After reviewing event candidates and completing a process of selection, the DGPT is pleased to announce the initial slate of Silver Series events for the 2020 season. Known as Test Events in prior years, the development of the brand into the Silver Series allows these events to be more involved with the Tour by elevating standards and awarding a small portion of points to competitors. It takes dedication, development, and a strong track record of success to put together a successful bid, and the DPGT congratulates all the event teams and communities joining the Silver Series in 2020. We look forward to providing more details in subsequent articles highlighting the series. 

These 9 events will each award 25% the points of a premier DGPT event to competitors. In addition, competitors may use no more than their best three results to add their overall points series score. The DGPT is proud to provide UDisc services for all of these events and scoring will be integrated seamlessly into the overall DGPT Points Series Standings. The addition of scores from these events to the overall point series will add another layer of interest and strategy for players to account for during their touring season as they strive to qualify for the Tour Championship, which is poised to grow its purse significantly in 2020. 

The DGPT is working collaboratively with each event team to help find and place media coverage for each stop. When finalized, the Tour will be happy to announce how fans can expect to watch competition at these events. While there will be live coverage provided by the DGPT at each of our premier events, we do not expect live coverage to be part of the Silver Series events often, if at all. 

The addition of the series creates an overall slate of 20 events when the DGPT premier events and the Tour Championship are accounted for. While this looks to be the complete schedule for 2020 at this time, there are a few events that remain in discussion with the DGPT with a chance to be added to the Silver Series this offseason. The Tour is currently reviewing the Points and Scoring systems that were in place for 2019 collaboratively with UDisc and a team of staff and advisors. Once finalized, the Tour will announce points and scoring systems adjustments and the final scoring structure for the 2020 season. 

We're happy to get more events involved with the DGPT and the inclusion of these great partners keeps our excitement for the 2020 season building!

The Disc Golf Pro Tour is proud to announce a media partnership with JomezPro for the 2020 season. The media team out of Texas has been growing their crew and quality level to new heights season after season, and will provide next day post production coverage of the lead mens card at all DGPT stops. 

This is the first of several media announcements the Pro Tour will make regarding 2020 plans. In the coming week, the entire media picture will take shape, including the plans for Live Video Coverage for MPO & FPO as well as FPO post-production, MPO chase card post, photography, and exclusive content like podcasts, preview shows and player interviews. 

​Stay tuned as the 2020 season continues to be revealed!

​With a new Disc Golf Pro Tour season, comes the opportunity to turn a new page. The Pro Tour has refreshed it's perspective on how to achieve goals of sustainability and growth through promotion, innovation and collaboration across our great sport. It seems only fitting that a brand update to align with and represent that come in tow. Throughout the process, the DGPT placed an emphasis on simple design that would be easier to reproduce and use across several formats. We're pleased to share more about that process with fans and followers. 

The Process
Goals for the update centered around a brand refresh that kept the logo recognizable while also taking on a more simplistic and modern spin. The DGPT went through several different designs for the basket before finally landing on the version you see today. The desire to create a logo that was easier to stamp moved design away from a traditional basket with individual chains to a basket more of a silhouette in design. 

Additionally, a refresh of font standards for the Disc Golf Pro Tour was to match a more modern design aesthetic. As such, gone is the serif font for headings replaced by the Sans Serif font in both the Disc Golf Pro Tour and 2020 lettering and numbering. We will be releasing a full brand standards document soon with additional details as we continue to update all associate digital and physical assets.

This refresh includes the DGPT color palette. Nearly every professional sports league in the United States uses some type of red and blue as part of their logo: MLB, NBA, MLS, NFL, etc. The DGPT prioritized retaining that motif, while move to a slightly less contrasting color palette than what existed. This blue and red palette debuted at the 2019 Tour Championship and with some minor tweaks decided to keep it for our new branding moving forward. 

Elements Retained
Much of the updated logo is similar to the original. The DGPT chose to keep the different formats of the logo with Disc Golf Pro Tour, DGPT, and the year attached to them. Doing this will allow for people to make an easy connection between the old brand and new brand, continuing brand recognition that was built in prior years. 

​We also kept the dual-colored text as the most recognizable aspect from the old logo to this new one. For readability, the lettering will be navy overtop lighter backgrounds, but when used on a dark setting, the letters ‘light up,’ and retain the old red and blue coloring we’ve grown used to.

A new season brings a myriad of new opportunities, and the DGPT is pleased to share this updated and refreshed brand. We are looking forward to more announcements over the offseason and we invite you to follow along to see what we are up to. Get excited, 2020 will be the best year yet!

Circle two, a spot where most amateurs are either hoping they get a look at making the putt (or are just laying up to save a potential come-back stroke) — a place where pros make their living. Today we will visit this year's top circle two putters on Tour. ​

FPO: Faces You Know
In our first stat review, we saw a few players who we are not familiar with on Tour making the top spots for C1 putting. It is different for most other stats, and Circle Two putting is one of those statistics. Paige Pierce dominated the C2 putting percentage. Paige made 43 out of 173 C2 putts. That is 24.86% of her C2 putts. 

The next closest player was Kristin Tattar. As was noted in our previous article, Kristin Tattar only played two events this season. Kristin made 21.21% of her C2 putts, seven out of 33. 

The next closest touring Pro to Paige? Madison Walker. Madison finished 5th in C2 putting making 16% of her C2 putts. 

MPO: Not Quite The Top Ten Players
 UDisc ranks players who have at least 100 holes covered by the app. As such, players with two tournaments under their belt go into the rankings. This year, the top-ranked C2 putter on the Pro Tour was Vincent Polidori. Vincent made 10 of 22 C2 putts for 45.45% of his C2 putts. Vincent played Ledgestone and Idlewild this year, finishing in T57 and T27, respectively. 

Coming in second was Cameron Messerschmidt. Cameron played four stops on Tour this season and was able to claim one of the last spots in the Disc Golf Pro Tour Championship. Cameron finished just behind Vincent making 43.28% of his putts (29 out of 67). 

Other notable players in the top five of C2 putting include Scott Withers, Cale Leiviska, and Nate Sexton. Scott and Nate both only played two events, and Cale played three. 

The player on the MPO side who finished 6th in C2 putting on the Disc Golf Pro Tour this season was the eventual Champion, Chris Dickerson. Chris finished the season, making 27 of 71 C2 putts. His 38% C2 putting average was only 7% off of this year's top finisher. 

Collect Your Favorite Putters in Card Form
The Disc Golf Pro Tour makes it very easy for fans to collect their favorite players through Trading Card sets. Each year we produce Trading Cards for the top fifty men and top twenty women. On top of the base cards, we also create top stat and venue cards. This year we are releasing an all card exclusive deck, which will feature one of every card produced. If collecting the cards is more your style, you can also purchase a base deck or the individual packs on pre-order. Grab yours today!

Eight months ago, the 2019 Disc Golf Pro Tour season kicked off at The Memorial Championship presented by Discraft. The Memorial has served as the start of the season for the Disc Golf Pro Tour since 2017. The Memorial will return for that role in 2020. As we look back at the year, we will be highlighting stats and our venues over the next few weeks. 

The Memorial Championship was in its 31st in 2019. It featured two courses, the picturesque Fountain Hills and the extended Vista Del Camino layout. This year featured playing Fountain Hills first and Vista Del Camino second, avoiding a flip-flop between the courses. 

The purse for this event was $53,338. With 183 MPO and 32 FPO players, the field increased in size by one MPO player and six FPO players over the previous year. 

This year saw Eveliina Salonen take home the win in the FPO division, becoming the first European Champion of The Memorial for FPO. On the MPO side, Eagle McMahon finished just ahead of Simon Lizotte, flipping the finish from the previous year. 

The Memorial Championship provides an exciting starting ground for the Disc Golf Pro Tour season. It features many highly rated rounds such as Eagle and Simon's first round this year, or McBeth's 1132 rated 39 at Fountain in 2013. We are looking forward to kicking off the 2020 season with The Memorial February 27-March 1. 

To commemorate the 2019 Memorial, just like we have in previous years, we will have a Memorial Championship venue card in the 2020 Disc Golf Pro Tour Trading Card pack. You can guarantee receiving a venue card when you purchase an all card exclusive pack. Grab yours today. 

The Disc Golf Pro Tour is pleased to bring back the Tour Pass as an effective way for touring professional disc golfers to sign up for events efficiently in 2020. It allows players to sign up for DGPT events in bulk before the season begins. This allows the modern touring professional to avoid having to register individually, event by event, if they so choose. 

The 2020 Pass will again be offered in three options:

Tour Pass Options:

• Full Season Tour Pass
• Swing 1 
  • Includes: The Memorial, Waco Charity Open, Jonesboro Open, San Francisco Open, Portland Open
• Swing 2 
  • Includes: DGLO, Idlewild Open, Ledgestone Insurance Open, MVP Open, Green Mountain Championship

Pricing:

• Event registration fees in 2020 will be raised to $250/event for Men and $200/event for Women. 
• The Tour Pass pricing is equal to the sum of the registration fees for each event included. 

Tour Pass Policies:

• Tour Passes are designed for professional disc golfers who plan to commit to at least half of the Tour or more in 2020.  
• Tour Passes are open for purchase by FPO players rated 900+ and MPO players rated 970+ (ratings thresholds designated by the PDGA to delineate the start of professional divisions)
  • Players close to those marks who would like to purchase a Tour Pass, with reasons such as injury or time off affecting their rating, should reach out to the DGPT if they would like to purchase a pass.
• Refunds will be in line with the PDGA refund policy, which all DGPT events follow.
• The DGPT will be responsible for all refunds.
• No Tour Pass Refunds will be processed until February 1, 2020. 

The Tour Championship is now behind us, and the offseason is here. We now have a chance to look at some of the more impressive stats of the season. Today we will take a deep dive into the C1 putting stat. A stat so contentious that UDisc split it out into two stats this year, C1 and C1x. Before we dive into who had the most successful DGPT season putting in the MPO and FPO divisions, let us first gain an understanding of the statistic itself. 

What are C1 and C1x?
C1 stands for circle one putting. Circle one is a ten-meter circle around the basket, traditionally thought of as the disc golf putting green. When a player is inside C1, they are required to remain stationary behind their lie (meaning, they cannot jump putt). C1x was added this year as a statistic that excludes tap-in putts. It is generally that players within 11ft of the basket are going to make their putt, while putts from 11-33ft may be more difficult. As such, UDisc created two distinct putting data points for tracking. 

How is the stat tracked? 
A common misconception with being a live scorekeeper is that the individual keeping score is in charge of calculating stats. This is not the case. Instead, a scorekeeper is detailing where a throw lands on the course. At this point, we do not have an accurate way of reporting exact distances for drives or putts, so for C1 tracking, three options are provided. The three options are 0-11ft, 11-22ft, and 22-33ft. These distances are selected when a putt goes into the basket. The C1 stat includes all three of these options; the C1x stat excludes the 0-11ft putts. With this information clarified, let's dive into the season stats. 

MPO C1 Putting - A close race to be crowned King
The MPO player with the best C1 putting percentage for the season was very close; in fact, C1x was separated by 0.17%. Making 151 of 166 putts tracked, Eagle McMahon was the best C1x putter on Tour this season. Now Eagle only played the first half of the season, so to compare, we also want to look at the runner-up, who missed by less than 0.2%, Paul McBeth. McBeth played nearly every stop on TourTour this season and made 217 of 239 C1x putts. For Eagle, 15 putts missed across five and a half events (he DNF'd at Ledgestone). For McBeth, 22 putts across eight stops. 

When you take into consideration all of C1, McBeth takes over the 1st place spot, and McMahon moves to second place. McBeth made 95.09% of his C1 putts, McMahon making 94.83%. Since C1 putting includes C1x putting, this can be seen as stats padding. The players do not miss any additional putts, the putts missed are just calculated alongside all of the other putts made within 0-11ft. Since Paul made more putts on the Pro Tour than Eagle, the percentage increases because there are more putts to be considered in the statistic, as such, an argument could be made on either side as to who was the best putter on TourTour this season, Paul or Eagle.

FPO C1 Putting - A New Queen is Crowned
Just like the MPO division, for FPO, there were two players at the top in regards to C1 putting. Thos two players only played two events each. As such, we will look at both of those player's stats and then compare them to the best touring players stats to see the differences. ​

The FPO player taking home the crown for C1x putting is Alisha Schafer. Alisha played at Ledgestone and DGLO this season and was able to make 46 of 59 C1x putts for a 77.97% putting rate. Right behind her was Kristin Tattar, who played MVP and GMC this year and had a 77.78% C1x putting percentage. Almost as close as the difference between Paul and Eagle. Kristin made 49 of 63 C1x putts. 

For comparison, Missy Gannon, who played eight events on Tour this season (the same as McBeth), finished in 4th place in C1x, putting on Tour making 181 of 252 putts. This was a 71.83% putting percentage. 

More Stats Analysis to Come
It is interesting to note that putting percentages are easier to maintain across a short series of events as opposed to an entire season. With Eagle and Alisha taking home top honors, and McBeth and Missy finishing behind them. While it could be argued that had Eagle and Kristin toured all season they may have both taken home top honors by a wider margin, the past is the past, and now we must look forward to next season.

We do have additional ways to commemorate the season though. Over the next few weeks, we will be taking a look at other stats as well as last year's venues to pay homage to the season and begin looking forward to 2020. Also, 2020 Trading Cards are available for pre-order now. We have three different package options, including a new, all-card deck, with only 100 boxes being sold. You will not want to miss out on this opportunity!

Happy November! We’re excited for a busy month of announcements regarding the Disc Golf Pro Tour and plans for 2020. Today we are happy to announce the first few.

DGPT Test Event Brand Evolves into New Silver Series

The Disc Golf Pro Tour is pleased to announce that the DGPT Test Events will shift to a new structure for the 2020 season which will be known as the DGPT Silver Series. The DGPT is currently working with events that served as 2019 Test Events to establish the bulk of the Silver Series schedule. That said, we are open to hearing from other events that may be interested in becoming a part of the Series. 

Discussions and evaluation of events will take place during the first two weeks of November. Final details of the Silver Series structure will be released later this month along with the finalized schedule. However, some notable changes to the Series can be shared at this time. First, Silver Series events will award DGPT points at approximately 20% of the value of an event on Tour. The DGPT will also deliver a branding package to each event, as well as assist with marketing, promotion, and placement and procural of event resources if necessary. 

Interested events will be considered if they have a strong history of meeting the highest standards of competition at venues that are well-suited for elite-level play. Working in coordination with our partners at the PDGA, the DGPT prefers that Silver Series events are PDGA A-Tiers. The event staff must also be experienced with a track record of demonstrated success. The Silver Series will serve as not only a developmental platform for events interested in joining the DGPT in the future but as its own unique part of the tour in 2020. To submit your event for consideration, please fill out the form below. ​