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.
For the first three years, the tournament was played alongside the USDGC at Winthrop University. [1] The tournament was known as the "Women's National Championship" for the first two years of its existence before switching to "United States Women's Disc Golf Championships" for the 2001 tournament. [2] From 2002 to 2007 the USWDGC was held each year in Peoria, Illinois. Beginning in 2008 the location of the tournament has rotated throughout the country. [3] In 2013, the six highest-ranked players in the world, and seven of the top ten competed in Portland, Oregon. [4] The 2014 tournament brought in 98 competitors from 21 states. [5] In 2019, Kristin Tattar out dueled the world #1 ranked Paige Pierce to win her first major and to become the first European player to win the USWDGC. [6] The 2020 USWDGC which was scheduled to take place across three courses in Northern California was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [7] In 2021, Paige Pierce became the first 4-time winner when she won by 13 strokes. [8] The 2023 USWDGC was won by Kristin Tattar. The victory gave her the Major Grand Slam, having already won the three previous majors in 2023. Tattar was the first woman to accomplish this feat. [9]
Year | Date | Location | Champion | Margin | Payout | First Runner-Up | Second Runner-Up | PDGA | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | October 8–10 | Charlotte, NC | Juliana Korver | 35 | $225 | Beth Tanner | Lesli Todd | PDGA | |
2000 | October 13–15 | Rock Hill, SC | Lesli Todd | 13 | $560 | Nadine Larkin | Susan Stephens | PDGA | |
2001 | October 12–14 | Rock Hill, SC | Lesli Todd (2) | 3 | $600 | Angela Martin | Susan Stephens | PDGA | |
2002 | September 27–29 | Peoria, IL | Des Reading | 8 | $1,040 | Juliana Korver | Elaine King | PDGA | |
2003 | September 26–28 | Peoria, IL | Des Reading (2) | 2 | $1,145 | Juliana Korver | Ruth Steele | PDGA | |
2004 | September 24–26 | Peoria, IL | Des Reading (3) | 1 | $895 | Juliana Korver | Carrie Berlogar | PDGA | |
2005 | September 23–25 | Peoria, IL | Elaine King | 8 | $1,200 | Carrie Berlogar | Des Reading | PDGA | |
2006 | September 29 - October 1 | Peoria, IL | Angela Tschiggfrie | 11 | $1,200 | Valarie Jenkins | Des Reading | PDGA | |
2007 | September 29–30 | Peoria, IL | Elaine King (2) | 4 | $1,300 | Carrie Berlogar | Des Reading | PDGA | |
2008 | September 19–21 | Huntsville, AL | Angela Tschiggfrie (2) | 2 | $2,500 | Valarie Jenkins | Carrie Berlogar | PDGA | |
2009 | September 19–20 | Quad City, Iowa | Sarah Stanhope | 3 | $1,185 | Valarie Jenkins | Liz Carr | PDGA | |
2010 | September 24–26 | Jacksonville, NC | Valarie Jenkins | 7 | $1,500 | Sarah Stanhope | Carrie Berlogar | PDGA | |
2011 | September 16–18 | Round Rock, TX | Valarie Jenkins (2) | 8 | $1,600 | Sarah Stanhope / Liz Lopez | X | PDGA | |
2012 | September 21–23 | Huntsville, AL | Catrina Allen | Playoff | $3,160 | Paige Pierce | Sarah Hokom | PDGA | |
2013 | September 20–22 | Portland, OR | Sarah Hokom | 2 | $1,400 | Catrina Allen | Valarie Jenkins | PDGA | |
2014 | September 19–21 | Appling, GA | Paige Pierce | 6 | $2,300 | Valarie Jenkins | Catrina Allen | PDGA | |
2015 | September 25–27 | Mid-Ohio, OH | Hannah Leatherman | 1 | $1,100 | Paige Pierce / Catrina Allen | X | PDGA | |
2016 | September 23–25 | Sabattus, ME | Sarah Hokom (2) | 3 | $1,325 | Madison Walker | Paige Pierce | PDGA | |
2017 | September 22–24 | Johnson City, TN | Paige Pierce (2) | 6 | $2,200 | Jessica Weese | Sarah Hokom | PDGA | |
2018 | September 21–23 | Lansing, MI | Paige Pierce (3) | 2 | $2,040 | Vanessa Van Dyken / Holly Finley | X | PDGA | |
2019 | September 20–22 | Spotsylvania, VA | Kristin Tattar | 4 | $2,500 | Paige Pierce | Rebecca Cox | PDGA | |
2020 | Cancelled Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic | ||||||||
2021 | May 21–23 | Orangevale, Rocklin, Auburn, CA | Paige Pierce (4) | 13 | $4,400 | Hailey King | Ella Hansen | PDGA | |
2022 | Jun 30 - July 3 | Madison, WI | Hailey King | 1 | $7,000 | Valerie Mandujano | Ohn Scoggins | PDGA | |
2023 | September 21 - September 24 | Burlington, NC | Kristin Tattar (2) | 3 | $11,000 | Ohn Scoggins | Henna Blomroos | PDGA | |
2024 | March 21-24 | Round Rock, TX | Missy Gannon | 5 | $12,000 | Eveliina Salonen | Valerie Mandujano | PDGA |
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.
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.
The European Open is a PDGA-sanctioned major disc golf tournament held in Nokia, Finland. The first European Open was held in 2006 on the Epilä course, in Tampere. In 2011, the tournament was relocated to Nokia, 15 kilometres outside Tampere. The reigning champions are Corey Ellis in the open division and Kristin Tattar in the female division. Ellis is from the United States, while Tattar represents Estonia.
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.
Nikko Locastro is a professional disc golf player from St. Louis, Missouri. He has been playing the sport professionally since 2006. As of May 2023, Locastro is ranked 54th in the world, and has the 40th highest rating, currently at 1027 .
Valarie Jenkins is a professional disc golfer currently living in Bend, Oregon. As of the end of 2016, she is 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.
Holly Finley is a professional disc golfer who was named the 2013 PDGA Rookie of the Year. Finley is sponsored by Innova Champion Discs. In 2013, Finley was the only woman to compete in the sport's most prestigious event, the United States Disc Golf Championship Performance Edition. She placed seventh and earned an invitation back for the 2014 USDGC Performance Edition.
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. He did not finish outside the top 2 at a World championship between 2012 and 2022. McBeth was the top rated player of the PDGA in 2015, 2017, 2018, and again in 2019. He is widely considered to be the best disc golfer of the modern era.
Paige Pierce is a professional disc golfer from Plano, Texas. She has won 5 World Championships and 15 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. Her current rating as of June 2022 is 980. She is currently sponsored by Discraft and Grip Equipment.
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.
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.
Eagle Wynne McMahon is an American professional disc golfer from Boulder, Colorado. He has 53 career wins and has been one of the highest rated players in the world for several years. At the end of the 2022 season he was ranked third 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.
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.
Kristin Tattar is an Estonian professional disc golfer and former competitive cross-country skier. Tattar is Estonia’s most successful disc golfer of all time, and in 2022 she achieved the highest PDGA rating of any Estonian female. In 2022 she became the female disc golf world champion for the first time.