With this extraordinary year coming to its end, we look back at what happened in our sport.
Here's a Disc Golf Recap of 2020.
The final standings for the 2019 Player and Rookie of the year for both Men and Women in North America were announced as follows:
- 2019 MPO Player of the Year: Paul McBeth with 13 wins and a total of 336 points
- 2019 FPO Player of the Year: Paige Pierce with 14 wins and a total of 392 points
- 2019 MPO Rookie for the Year: Luke Humphries with 7 wins and a total of 32 points
- 2019 FPO Player of the Year: Christine Jennings with 14 wins and a total of 101 points
After a win at the Asia Open, 22-year-old Jacky Chen charted the highest pro debut rating ever with a rating of 1040. The holder of the all-time rating debut is Wes Mauney in 2009 with 1041.
The five new inductees for the Disc Golf Hall of Fame for 2020 were announced in June.
- Jesper Lundmark (PDGA #15239)
- Cliff Towne (PDGA #5450)
- Al ‘Speedy’ Guerrero (PDGA #3516)
- Bob Harris (PDGA #2552)
- Valarie Jenkins Doss (PDGA #17495)
Hall of Fame inductees shall be judged to fit the following standards put together by the Hall of Fame Charter:
- Favorable standing and an honorable reputation within the disc golf community.
- Made significant contributions to the sport of disc golf through development, promotion, leadership, and/or sportsmanship-that merit our recognition, remembrance and respect.
- Gave back to the sport with a passion that transcends personal gain.
- Dedicated at least 15 years of service to the disc golf community.
Coverage of the 2020 DGPT Dynamic Discs Opens was featured on CBS Sports Network August 26 through August 29.
On November 24, 2020 disc golf made its debut on ESPN2 featuring a two-hour feature of the final round of the 2020 DGPT Championship. With over 225,000 viewers, it was well ahead of any other ESPN2 programming for that day.
The US Disc Golf Championship took place October 7 to 10, 2020 in Rock Hill, SC.
Professional Major 1st Place: Chris Dickerson (Rating: 1045)
Professional Women’s Major 1st Place: Paige Pierce (Rating: 982)
The Idlewild Open took place August 7 to August 9, 2020 in Burlington, KY.
Winners: Eagle McMahon (Rating: 1044) and Ellen Widboom (Rating: 934)
The Ledgestone Insurance Open took place August 13 to August 16, 2020 in Eureka, IL.
Winners: Ricky “Sockibomb” Wysocki (Rating: 1047) and Catrina Allen (Rating: 963)
The Jonesboro Open took place October 1 to October 3, 2020 in Jonesboro, AR.
Winners: Calvin Heimburg (Rating: 1044) and Paige Pierce (982)
The DGPT Tour Championship took place October 15 to 18, 2020 in Charlotte, NC.
Winners: Kevin Jones (Rating: 1038) and Hailey King (Rating: 964)
On November 21, 2020 was the 2020 Aussie Disc Golf Day Virtual Tournament which had a total of 503 players participating. In an effort to avoid unnecessary travel and large gatherings due to the pandemic, it was a multi-venue virtual tournament that kept events small and local at club level. Click for full results.
Revisions to the rules are occasionally required to update PDGA rules and competition standards. This enables PDGA to keep up with the evolving nature of disc golf equipment, courses, tournament management, and technology, The new rules are highlighted on this page.
Read our article about it here: https://nordicdiscgolf.com/2020/11/18/rule-changes/
PDGA signed up more than 20,000 new members in 2020 breaking their previous record in 2019 with just under 15,000 new members.
The policy allows players with disabilities to apply for rule exemptions that may allow them to participate in PDGA-sanctioned events. More information on the new policy here.
Although quite a few disc golf tournaments were canceled or postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, disc golf had a year of incredible growth. Many people turned to the outdoors as ways to get out of the house and enjoy themselves during the pandemic and disc golf was just the thing for many of them. It’s a good guess that the reason that disc golf has grown so much in 2020 is that it is played outdoors and social distancing can be easily maintained as encouraged by health officials. Proof of this is that over 20,000 new members have signed up for the PDGA in 2020 alone breaking previous records.
The following were canceled or postponed due to the pandemic and will hopefully see a return in 2021:
- College Disc Golf National Championships (Rock Hill, South Carolina)
- United States Women's Disc Golf Championships (Orangevale, Rocklin, Auburn, California)
- Tim Selinske United States Masters Disc Golf Championships (Columbia, Missouri)
- United States Amateur Disc Golf Championship (Milford, Michigan)
- Professional Disc Golf World Championships (Ogden, Utah)
- Junior Disc Golf World Championships (Emporia, Kansas)
- European Open (Nokia, Finland)
- Amateur Disc Golf World Championships (Orlando, Florida)
- Pro Masters Disc Golf World Championships (Johnson City, Tennessee)
- Santa Cruz Masters Cup (Santa Cruz, CA)
Here's a article we wrote about Disc golf and Covid-19 https://nordicdiscgolf.com/2020/12/19/disc-golf-mental-health/
- Garrett “Double G” Guthrie aces Innova Course Hole 7, Par 4, 432ft during round two of the Last Vegas Challenge. Watch it here.
- Chris Dickerson nailed 2 back to back aces at Holes 24 and 25 at Warrior’s Path State Park DGC. Watch it here.
- Hailey King made a 67-foot death putt on Fox Runs 17th green. Watch it here.
- Kevin Jones 530ft ace at Maple Hill. Watch it here.
- Ryan Mulder, 12 years old, shot a perfect round -18 (1031 rated) at the Greater Lafayette Open. Watch it here.
