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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.
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.
Flying disc sports are sports or games played with discs, often called by the trademarked name Frisbees. Ultimate and disc golf are sports with substantial international followings.
Tom Monroe was a champion of virtually all flying disc sports, including ultimate, freestyle, field events and especially disc golf.
John Houck was born May 15, 1960, in Long Beach, California. He has designed more Championship disc golf courses than anyone living today. Since 1983, he has been devoted to the evolution and promotion of disc sports, including golf, ultimate, and freestyle, with a focus on the growth of disc golf since 1988.
Kenneth Ray Westerfield is an American pioneering frisbee disc player, who achieved numerous disc sports accomplishments in the 1970s. A disc sports Hall of Fame inductee in freestyle, ultimate, and disc golf. In addition, he was voted "Top Men's Player" in the 1970–75 Decade Awards. Westerfield produced tournaments, set world records, and won awards in every disc sport. He was a tournament co-director for the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships (1972–1985) in Toronto, the Vancouver Open Frisbee Championships (1974–1977) in Vancouver, BC, the 1978 Santa Cruz Flying Disc Classic in Santa Cruz, California, the 1985 Labatt's World Guts Championships in Toronto, and the 1987 World PDGA Disc Golf Championships in Toronto. Westerfield founded the first ultimate league in Canada – the Toronto Ultimate Club (1979). As one of the original freestylers from the 1960s, used his expertise in several company-sponsored touring Frisbee shows in the U.S. and Canada. Irwin Toy,, Molson Frisbee Team (1974–77), Adidas Canada (1974–1979), Goodtimes Professional Frisbee Show (1978–82), Orange Crush Frisbee Team (1977–78), Air Canada Frisbee Team (1978–79), Lee Jeans Frisbee Team (1979–80) and the Labatts Schooner Frisbee Team (1983–85).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Beaver State Fling (BSF) is an annual disc golf tournament held at Riverbend Disc Golf Course at Milo McIver State Park in Estacada, Oregon.
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.
References
- ↑ "Oak Grove Disc Golf Course". PDGA Course Directory. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ↑ Scott Stokely: Growing Up Disc Golf. Independent. 2020. ISBN 165234201X . Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ↑ "Disc Golf Journal Vol. 2 No. 5" (PDF). Flying Disc Museum. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ↑ "PDGA Player Page: Scott Stokely".
- ↑ "2015 Beaver State Fling: Dramatic wins for McBeth, Weese, Stokely". All Things Disc Golf. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ↑ "EarlyD". www.discgolfvalues.com. Retrieved 2020-10-26.