2025 DGPT Championship: Format, Field, and What’s at Stake
The professional disc golf season comes to a close this weekend with the highly anticipated Disc Golf Pro Tour Championship presented by Barbasol, featuring the top 53 disc golfers in the world.
The 2025 season was the 10th season of the Disc Golf Pro Tour, which was founded in 2016, and it was nothing short of special. This year, we saw six first-time winners, two first-time World Champions, four first-time major champions, and a mix of vintage heroics and rising stars made every weekend on the tour a must-watch.
The Tour Championship will take place from Thursday, October 16th, through Sunday, October 19th. Players will tackle Paul McBeth designed New London Tech on Thursday and Friday and then wrap up the final two rounds of the season at the Ivy Hill Golf Club on Saturday and Sunday. Nine holes at New London are brand new, as construction in the park impacted the initial course design that was used for the 2024 World Championships, and pros are already calling it one of the hardest wooded courses in the World.
All the action will stream live on the Disc Golf Network. Spectator tickets are currently available for purchase.
FORMAT OVERVIEW
The DGPT Championship is a four-round stroke play event held over four consecutive days. Unlike many other tournaments, there are no cuts—every player in the field competes from start to finish.
What makes the format unique is the use of starting strokes, which reward players for their season-long performance. The top-ranked players in the DGPT World Standings begin the event with an under-par score, while lower-ranked players start closer to or at even par for the event. These strokes carry across all four rounds and remain in effect until the final putt drops. Think about the DGPT Championship as a five-round tournament, with the first round scores being determined by season-long performance at other tournaments.
At the end of the Championship, the player with the lowest cumulative score—including starting strokes—is crowned the 2025 DGPT Champion.
HOW PLAYERS QUALIFIED
Throughout the 2025 season, players earned points at DGPT events to climb the DGPT World Standings. The best performers across the year secured their spots in the Championship, while others fought for their chance through the playoffs.
The Green Mountain Championship served as the first playoff event, giving top finishers not already qualified a chance to move forward. From there, the MVP Open offered one last opportunity to “play in” to the Tour Championship via 6 total wild card spots (2 FPO, and 4 MPO). These wild card spots were awarded to top finishers at the MVP Open who fell outside the World Standings cut line (18 for FPO and 28 for MPO).
QUALIFIED FPO PLAYERS
Update – Oct. 14th, 2025: Hailey King is recovering from an ankle injury, and declined her MVP Open wild card invite. Thus, the Tour offered her spot to the next player in the World Standings, which is the current rule for declined invites. Emily Weatherman was next in line, but is unable to attend, and thus the spot was ultimately awarded to Raven Klein, who finished in 23rd on the FPO World Standings. Final and complete tournament registration for the 2025 DGPT Championship can be referenced here.
QUALIFIED MPO PLAYERS
Update – Oct. 14th, 2025: On the MPO side, all competitors who earned invites via normal qualification methods (World Standings, MVP Open finish) have registered. The only MPO player who will not attend is Mauri Villmann, who qualified via the event winner rule at the Konopiště Open but is unable to attend due to other obligations. Special event winner invites are not passed to other players, and thus the MPO field is final at 33. Final and complete tournament registration for the 2025 DGPT Championship can be referenced here.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
On Championship Sunday, qualified players will take home a pro purse of over $250,000, which is the largest tournament payout of the 2025 season. Both the FPO and MPO Champions taking home co-equal $30,000 first-place prizes, and all players will earn a minimum of $2,000 just for playing, and only two starting strokes separating the bottom of the field, there will be plenty of opportunity for players to climb the payout chart.
FAVORITES THIS WEEK
Gannon Buhr and Holyn Handley enter the tournament as the best players this year based on standings and have earned their starting strokes lead. Buhr is hands down the player to beat. He backed up his historic 2024 season and remains on a generational run. He is hard enough to beat without a stroke head start, and with five or more strokes on 22 players in the field, and he may have the advantage of playing a bit safer than normal With an adjusted starting stroke spread this year, there are more players within striking distance, with just three strokes separating the top eight players. Those who can catch Buhr will have four days to do it, but they will need to contend with Gannon’s demonstrated record of thriving in extended competition formats with more than three rounds. Simply put, the cream has always risen to the top for Gannon, and he has the skills, mentality, and a well-earned head start this weekend. Heimburg is just one stroke back, and Isaac Robinson and Paul McBeth are just two back. With McBeth playing better than he has in a few years, it could be a thrilling weekend for McBeast fans.
Handley had a fast start to her season and then hit a snag after Europe, but righted the ship with a clutch second-place finish at the MVP Open to secure first place in the tour standings. If Handley can find the level of play from the start of the season (4 wins, 8 podiums, 13 top fives) and combat the nerves, she has a great chance to earn her first Pro Tour Championship victory. Handley had success at Worlds last year on these courses, finishing in fourth at -12. She fired off a -10 opening round at New London and shot -5 total at Ivy Hill. She has the familiarity and the skills to match going into the tournament.
Missy Gannon is playing for the rare three-peat. Gannon won the Tour Championship in 2023 and 2024, earning her nickname, “Big Money Missy”. She is one of, if not the best, FPO player in the field right now. Gannon has won three of her past four events and garnered her fifth big win of the year this past weekend at the Throw Pink Women’s Disc Golf Championship at Winthrop. Missy finished second in the DGPT standings and starts at -7, just one stroke back of Holyn Handley. If Gannon continues her high level of consistent play, she will three-peat, live up to her nickname, and likely cement her second straight DGPT Player of the Year award.
PLAYERS ON A HOT STREAK
Anthony Barela is coming off his first career major title, taking down the USDGC this past weekend. Barela has two wins and six podium finishes this season and just posted the highest World Standings finish of his career, placing sixth with 1,667.2 points. As a result, he will start the Tour Championship at -5, three strokes back of Gannon Buhr.
Barela certainly has momentum and talent on his side. Last time the tour played at these tracks in Virginia at the 2024 World Championship, he finished 13th. Anthony proved he can shred both courses, shooting the opening hot round of -11 at New London Tech and closing out his tournament with an -8 round at Ivy Hill. If AB can ride the momentum and continue his consistency and strong C2 putting, he will compete for the win on Sunday.
Silva Saarinen has not finished outside of the top ten since WACO and has earned a spot on the podium in three of her last four events, with two second-place results at MVP and DGLO. Saarinen ended her terrific season fourth in the DGPT standings and will start the Tour Championship at -5, three strokes back of Handley.
Saarinen is a proven winner this season with four victories and a major title at the European Disc Golf Championship. In 2024, she took 11th at Worlds in Virginia and ended her season with a fifth-place finish at the Tour Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina. Silva’s improvement from 2024 to now is certainly enough for her to push for the Tour Championship title this weekend.
Calvin Heimburg placed fourth at USDGC, shooting -26 at Winthrop this past weekend. Calvin has not finished outside of the top ten since winning his first career major title at the EDGF and is trending in the right direction, slowly improving by one spot each week over the past three tournaments. Heimburg earned second place in the DGPT standings this year and will start the Tour Championship just one stroke behind Buhr.
Heimburg’s history with the Tour Championship and these two courses should provide confidence going into the event. He hasn’t finished outside of the top six at the Tour Championship, with a second-place finish in 2019 and a third-place outing in 2023. Additionally, Heimburg finished in a tie for fourth, shooting -31 at Worlds last year. His best rounds of the tournament were at Ivy Hill in rounds two and four, when he shot -9.
OTHER KEY CONTENDERS
Isaac Robinson quietly had a stellar season, earning a win at Champions Cup, another major title, and a third-place finish in the DGPT standings. Isaac is peaking at the right time, taking back-to-back top fives at the two playoff events, 5th and 4th. Additionally, he finished 10th at USDGC, shooting -19.
Isaac will start the tournament at -6, two strokes back of Gannon Buhr. Robinson is also the only MPO player to have won at these two courses in combination. Robinson won the 2024 World Championship at these venues and has the course knowledge and confidence to make noise, push Gannon, and compete for the win this weekend. Robinson will not only have to hold off Gannon but also another fierce competitor in Ricky Wysocki.
Ricky Wysocki is on the brink of a win, finishing on the podium in three of his last four tournaments. Wysocki has had previous success at this event and arguably owned it until Gannon arrived on the scene. This weekend looms large for Ricky, with it being his last chance to get a win and extend his 14-year Elite Series/Major win streak to 15.
Ricky is a two-time Pro Tour Champion and had success in 2024 at these courses, finishing sixth at Worlds. He enters his final opportunity at -5, three strokes back of Gannon. Ricky will look to harness his old chasing skills. His come-from-behind winning skills have taken a hit this year as he has faltered late. Wysocki will need some Raptor Legs magic to capitalize on his last shot at a win this season.
Ohn Scoggins finished third in the standings this season and will begin her Tour Championship at -6. Scoggins has not ended a tournament outside the top five and collected another win at Idlewild since winning her first FPO World Championship earlier in the season. Ohn performed well at both playoff events, taking 2nd place at GMC and 5th at the MVP Open. She will lean on her recent success at those two events for momentum heading into the tour finale.
Scoggins’ confidence should be high going into this event, given her history at the Tour Championship. Ohn has placed second in the past three DGPT Championships. This could be the year she breaks through. Her elite forehand and putting are key strengths against the field, especially at the revamped New London Tech course.
All the action kicks off on Thursday! Follow live scores, watch on DGN, and grab tickets if you’re nearby Lynchburg or Bedofrd County, VA!
