Want to know if your favorite disc golfer is on the list of top Disc Golf rankers of 2022 Or are you curious to know how disc golfers are rated? This post has answers to all your questions related to disc golf ranking, so keep reading the post till the end and find out about the criteria considered for ranking players.
As disc golf is spreading its wings throughout the world, more and more people are taking up disc golf as a profession. The game has great opportunities to make a bright career and earn good money. Also, just like any other game, disc golfers compete to become the best player. Every year Disc Golf World Rankings powered by UDisc are released after the tournaments based on different criteria.
So, let’s find out how the disc golf ranking system works and begin with different types of disc golf tournaments.
What are the Different Types of Disc Golf Tournaments?
Most disc golf Tournaments are sanctioned by PDGA (Professional Disc Golf Association) and are categorized in tiers, namely A, B, and C events.
C-Tier Disc Golf Tournament: This is ideal for a disc golfer who wants to play in their first tournament. You do not need a PDGA membership to play in this tournament. However, the value of prizes in these tournaments is lower than in the other types of tournaments.
B-Tier Disc Golf Tournament: These tournaments are ahead of C-Tier but lower than A-Tier. You have to be a member of PGDA to play in this tournament. You can expect a similar stake of prizes as in the A-tier.
A-Tier Disc Golf Tournament: This tournament category is for experienced players. The events in this category have been established for many years. They offer a high level of prizes, and the competition is tough. Furthermore, you have to be a PDGA member to play in an A-Tier tournament.
How To Sign Up for Disc Golf Tournaments
There are different ways to sign up for a disc golf tournament: registration and entry fee payment. In addition, you can reach out to the event organizer through email addresses and other contact information to get the details of the tournament. With the rise in popularity of disc golf worldwide, you can easily find a disc golf tournament. To avoid waiting, keep an eye on the upcoming events and register as soon as registration opens.
Which Events are Considered for the Ranking?
The big-stage events that are included in the ranking system include:
- PDGA Majors
- PDGA National Tour
- Euro Tour Events
- DGPT Elite and Silver Series Events
- Prodigy Disc Pro Tour events,
- European Disc Golf Championship
- Throw Pink Women’s Disc Golf Championship
Each player has to maintain a score, also known as the natural logarithm of their Dominance Index. The score increases when they outperform expectations in an event. The ranking is updated after completing an event on the above-mentioned tours.
What is Dominance Index?
A dominance index is a number used to compare the strength of two players. The dominance index is always positive.
How Does the Dominance Index Compare a Player’s Strength?
Dominance Indices are used to calculate the odds of a player beating another in a head-to-head match through a simple formula:
Where D1 is the dominance index of a player whose probability of winning is to be determined, and D2 is the dominance index of the other player.
Note: You can only use the dominance indices to compare players who regularly compete in the same division. It further means that you cannot compare the dominance indices of top MPO players and top FPO players.
What is the Difference Between MPO and FPO?
MPO stands for Mixed Professional Open, and FPO stands for Female Professional Open.
What are the Features of Disc Golf World Ranking?
There are different features to be considered while ranking the disc golfers, which are as follows:
- The professionals are ranked only based on their performances in the highest tournament.
- The list is updated regularly.
- Only the finishing position is considered for the ranking.
- Stroke differential does not matter for the ranking.
- If a player wins the event, they cannot be penalized.
What is Disc Golf World Rankings Methodology?
The current ranking system is based on the Elo rating system, originally designed for Chess by Hungarian American physicist, astronomer, and chess master Arpad Elo. The Elo system works on a simple concept, i.e., the players’ rating is between 100 and 3000 to estimate their true strength. Furthermore, the rating fluctuates depending upon the match results; it increases upon winning and decreases upon losing a match.
But there is one catch, i.e., the number changes differently for different players. When a player with a high Elo rating defeats a lower Elo rating, the winner’s rating increases only by Small margin. If a highly rated player loses to a player with a lower ranking, the system considers the loser as overrated, and their rating drops significantly.
However, in the case of disc golf, the system cannot be applied directly as it is a multiplayer game. But UDisc’s system uses the concept as a base to maintain the rating of the players. The UDisc’s rating of the player rises if the player is placed at a higher position in a tournament, and the rating falls if they are placed at a lower position than expected.
Each player has to maintain certain touring points which will not affect where they appear on the leaderboard. It only affects the existence of players on the leaderboard. Disc golfers win points for each eligible tournament they play.
Here is the point distribution in the Ranking leaderboard:
- PDGA Majors – 2 points
- DGPT Elite Series events – 1 point
- PDGA National Tour and Euro Tour events – 1 point
- Prodigy Disc Pro Tour events – 1 point
- European Disc Golf Championships – 1 point
- Throw Pink Women’s Disc Golf Championship – 1 point
- DGPT Silver Series events – 0.5 points.
The PDGA Euro Tour for the 2020 and 2021 seasons were canceled. Prodigy Disc Pro Tour events are worth 2 points for these seasons.
How to Use the Player Comparison Tool?
You may feel overwhelmed with the calculations we discussed above for an amateur. But don’t worry, the authorities understand your plight. The Disc Gold World Ranking uses an easier player comparison tool that allows up to six players from the same grade to compare, i.e., to calculate the winning probability matchups based on Dominance Index.
Certain cautions are to be followed while using the player comparison tool:
- The players from the same division can only be compared with the help of this tool.
- The winning probability is not used to show the probability of winning the match, but it only shows the probability of a player beating another.
- The winning probabilities are applicable only before the tournament or if there is a tie during the tournament.
Therefore, the above-mentioned factors are considered while using the player comparison tool to determine the winning probability of one player over the other in the same division.
Who is the Top Ranking Disc Golfer?
The top disc golf ranker is Eagle McMohan, a 23-year-old veteran of the pro scene. He ascended to the top rank after winning the Portland Open last year.
The UDisc ranking for 2022 will be updated as soon as all the major tournaments are completed.
