The Top Ten Most Dominant Tour Seasons in PDGA History
Backstory: In my last article, I misused a word that drew controversy, from The Champ himself, on who had the most impressive run in the history of professional disc golf. So, naturally, because I’m a stats freak who is obsessed with disc golf, I decided to lurk through the annals of the PDGA Tour and find the ten most dominant tour seasons in disc golf.
To determine this, I looked at:
NT Wins
Major Wins
A Tier Wins
Net Win/Loss margin at NT’s/Majors
2nd, 3rd, 4+ finishes at NT’s/Majors
My spreadsheet (in no particular order):
10: Barry Schultz is one of the biggest names in the history of disc golf and has been, and still is, a force to be reckoned with. In 2006, Barry won 4 NT’s (Memorial, Bowling Green, Texas States, Beaver State Fling), a Major (USDGC), and 3 A Tiers. He took no worse than 5th at any NT/Major and only finished worse than 5th once (9th at an A Tier). His most notable performance of the year was his victory at USDGC, where defeated the Schweberger by 9 strokes; one of the largest USDGC win margins to date.
9: 2016 was a pivotal year for the professional disc golf circuit. It marked the end of the McBeth World Title run and the beginning of Ricky Wysocki’s dominance at events across the world. During the 2016 tour season, Wysocki won 3 NT’s (Kansas City Wide Open, Master’s Cup, Beaver State Fling), 2 Majors (European Masters, Worlds), and 7 A Tiers. His most notable victory was at Worlds where he won his first world title by 6 strokes over Paul McBeth. Ricky finished the season with 3 finishes outside the top three, only one of which was outside the top two, and netted 14 wins at A Tier and above tournaments.
8: Paige Pierce is going to be a common theme on this list, though she has not been awarded the title for most dominant FPO season. That being said, her efforts in 2014 led her to 5 NT wins (Memorial, Texas States, Kansas City Wide Open, Maple Hill, Rochester Flying Disc), a Major win (USWDGC), and 3 A Tier wins. Paige had no finishes outside the top five through the whole season and only twice did she finish outside the top three. Her most impressive victory of the season came at The Memorial Championship where she beat out Catrina Allen by 10 strokes to take the title. Paige finished out the year with 14 wins at A Tier and above events.
7: Coming off of his second back to back world title, everybody expected Paul McBeth to have a dominant season and that he did. In 2014 McBeth won 4 NT’s (Memorial, Master’s Cup, Kansas City Wide Open, Brent Hambrick), 2 Majors (European Masters, Worlds), and 4 A Tiers. McBeth finished out the year with only 2 finishes outside the top three, yet only three third places. His most impressive win came at Worlds where he overcame a 7 stroke deficit through the final 18 holes, to defeat Wysocki in a sudden death playoff. McBeth finished the 2014 tour season with 10 wins at A Tier events or higher.
6: 2018 was a breakout season for the seemingly dominant Eagle McMahon but his run was well overshadowed by Paige Pierce’s dominant season. During this last season she won 3 NT’s (Las Vegas Challenge, Glass Blown Open, Master’s Cup), a Major (USWDGC), and 8 A Tiers. She only failed to top the podium 9 times, 5 of which were runner up and another, third. Her worst finish was sixth place at Maple Hill. Paige won a total 12 times at A Tier tournaments or higher with her most impressive victory being at Master’s Cup, where she defeated Catrina Allen by 12 strokes.
5: Paige Pierce has been considered the top woman in disc golf for a few years running now. In 2015, she really emphasized her prowess by winning 5 NT’s (Memorial, GBO, Master’s Cup, Vibram, Hall of Fame Classic), a Major (Worlds), and 7 A Tiers. She took no worse than 3rd at any NT/Major besides European Open where she placed 4th, her worst finish of the season. Her most notable victory of the year was at Glass Blown Open where she defeated both Jennifer Allen and Catrina Allen by 11 strokes. Paige finished the year with 14 victories at A Tier and above tournaments.
4: Well before the National Tour circuit, there was a man named Ken Climo who would roll into town and take everyone’s money by a handful of strokes each and every time. In 1999, Climo won a Major (USDGC), and 9 A Tiers. Despite his incredible performances all over the country, Ken was defeated by Ron Russell at Worlds but that marks one of only 5 tournaments he didn’t win. At 4 of his losses, he found the silver spot on the podium with 1 outlying fifth place. Climo found his most impressive (and terrifying for everyone else involved) victory at USDGC where he beat out second place by 15 strokes. At the end of the 1999 season, Ken found himself sitting with 16 total victories.
3: Undoubtedly, the most successful year of disc golf ever goes to Ken Climo’s 1995 tour season at which he won both Majors (Worlds, Japan Open), and 8 A Tiers. It doesn’t sound like much so far but he found victory at 23 of the 26 tournaments he played, the three others being second place finishes. His most impressive victory came at the 150 Class Japan Open where he defeated John Ahart by 10 strokes.
2: During the 2016 season, Catrina Allen set a record that will potentially never be broken again; she won 6 National Tour events (Memorial, Glass Blown Open, Kansas City Wide Open, Master’s Cup, Beaver State Fling, Brent Hambrick). Alongside which she won 7 A Tiers, and only finished outside the top three once (4th at USWDGC). She had 4 second place finishes and no thirds. She won 21 out of her 26 FPO tournaments that year. Not only did she have one of the best years in the history of FPO, but she won her NT/Majors by 61 strokes while only losing Worlds and USWDGC by a cumulative 17, meaning she was more than 44 strokes better than anybody else in FPO (at NT/Majors) at the end of the year. This a record that I sincerely believe will never be replicated by anybody in any division on the PDGA Tour circuit.
1: In 2015, Paul McBeth did the unthinkable, he won all 5 Majors (Aussie Open, Scandinavian Open, European Open, Worlds, USDGC), 3 NT’s (Glass Blown Open, Master’s Cup, Beaver State Fling), and 8 A Tiers. Paul McBeth is the first person to ever win all 5 Majors in a single season. McBeth wrapped up his year without a single finish outside of the top three. He finished second at 4 tournaments, and third at two others. In 2015, McBeth won 20 of the 26 tournaments that he played with his most notable finish being his 9 stroke victory over Ricky Wysocki at Worlds. McBeth won his NT/Majors by a combined 41 strokes and lost by only 9 total strokes, netting him a 32 stroke margin over any other touring professional that year. This, also, is a record that I believe will never be broken.