This is the last article in a three-part series celebrating the pageant and history of the PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships. Special thanks to Andrew “Big Dog” Sweeton and Mike Downes for contributions to this story. Above: The joy of a champion – Paige Bjerkaas-Shue, 2018.

The first article in this Pro Worlds History series provided a few summary details about the world championships in the 1980s – an era that predates the lives of many passionate disc golf players and fans, including much of the millennial generation. 

The second article in the series bridges the gap from those “early years” to the most recent era, by highlighting the dominance of just a few players during a 17-year stretch of world championships.

This article – the final in the series – summarizes the most recent era in PDGA Pro Worlds history. In short, this era is defined by readily available video coverage and a cast of players that will be familiar to all, including those who are young or who have only recently joined in disc golf fandom. Additionally, many of the world champions from this era either continue to compete for world titles – and will be in contention in 2022 in Emporia, KS – or they continue to maintain a high level of visibility in the sport.

Who’s Next

Even before the generational dominance of Ken Climo came to a close, players and fans of the early 2000s wondered who might step into the impending MPO void. Likewise, with just a few scattered exceptions, the trio of Elaine King, Juliana Korver, and Des Reading had owned most of the FPO world championships during the same timeframe. When would their dominance give way?

In the MPO field, some transitional momentum was already building. Of the few world championships not claimed by Ken Climo in the 1990s and early 2000s, Barry Schultz nabbed two, and was a constant at the top.

Nate Doss had the distinction of “sandwiching” Ken Climo’s last world title, by winning in 2005 and 2007. 

And, several other players were knocking at the door. Who would break through?

Answer: a trio of first-time world champions.

Dave Feldberg had been close several times, and finally achieved the dream of being a world champion in 2008. Avery Jenkins, an athletic kid who grew up in a family of on-the-road disc golf enthusiasts, won in a playoff in Kansas City in 2009. Then, Eric McCabe beat Feldberg by five strokes to take the title in 2010.

Doss would win another title – his third – in 2011.

Meanwhile, in FPO one player initially emerged, and stayed a while.

With a three-peat from 2007-2009, Valarie Jenkins (now Valarie Doss) went from watching brother Avery compete for world championships to beating him to them. And now, only four women had won all but three world championships in a 19-year span. (Note: Valarie Jenkins-Doss would add a fourth title in 2016.)

Then, in both the MPO and FPO divisions, the sparks of the era’s biggest rivalries begin.

It’s like Venus vs. Serena or Tiger vs. Phil – But in Disc Golf…

In sports, a “rivalry” is not necessarily personal. But, on the playing surface things are no less intense, especially during major championships. 

And, since 2011, only two women have multiple world championships. Paige Pierce (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019) and Catrina Allen (2014, 2021). Some say it's Paige's caution-to-the-wind power vs. Catrina's bring-on-the-wind precision – but both players' iconic styles display elite skill in all facets of the game.

Even when one of the duo hasn’t emerged victorious, she is nearly always in the hunt through the final round and finishing on the podium. This makes the breakthrough accomplishments of Sarah Hokom, 2012, and Paige Bjerkaas-Shue, 2018, all the more impressive.

Eerily similar is the rivalry that developed during the same timeframe on the MPO side. 

First, a California kid who some still called “Pablo,” emerged with a Tiger Woods-like athletic precision and consistency that, much like Woods, would influence the technique and form of a new generation of players. Paul McBeth won four world championships from 2012-2015.

Then, much like legendary golfer Arnold Palmer had “Arnie’s Army” of fans, Ricky Wysocki went from challenger to champion to the delight of a particularly vocal following, in 2016 and 2017.

And, while the two continue to duke it out (McBeth won another world title in 2019), a couple have jumped in to nab the trophy – Gregg Barsby, 2018, and James Conrad, 2021.

Now, in both the FPO and MPO fields a host of players – some seasoned, some younger but no less impactful – have joined in the fray.

Kristin Tattar, Hailey King, Valerie Mandujano, Calvin Heimberg, Chris Dickerson and Eagle McMahon are all currently in the top 5 in their respective divisions’ PDGA United States Tour Rankings, and have yet to win a world title.

Add to them those with experience in recently hoisting a world championship trophy – Sarah Hokom, Gregg Barsby and James Conrad – who could do so again. (Note: Paige Bjerkaas-Shue will not compete in 2022.)

And, not even mentioned yet are Simon Lizotte, and Ohn Scoggins, and Gannon Buhr, and Missy Gannon, and…

The point is… who’s next?

A Deeper Dive… in the words of Andrew “Big Dog” Sweeton 

Andrew “Big Dog” Sweeton joined the PDGA in 2011 as Tour Manager and is currently Director of Event Support & Training. 

2007 – Highbridge, WI

• MPO Field – 142
• MPO Winner – Nate Doss
• FPO Field – 28
• FPO Winner – Valarie Jenkins

Nate Doss won his second world title by one throw over Sweden’s Markus Kallstrom.

Valarie Jenkins (now Valarie Doss) won by 5 throws over Des Reading, preventing Des’ bid to win three-in-a-row and thereby starting Val’s own run at history with her first world championship win.

Common interests are a foundational element in any successful relationship. Val Jenkins and Nate Doss then: 2007 PDGA world champions. Val Jenkins and Nate Doss now: married, broadcasters, and business owners.

2008 – Kalamazoo, MI

• MPO Field – 145
• MPO Winner – David Feldberg
• FPO Field – 21
• FPO Winner – Valarie Jenkins

Nikko Locastro led through the first four rounds, but David Feldberg took the lead in round five and never looked back, running away with it to win by 14 throws. Valarie Jenkins also pulled away from the field to win her repeat world title by 12 throws.

2009 – Kansas City, MO

• MPO Field – 131
• MPO Winner – Avery Jenkins
• FPO Field – 21
• FPO Winner – Valarie Jenkins

In only the second MPO playoff in PDGA Pro Worlds history (the first was 22 years earlier in Toronto in 1987), Avery Jenkins bested Josh Anthon to win his world title and reach the podium along with his sister Valarie who completed her world championship three-peat winning by 14 throws.

2010 – Crown Point, IN

• MPO Field –  135
• MPO Winner – Eric McCabe
• FPO Field – 18
• FPO Winner – Sarah Stanhope

2010 saw two newcomers reach the pinnacle with Eric McCabe besting runners-up David Feldberg, Paul Ulibarri, and Josh Anthon by five throws for the win, and Sarah Stanhope holding off Des Reading’s bid for a fourth title by six throws.

2011 – Santa Cruz, CA

• MPO Field – 179
• MPO Winner – Nate Doss
• FPO Field – 36
• FPO Winner – Paige Pierce

Nate Doss came home to his own backyard to win his third and final world title by seven throws over runners-up Will Schusterick and Josh Anthon. Paige Pierce won her first world title, besting Valarie Jenkins’ attempt at a fourth title by three throws.

Paige Pierce, en route to her first of five world titles in 2011.

2012 – Charlotte, NC

• MPO Field – 144
• MPO Winner – Paul McBeth
• FPO Field – 30
• FPO Winner – Sarah Hokom

In 2012, Paul McBeth started his reign as world champion by besting Ricky Wysocki by five throws. Sarah Hokom won her world title by holding off a late charge by Valarie Jenkins to win by a slim, one-throw margin.

Paul McBeth signs autographs after winning his first PDGA Pro Worlds in 2012.

2013 – Crown Point, IN

• MPO Field – 131
• MPO Winner – Paul McBeth
• FPO Field – 25
• FPO Winner – Paige Pierce

Paul and Paige each won their second world championships at Crown Point in 2013.  Paul beat out David Feldberg by five throws and Paige won by a single throw over Valarie Jenkins’ third runner-up position in a row.

2014 – Portland, OR

• MPO Field – 144
• MPO Winner – Paul McBeth
• FPO Field – 40
• FPO Winner – Catrina Allen

Catrina Allen won her first World title by two throws over the late come-back bid by Paige Pierce who gained six throws on Catrina in the semis and finals. Ricky Wysocki was leading by two throws going into the final 9, but Paul McBeth picked up those two to tie Ricky at the end of regulation and then won the playoff to accomplish his three-peat by the slimmest of margins. “It was my favorite day on a disc golf course without throwing a disc,” according to Mike Downes, then the PDGA Events Manager.

Catrina Allen won her first world championship in Portland, OR in 2014.

2015 – Pittsburgh, PA

• MPO Field – 143
• MPO Winner – Paul McBeth
• FPO Field – 48
• FPO Winner – Paige Pierce

The Pittsburgh Pro Worlds is remembered as a favorite among world championships, not only for the quality of the host city, the courses and the caliber of play, but also for the players themselves. Pro Masters divisions were then contested alongside the open divisions, and a number of legendary players were in attendance, competing in the 40+, 50+, 60+, etc. age groups.

Pittsburgh had some crazy round ratings, as four players’ hot rounds resulted in dramatic lead changes. Paul Ulibarri led it off with 1063-rated 55 in round one for the early lead. Then in round 2, Will Schusterick took the lead by carding a 1084-rated 51. In round three, Ricky Wysocki had the hot round with a 1069-rated 53, but Will still maintained a 4-throw lead through three. In round four, the world was treated to “McBeast mode” when Paul McBeth threw a 1085-rated 51 to close the gap on Schusterick to just one-throw. Paul continued with a 1091-rated 51 in round five to take the lead and never looked back as he won his fourth world title in a row handily by nine throws.

On the FPO side, there was a lot of movement as well. Valarie Jenkins had the lead for the first two rounds,  then Sarah Hokom took the lead shooting a 1001-rated round in round three.  Catrina Allen threw a 1011-rated 61 in round four to trim Hokom’s lead to five throws and then caught Hokom for a tie for the lead after round five. Meanwhile, Paige Pierce who started at T11 after round one, steadily progressed up the leaderboard to T8, then T7, then 5th, then 3rd, and then she threw a 988-rated 60 in the semis to tie Sarah Hokom for the lead. In the finals, Paige bested Sarah by one throw to win her third world championship.

2016 – Emporia, KS

• MPO Field – 158
• MPO Winner – Ricky Wysocki
• FPO Field – 35
• FPO Winner – Valarie Jenkins

In 2016 in Emporia, Ricky started off by throwing the solo hot round in each of the first three rounds with 1074, 1066, and 1083 ratings for an eight-throw lead and never looked back. Ricky led from wire-to-wire and won his first world championship by six throws over runner-up Paul McBeth. Ricky took home the first $10,000 MPO winner’s purse for a world championship.

Ricky Wysocki won his first PDGA Pro Worlds championship the last time it was contested in Emporia, KS. The 2022 world championships return to Emporia.

Although it looked like it might also be the Catrina Allen show on the FPO side, it was not to be.  Catrina started with a 1000-rated 52 in round one and led the field through the first three rounds, and was holding a two-throw lead over Paige Pierce. Catrina slipped in round four with Paige and Valarie Jenkins each throwing the hot round of a 1008-rated 55, giving Paige the lead by four over Valarie and two more over Catrina. Catrina came back with a 990-rated 53 in the semis, while Paige faltered with a 59 and Valarie threw a 56, which saw Catrina and Paige now tied for the lead with Valarie one stroke behind. But then the Finals happened – and it was all the Valarie Jenkins show. Valarie threw a 29 in the finals, besting Catrina and Paige’s pair of 36s to finally win her fourth FPO world championship. Valerie took home the first $5,000 FPO winner’s purse for a world championship. 

2017 – IDGC, Augusta, GA

• MPO Field – 161
• MPO Winner – Ricky Wysocki
• FPO Field – 44
• FPO Winner – Paige Pierce

In 2017 a four round format was used. JohnE McCray jumped out to the early lead in MPO throwing a 1085-rated 56 in round one. In round two, Ricky Wysocki threw a 1065-rated 55 to tie JohnE for the lead, and then threw a 1071-rated 55 in round three to take an 8-throw lead that he would still hold after round four for his world championship repeat.

In the FPO field, Paige Pierce had the solo hot rounds in rounds one and two, to take a six-throw lead and held on to win by five throws over Valarie Jenkins thereby cementing her fourth world championship.

Weather delays at the 2017 world championships raised initial concerns that the whole field wouldn’t equally complete two rounds of play at each of the two courses used, which would force officials to declare a champion based on a point in the tournament when all players in both pools had played the same number of rounds on each course. In this case, scores would have reverted to the end of round two. After 2017, officials determined a five day/round format would be used at Pro Worlds to ensure extra flexibility.

2018 – Jeffersonville, VT

• MPO Field – 228
• MPO Winner – Greg Barsby
• FPO Field – 49
• FPO Winner – Paige Bjerkaas

In 2018, Calvin Heimburg started with the hot score, throwing a 1081-rated 52 for the early lead. Paul Ulibarri then countered with a 1092-rated 48, but Paul McBeth’s scores of 54 and 49 put him the lead by one throw over Uli and James Conrad. Josh Anthon and Matt Orum had the 1074-rated hot rounds of 53 in round three, but Greg Barsby’s steady play with scores of 55, 50, and 54, now placed him in the lead by one throw over Paul Ulibarri. In the fourth round, Greg Barsby shot another 54 to increase his lead to two throws over three players now tied for second – Josh Anthon, Paul Ulibarri, and James Conrad. In round 5 the hot rounds belonged to Kevin Jones and Cameron Colglazier with 1074-rated 53s, and Paul McBeth came roaring back with a 1067-rated 54, but it was only enough to leave him tied for second place with Josh Anthon, and Gregg Barsby had his long-awaited world championship by two throws.

On the FPO side of the equation, it was Rebecca Cox who jumped out in the first round throwing a 997-rated 60. But Paige Bjerkaas (now Paige Shue) answered in round two with a 1028-rated 58 to take the lead by six throws. Sarah Hokom and Kristin Tattar shared the hot round of 64 in round three and Bjerkaas’ lead dropped to five throws after round three and the same after round four, but in the end Bjerkaas held off all threats, including a charging Paige Pierce, and ended with a six-throw lead to win her world championship title.

2019 – Peoria, IL

• MPO Field – 196
• MPO Winner – Paul McBeth
• FPO Field – 46
• FPO Winner – Paige Pierce

Emerson Keith got the show started in Peoria with a 1093-rated 51 followed by a 1080-rated 57 to lead MPO after both the first and second rounds. In round three Eagle Wynne McMahon uncorked an 1107-rated 49 to wow the crowd, but Paul McBeth was quietly running along in McBeast mode for the first three rounds with a 1080-rated 53, 1087-rated 53, and 1087-rated 52 which put him into first place, four throws ahead of Emerson Keith. Paul dropped a gear in round four with only a 1042-rated 60 that shaved his lead to only two, while Ricky Wysocki found his own overdrive mode throwing his own 1087-rated 53 hot round and followed that with an 1107-rated final round of 49, but it was only enough for second place as Paul McBeth’s 1073-rated 54 was enough to secure his fifth world championship.

Plenty of fireworks were happening over in FPO as well. Eveliina Salonen of Finland broke out in round one by besting the rest of the field by six throws with a 1024-rated 56. Catrina Allen followed that with a solo hot round of a 1025-rated 52 in round two to take the lead from Eveliina by two throws. Eveliina then returned fire in round three with the solo hot round of a 1008-rated 58 to take back the lead by one throw. In round four, Paige Pierce hit the jets with a 1025-rated 52 and suddenly they headed into the Finals with a three-way tie for first place – Paige Pierce, Eveliina Salonen, and Catrina Allen. Fireworks indeed! In the final round, Paige Pierce kicked in the afterburner and threw yet another 1025-rated 52 to Eveliina’s 57 and Catrina’s 61, to take the win by five throws, a fitting finish for what was also her fifth world title. 

2020 – CANCELED DUE TO COVID-19

2021 – Ogden, UT

• MPO Field – 209
• MPO Winner – James Conrad
• FPO Field – 70
• FPO Winner – Catrina Allen

A tale of two battles.

Standing on the tee of the second-to-last hole of the tournament – the 17th hole of round five at “The Fort” – Catrina Allen sat two throws behind Paige Pierce. A par by Allen and a bogey by Paige would shrink the lead to one, with one hole to play. Teeing first, Allen stayed inbounds, as did Pierce, with Allen to throw first for the green. Carving a skyscraping left-to-right backhand, Allen’s disc held onto inbounds territory by inches, leaving her with a circle’s edge birdie opportunity. Pierce elected to lay up for the par, however, her now-vital approach shot missed the green – again, by inches – and Pierce’s last-gasp bogey-saving attempt also went wide. One of the most dramatic pro worlds finishes resulted in Allen’s second world title.

Hours later, on exactly the same stage, a virtually identical setup occurred. This time, McBeth, holding a one-throw lead, watched challenger James Conrad play first, going for the green from distance. However, in this instance the throw – from nearly 250 feet – was for a Conrad birdie, and making the shot would be the only way to push the tournament to a playoff. In one of the most dramatic moments in sports history, Conrad buried his disc into the bottom of the basket – a hail-Mary touchdown, full-court buzzer beater, grand slam in the bottom-of-the-ninth all rolled into one. The “Holy” Shot. 

Conrad would go on to win on the first playoff hole.

Both 2021 final rounds (FPO and MPO) are searchable on YouTube, and if that isn’t enough to get you in the mood for the 2022 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships, try catching the newly released PDGA-produced documentary, The Holy Shot.

 

 

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