The Rookie of the Year Award is determined based on the best new touring Pro in a given season. This is determined based on a series of factors including but not limited to a players first time qualifying for the Disc Golf Pro Tour Championship.
The two players who achieved this award burst onto the scene in 2018 with much fanfare. Both players had fan followings prior to the season and people knew these players could perform. When these two names achieved Rookie of the Year status it came as no surprise to many, outside of maybe the players themselves.
For the FPO winner, this player made a conscious effort once the summer started to attend every event on tour. As her success began to build, she made an even bigger decision to tour full time and forgo continuing her college education in person (opting instead to attend online). This story is not new to most, by now many have heard the story of Paige Bjerkaas the 2018 Disc Golf Pro Tour Rookie of the Year. Paige notched three second place finishes on her way to qualifying for the 2018 Disc Golf Pro Tour Championship. Finishing 6th in Tour Points and 4th at the Pro Tour Championship, Paige Bjerkaas had a banner first year on tour which included her winning the PDGA World Championship. She will be a player to watch in 2019!
On the MPO side, the winner of the Rookie of the Year Award joined the tour midway through the 2017 season. While this player burst onto the scene at the USDGC last year, his success at Pro Tour events was limited. This changed however in 2018 when he decided to tour full time and not miss a single Disc Golf Pro Tour event. With his highest finishes being 5th at both Idlewild and Ledgestone, he waited until the second half of the season to really turn on the heat. The winner of the MPO Rookie of the Year award goes to Kevin Jones who finished the season 7th in Tour Points and 5th at the Disc Golf Pro Tour Championship. With a newly minted sponsorship from Prodigy Discs Kevin will be a force to be reckoned with on the course in 2019.
Thank you as always for supporting the Disc Golf Pro Tour. Over the offseason there are several ways that you can show your support and gear up for the 2019 season. You can subscribe to our YouTube Channel so you will never miss any our videos that we will be releasing in the 2019 season. You can also buy your gear to prepare for the 2019 season on the Disc Golf Pro Tour shop . Keep following along for great content released each week (or more) leading up to 2019!
