth John McCray PDGA
2015October 7–10 Paul McBeth Huntington Beach, California 5$8,000 Richard Wysocki Nathan Doss PDGA
2016October 5–8* Jeremy Koling Charlotte, North Carolina 4$10,000 Nikko Locastro Richard Wysocki PDGA
2017October 4–7 Nathan Sexton Corvallis, Oregon 5$12,000 Richard Wysocki Paul McBeth PDGA
2018October 3–6 Paul McBeth (2) Huntington Beach, California 3$10,000 James Conrad Kevin Jones PDGA
2019October 2–5 James Conrad Blacksburg, Virginia 1$12,000 Jeremy Koling Nikko Locastro PDGA
2020October 7–10Chris Dickerson Limestone, Tennessee 1$10,000Calvin Heimburg Richard Wysocki PDGA
2021October 6-9 Paul McBeth (3) Huntington Beach, California 0 (1 Hole Sudden-Death Playoff)$20,000Kyle Klein Richard Wysocki PDGA
2022October 6-9 Gannon Buhr Urbandale, Iowa 1$25,000Niklas AnttilaCalvin Heimburg PDGA
2023October 5-8Kyle Klein Wyoming, Michigan 1$30,000Bradley WilliamsIsaac Robinson PDGA

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disc golf</span> Sport in which players attempt to throw a disc into a target

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professional Disc Golf Association</span> International governing body of disc 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 and Richard Wysocki 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nate Doss</span>

Nate Doss is a former professional disc golfer who won three world championships. With his win in 2011, Doss became only the second person with three MPO world championships, after Ken Climo's 12. In addition to his three world championships, Doss became the first Discraft sponsored player to win Disc Golf's other prestigious event, the United States Disc Golf Championship, in 2008. After retiring from the game in 2018 he, along with his wife Valarie Jenkins, began a new career as a brewer, launching Bevel Craft Brewing. Doss also provides live color commentary on the Disc Golf Network.

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.

Valarie Jenkins is a professional disc golfer currently living in Bend, Oregon. As of 2016, she was the third ranked female disc golfer in the world. She was around the sport from an early age and grew up in a disc golf family. Her mother, Sharon is a three-time Women’s Masters World Champion and her brother, Avery Jenkins is a former Men's World Champion. She began her professional career in 2003 after placing second in the PDGA Amateur World Championship. She is currently sponsored by Discraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul McBeth</span> American disc golfer

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paige Pierce</span> American disc golf player

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.

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.

Toronto Island Park Disc Golf Course is a world-class 18-hole disc golf course located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Set on the western side of Ward's Island, the course offers a picturesque view of the Toronto skyline and was one of 12-time PDGA World Champion Ken Climo's favorite courses. It was established in 1980 by Toronto Island Disc Golf Experience (TIDE) in partnership with the City of Toronto Parks Department and expanded in 2017 by Christopher Lowcock. Toronto Island Park Disc Golf Course hosted the Disc Golf World Championships in 1987.

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.

UDisc is a disc golf app for scorekeeping, statistics, and discovery for smartphones and tablet computers running the Android or iOS operating system. The app is also compatible with Android's Wear OS and Apple Watch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disc golf in the United States</span> Overview of disc golf practiced in the United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disc golf in Estonia</span> Overview of disc golf practiced in Estonia

Disc golf is a popular sport in Estonia, where it is played at the recreational, club, and international competition levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on disc golf</span> Global impact of COVID-19 on disc golf

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Ulibarri</span> American disc golfer

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristin Tattar</span> Estonian professional disc golfer

Kristin Tattar is an Estonian professional disc golfer and former competitive cross-country skier. In 2022 she became the female disc golf world champion for the first time. Tattar is the only female disc golfer in history to achieve a PDGA rating of 1000 or better, and is widely considered one of the greatest disc golfers in the history of the sport.

The United States Women's Disc Golf Championships is a disc golf tournament that has been held annually since 1999. It is one of the major championships in Women's disc golf along with the PDGA World Championships, the PDGA Champions Cup and the European Open. The event crowns champions in several divisions.

References

  1. ↑ "Winthrop Gold Course". Disc Golf Course Review. Retrieved 2017-11-06.
  2. ↑ "Tournament History | United States Disc Golf Championship 2017". usdgc.com. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  3. ↑ Hill, Steve (2016-10-08). "USDGC Cancellation 'Best Decision For The Greatest Number Of People' | Ultiworld Disc Golf". Ultiworld Disc Golf. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  4. ↑ "2011 USDGC". Professional Disc Golf Association. 5 October 2011. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
  5. ↑ "USDGC Final". Professional Disc Golf Association. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
  6. ↑ "John Key". Professional Disc Golf Association. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.