Originally published at: https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2020/08/06/ultiworld-disc-golf-fpo-power-rankings-august-6-2020/
Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen – DGPT
Welcome to the Ultiworld Disc Golf 2020 Power Rankings! Our rankings offer a fun alternative to the PDGA World Rankings and player ratings. Those metrics take a long view of the field, ours relies on the “hot take.”
Here’s how we rank our Top 25.
First, we use an algorithm to create an objective ballot. This formula combines standardized scores across Elite Series tournaments, multipliers for depth of field and tournament purse, and a decay function that emphasizes recent performance.
Next, the Ultiworld Disc Golf staff cast top 10 ballots. Our goal is to marry the “eye test” with cold hard stats.
Finally, we added a popular vote for 2020, which gives our subscribers a chance to cast ballots alongside the staff.
Staff and subscribers only consider results within the past two months. They prioritize performance at Elite Series events but may consider regional tournaments as well. Because our human voters only rank the top 10, the objective ballot covers the lower half of the rankings. The objective ballot, on the other hand, has slightly greater historical reach than the former because it only considers Elite Series events.
Let’s get to the results!
Power Rankings Top 10 are available to all Ultiworld Disc Golf readers. Want the entire top 25? You’ll have to be a subscriber.
1. Paige Pierce
Rating: 988
Last Month: 1st place – Dynamic Discs Open (DGPT), The Preserve Championship (DGPT), Discraft Great Lakes Open, 5th Place- The Silver Cup (DGPT Silver Series)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 1st place – The Memorial, Dynamic Discs Open, The Preserve, DGLO
Paige Pierce has been dominant all season, she’s the best player in the FPO field and it isn’t particularly close. She is in the top five of every major UDisc Live statistical category except for C1x putting, where she is in sixth at 77%. Her only stumble this season came in WACO where she finished in 13th. The only reason Pierce wouldn’t be the favorite to win everything she enters this season is injury, or if the European contingency is able to make it state-side this season.
2. Catrina Allen
Rating: 965
Last Month: 3rd place, Dynamic Discs Open (DGPT), 2nd Place- The Preserve Open (DGPT). 6th Place- Discraft Great Lakes Open (DGPT), 2nd Place- River City Open (A Tier).
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 2nd Place- The Preserve Open (DGPT)
Catrina Allen is the second best player on tour. She is an elite, generational talent from tee to green, but sadly, once she gets to the green, things get ugly. Allen has not finished outside of the top 10 since the 2018 GBO. Allen is only hitting 49% from inside 10 meters, good for 31st of all qualifying FPO players.
3. Missy Gannon
Rating: 949
Last Month: 2nd place – Dynamic Discs Open (DGPT), The Preserve Championship (DGPT). Silver Cup (DGPT Silver Series), 8th Place- DGLO (DGPT)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 2nd place – Dynamic Discs Open (DGPT), The Preserve Championship (DGPT). Silver Cup (DGPT Silver Series)
Missy Gannon has without question been the breakout player of 2020. She doesn’t play a super flashy brand of golf, but her strategy of “hit the fairway and make putts” is a time tested and super effective strategy. Her 78% rate from C1X would be the envy of many players in both open divisions.
4. Sarah Hokom
Rating: 975
Last Month: 4th Place- The Preserve Championship (DGPT), 6th Place- Silver Cup (DGPT Silver Series), 3rd Place- DGLO
2020 Best Elite Series Finish- 3rd Place- DGLO
Sarah Hokom is doing a good job shaking off a lackluster 2019. The ascendancy of the European players and Gannon may have distracted people from how good, and how consistently good Hokom is at disc golf. She hasn’t finished outside of the top 10 since 2014, which is bonkers, and a podium finish at DGLO should help remind people.
5. Eveliina Salonen
Rating: 971
Last Month: 1st Place- Prodigy Disc Tour 2020 Helsinki, Prodigy Disc Tour 2020 Turku, Prodigy Disc Tour 2020 Tampere, Prodigy Disc Tour 2020 Kuopio, 2nd Place- Prodigy Disc Tour 2020 Helsinki
2020 Best Elite Series Finish- 1st Place- WACO (DGPT)
Salonen has been enjoying the home cooking in Finland, absolutely eating up the competition on the Prodigy Tour. It is unlikely that we’ll see Salonen come stateside this season, and that is our loss. Salonen was able to consistently challenge the top of the leaderboard at every type of course on tour.
6. Henna Blomroos
Rating: 971
Last Month: 1st Place- Prodigy Disc Tour 2020 Helsinki, 3rd Place- Prodigy Disc Tour 2020 Turku, 2nd Placce- Prodigy Disc Tour 2020 Tampere, 4th Place- Prodigy Disc Tour 2020 Kuopio
2020 Best Elite Series Finish- 2nd Place- WACO (DGPT)
Blomroos hasn’t been dominating the Prodigy tour in quite the same way Salonen has, but she has been finding the podium more often than not. Blomroos made the podium in each of her three pre-Covid events state side.
9. Hailey King
Rating: 941
Last Month: 2nd Place- Silver Cup (DGPT Silver Series), 5th Place- DGLO (DGPT)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish- 5th Place- DGLO (DGPT)
Hailey King is one of the most exciting young players in FPO. She isn’t going to blow the doors off the competition from the tee, but when she is approaching the basket she is efficient and accurate. King is seventh in birdie percentage (23%), scramble percentage (45%), and C1X putting (75%). From Circle 2, though, King is hitting almost a quarter of her bids at 22%. As she continues to grow, and develop her game off the tee, she will be almost certainly become a truly elite player.
10. Jessica Weese
Rating: 945
Last Month: 1st Place- Seviren Lang Memorial, 11th Place- The Preserve Championship, 7th Place- Silver Cup (DGPT Silver Series), 3rd Place- DGLO
2020 Best Elite Series Finish- 3rd Place- DGLO
Weese missed cash at the Preserve but has put together a nice run of finishes since the re-start of the season, including a win at the Seviren Lang Memorial over Kona Panis, Courtney Cannon, Christine Jennings, and Deann Carey. Weese is one of those players who is capable of showing up on any given weekend and taking the win, and it wouldn’t be totally surprising, but it would be kind of surprising. Does that make sense? She has 69 career wins, including a couple DGPT wins, and several state championships but seems to fly under the radar.
Top 25 continues below.
11. Kristin Tattar
Rating: 965
Last Month: 1st Place- EDGL Karikasari- Holstre-Polli #1 (C Tier), EDGL Jarvakandi #2 (C Tier), BDGC Alutaguse Open 2020 (A Tier), 2nd Place- Prodigy Disc Tour 2020- Turku (A Tier), Prodigy Disc Pro Tour- Kuopio (A Tier)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish- N/A
In all likelihood, the reigning US Women’s Champion will not have the opportunity to defend her title in 2020, which, as we’ve discussed, is a huge bummer. Instead, Tattar will have to make due battling it out in her native Estonia, and making occasional trips across the Gulf of Finland to lock horns with Salonen and Blomroos. Three wins on the season is nothing to sneeze at, and while she isn’t currently registered for any tournaments coming up, it would be surprising if she didn’t grow that total when 2020 is (mercifully, please) done with.
12. Kona Star Panis
Rating: 923
Last Month: 7th Place- Dynamic Discs Open (DGPT), 6th Place- The Preserve Championship (DGPT), 11th Place- Silver Cup (DGPT Silver Series), 2nd Place- Seviren Lang Memorial (A Tier), 9th Place- DGLO (DGPT)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish- 5th Place- WACO
In our anonymous players survey, Panis had the dubious honor of being the runaway “winner” of the “Most Overrated FPO Player” category. This season, so far, she looks like she is on track to show that her quality of play is catching up with her social media skills. Panis only has one finish outside of the top 10 this season, and has shown improvement in almost every statistical category compared to last year. Maybe next year, Panis’s peers will see her as “underrated.”
13. Ellen Widboom
Rating: 934
Last Month: 1st Place- Evansville Open XIII (B Tier), The March Mush Makeup (C Tier), 9th Place- The Preserve Championship (DGPT), 2nd Place- Silver Cup (DGPT Silver Series), DGLO (DGPT)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 2nd Place- DGLO (DGPT)
Widboom has cashed at every event this season, and has won 6 of the 9 events she has played this season. Her 2nd place finish at DGLO is a career best finish at an Elite Series event.
14. Paige Shue
Rating: 950
Last Month: 3rd Place- Dynamic Discs Open (DGPT), 5th Place- The Preserve Championship (DGPT), 1st Place- Battle Under the Midnight Sun! (C Tier), 3rd Place- Meier Lake Classic (B Tier)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 3rd Place- Dynamic Discs Open (DGPT)
Shue hit the ground running at the DDO with a third place finish, rebounding well from a sluggish start to the 2020 season. She isn’t currently registered to play again until the Green Mountain Challenge in Vermont, where she won her 2018 World Championship.
15. Lisa Fajkus
Rating: 942
Last Month: 3rd Place- Great Houston Disc Golf Championship (B Tier), 13th Place- The Preserve Championship (DGPT), 1st Place- Silver Cup (DGPT Silver Series), Mid America Open (A Tier), 11th Place- DGLO (DGPT)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 13th Place- The Preserve Championship (DGPT)
Fajkus has had a feast or famine season; either she makes the podium or finishes outside the top 10. Two Silver Series wins should have people bullish on her 2020 season.
16. Heather Young
Rating: 946
Last Month: 1st Place- Tennessee State Disc Golf Championships (A Tier), 6th Place- DGLO (DGPT)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 5th Place- WACO (DGPT)
Young is one of the most intriguing up and comer players in the game, In her…young…career, she has shown up big and challenged the top of the field at every Elite Event she has played in.
17. Holly Finley
Rating: 940
Last Month: 12th Place- Dynamic Discs Open (DGPT), 6th Place- The Preserve Championship, 8th Place- Silver Cup (DGPT Silver Series), 10th Place- DGLO (DGPT), 2nd Place- The Majestic (A Tier)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish- 6th Place- The Preserve Championship
Finley, by her own enthusiastic admission, is more fond of the wooded courses on the east coast than she is of the more open environs of the midwest. She does have three top 10 finishes so far in 2020.
18. Rebecca Cox
Rating: 936
Last Month: 11th Place- Dynamic Discs Open (DGPT), 9th Place- The Preserve Championship (DGPT), 10th Place- Silver Cup (DGPT Silver Series), 21st Place- DGLO (DGPT).
2020 Best Elite Series Finish- 5th Place- WACO (DGPT)
Rebecca Cox was called the most underrated FPO player in our survey, she is still looking for her first elite series win. She had a handful of podium finishes in 2019, but just hasn’t been able to break through. Yet.
19. Vanessa Van Dyken
Rating: 935
Last Month: 1st Place- Tilley’s Open (B Tier), River City Open (A Tier), 3rd Place- The March Mush Makeup (C Tier), 13th Place- DGLO (DGPT)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 13th Place- DGLO (DGPT)
Van Dyken only has four tournaments under her belt this season, but we will be seeing more of her as the season progresses. Van Dyken had a very strong 2019 campaign, and has a game well suited to the tighter fairways down the remaining stretch of this season.
20. Jennifer Allen
Rating: 952
Last Month: 2nd Place- The Challenge @ Goat Hill (DGPT Silver Series), 1st Place- Top of the Pines (C Tier)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 2nd Place- The Memorial
Allen hasn’t played at any Elite Series events since the season re-start, but she also hasn’t finished worse than second at any event she has played this season. Players and fans alike forget Jennifer Allen at their own risk, she is certainly a better quality player than this ranking would suggest. She only has two UDisc events on her resume for this season but it is worth noting that she is top three in the eight major statistical categories from tee to green.
21. Sarah DeMar
Rating: 916
Last Month: 2nd Place- Kalamazoo Ladies Classic (C/B Tier), Jackson Open, 11th Place- DGLO (DGPT), 3rd Place- River City Open (A Tier)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish- 11th Place- DGLO (DGPT)
We only really see DeMar when the Michigan native shows up for DGLO. DeMar instead prefers to dominate her local FPO and FP40 (!) scene. It is worth noting that DeMar’s 11th place DGLO finish was good enough to best much younger players like Van Dyken, Hannah McBeth, Rebecca Cox, and Christine Jennings.
22. Callie McMorran
Rating: 932
Last Month: 7th Place- Tennessee State Disc Golf Championships (A Tier)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish- 6th Place- The Memorial (DGPT)
McMorran hasn’t been at any Elite Series events since the season re-start. McMorran is definitely still developing and improving her game, but the foundations for a bright future are there.
23. Valerie Mandujano
Rating: 954
Last Month: 1st Place- Greater Houston Disc Golf Championship (B Tier), The Fox Trot (C Tier), 28th Big Arms on the Brazos (B Tier)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish- 8th Place- WACO
Mandujano is the dominant FPO player in her local scene, and has the game to hang when she makes it to an Elite Event. If she can tour more consistently, expect her star to rise.
24. Christina Linthicum
Rating: 936
Last Month: 4th Place- Greater Houston Disc Golf Championship (B Tier)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish- N/A
Linthicum doesn’t show up to many Elite Events, but if you’re running a tournament around southeast Texas, you might as well save yourself some time and just put her name on a cash envelope before the first tee time.
25. Kat Mertsch
Rating: 889
Last Month: 9th Place- Tennessee Disc Golf Championship (A Tier), 2nd Place- Idle Hour Open (B Tier), 13th Place- The Preserve Championship (DGPT), 8th Place- Silver Cup (DGPT Silver Series), 15th Place- DGLO (DGPT), 3rd Place- Mid America Open (DGPT Silver Series)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish- 13th Place- The Preserve Championship (DGPT)
Mertsch was playing in the Junior Girls ≤18 in 2019, and is slated to hit most of the big events in the midwest this season. She has acquitted herself well at the Elite Events she has played this season, and is definitely a name to watch over the rest of this, and into next season.
Want to see how the voting shook out? See the complete objective voter tallies for FPO.