Pro Tour Cards... what are they and who gets one?

ON TODAY'S CARD 📃:

• Tournament Recaps (A-Tier)

• How to get a 2023 Pro Tour Card

• Who is the GOAT of disc golf?

Estimated read time: 4 minutes and 24 seconds

🧠 Tuesday Trivia:

In what year was the first official disc golf tournament held? Bonus if you also know where!

See the end of the newsletter for the answer...

TOURNAMENT RECAPS (A-Tier)

Carolina Clash Results

Cale Leiviska dominated round 1, finishing at -12 and giving himself a 4-stroke lead heading into Saturday. He carried this momentum through rounds 2 and 3 to take home the 1st place prize of $1,002.

Sarah Hokom was the only FPO athlete to finish under par in round 1 on Friday. She maintained her lead through round 2 but struggled in round 3 at Hornets Nest Park. Nonetheless, she was able to secure the win and take home $1,002.

Chain Hawk Open Results

Scores were close going into the final round on Sunday, then Garrett Gurthie dropped the hammer. He walked away with $1,713 after laying down a -13 round to claim victory.

With a rating of 926 to start, Chloe Alice won the tournament with an average rating of 958, 4 under par, and a payout of $861.

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

• Tri-Fly Disc Golf Presents the 10th Annual South Florida Open Sponsored by Dynamic Discs - December 9-11 - Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

• DG1 Presents: The Doc Holiday Shootout - December 10-11 - Griffin, Georgia

These mark the last two A-Tier tournaments until the new year. At which point we'll be looking forward to the 2023 NADGT Premier Tour at Red Mountain on January 6-8th.

BULLSEYE

This year, the Disc Golf Pro Tour launched its Tour Card program for pro players. What exactly is a Tour Card, and who qualifies to get one?

If you want a Tour Card, the odds are against you. The DGPT released Tour Card qualification methods for 2023 and 2024.

For 2023, the top 80 MPO and top 40 FPO players in the 2022 DGPT points standings automatically qualify for a 2023 Tour Card. The DGPT is also offering 10 MPO and 5 FPO Tour Cards for exempt players. Exemption Tour Cards will be granted based on DGPT points, PDGA ratings, injury, and international participants.

The DGPT plans to expand the Tour Card program even further in 2024. They plan to launch a qualifying series of eight events. The qualifying series will award 6 MPO and 3 FPO players with Tour Cards for 2024. Six 2024 DGPT events will be available to event winners on a partial exemption basis.

What is included with the Tour Card?

Qualifying players will need to pay $1,000 to claim the card for the 2023 season. This covers registration ($50/event) for 16 DGPT Elite & 4 Major events. In addition to entry at the 20 tour events, cardholders are also promised these benefits:

• Upgraded Event Facilities and services, such as parking, locker rooms, security, etc.

• Health and Wellness Program to include physical therapy and massages

• Participation in Tour Development Process

• Promotional Opportunities

• Disc Golf Network Subscription

• VIP tickets to each DGPT and,

• DGPT store discounts

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT

Today's spotlight falls on Paul McBeth, who is unquestionably one of the top competitors over the last decade and the reigning world champion. Dominating careers like this raises the age-old question, is this the GOAT?

Paul has been competing in PDGA tournaments since 2005 and in the MPO division since 2006. He placed 2nd in the 2007 PDGA Amateur Disc Golf World Championships. Paul showed up in the 2008 World Championships with a top-20 performance. In 2012, he finally got his first Major event win, taking home 1st place at the World Championships.

In total, Paul has racked up 141 tournament wins, 17 of which were Majors. He is a 6x World Champion and 4x European Open Champion. Given Paul's success, Ken Climo is the only player he has to contend with for the title of the GOAT.

Ken held the world title for 9 consecutive years, from 1990-1998. He is a 12x World Champion and a 5x U.S. Champion. Ken Climo was a household name in disc golf for nearly two decades, and still is in many regards. Ken transitioned to competing in the master's division but has since moved on and no longer competes professionally. Meanwhile, Paul is looking to shorten the gap between their world title records.

Many factors go into determining a sports GOAT, such as accomplishments, statistics, longevity, and advancement of the sport. Currently, Ken beats out Paul in more than one of those categories. Though Paul doesn't yet have the records Ken has, he is without question the best player of today and is edging in on Ken's record of 18 Major wins.

ITC WEEKLY PRO RANKINGS - TOP 5

Men

1. Paul McBeth - #27523 - Rating 1049

2. "Ricky" Wysocki - #38008 - Rating 1047

3. Manabu Kajiyama - #8139 - Rating 1047

4. Andrew Simmons - #166681 - Rating 1044

5. Chris Dickerson - #62467 - Rating 1044

Women

1. Kristin Tattar - #73986 - Rating 988

2. Ohn Scoggins - #48976 - Rating 975

3. Paige Pierce - #29190 - Rating 973

4. Missy Gannon - #85942 - Rating 971

5. Eveliina Salonen - #64927 - Rating 970

updated 12/2/2022

CIRCLE'S EDGE

• Players in South Dakota are proving that disc golf is a year-round sport. Temps were 0°F at this year's tournament. Last year it was snowing.

• The DGPT announced its 2022 End of Season Award Winners including, Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Most Improved Player.

• Stacie Hass just signed a 2-year extension with Team MVP

• Thought Space Athletics retained Matt Bell with a 2-year contract extension

ACE OF THE DAY

via reddit

RULE OF THE DAY

🧠 Answer: 1969, Brookside Park, Pasadena, California

Thanks for reading!

Sending good vibes your way from In The Circle