Hello there! Tõnis AKA Disc Golf Fanatic here with another insight into the disc golf world.
First off, since the last newsletter came out on the very last day of 2024, I wish you a Happy New Year!
Now, let’s get into it!
Just like in previous years, the start of the year tends to be the busiest time for announcing player movements. There are a few moves that none of us saw coming, such as Jeremy Koling parting ways with Innova. When you think of Koling, you think of Innova. They go hand in hand, just like Cale Leiviska did with Prodigy.
Here’s a quick recap of the player movement so far:
Ezra Robinson announced he is leaving Prodigy and has now joined Discraft.
Isaac Robinson announced he is leaving Prodigy.
Jeremy Koling and Innova part ways.
Joel Freeman leaving Innova after 7 years.
Emerson Keith and Innova part ways.
Eagle McMahon and Simon Lizotte part ways with GripEQ.
Parker Welck left DGA and joined Dynamic Discs.
Emily Beach announced she is stepping away from DGPT.
Roland Kõur re-signs with Prodiscus.
And these are just the tip of the iceberg! If you’d like to see all of the movements and official announcements, I recommend checking out Ultiworld’s 2025 Pro Disc Golf Sponsorship Changes Megathread – https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2025/01/01/2025-pro-disc-golf-sponsorship-changes-megathread/
Gibson teasing that something HUGE is about to go down!
From the comments, Drew says it has nothing to do with Robinsons or Prodigy or Climo or Brodie or House of Discs.
Is he just trying to get everyone’s attention or is the disc golf community really about to be flipped upside down?!
Prodigy’s Core Team roster following the latest news
Prodigy has a pretty sharp eye for scouting talent, but once players get big, they lack the will to keep them on the roster?!
Take brothers Isaac and Ezra Robinson as an example, both are spectacular players. Isaac Robinson won back-to-back World Championship titles while sponsored by Prodigy, but according to the latest Ultiworld/FAR Fandom Survey, he simply doesn’t sell that many discs…
The 2-time Disc Golf MPO World Champion is being outsold by names like Niklas Anttila, Kyle Klein, Matthew Orum, Gregg Barsby, and a plethora of other players. Pretty wild, or what do you think? Now, is that due to Prodigy’s poor efforts in advertising the two-time champ, or is Isaac Robinson at fault? You tell me!
Speaking of Isaac…
Isaac Robinson to Latitude 64?!
I like this theory. I like this theory a lot! Latitude 64 is currently lacking a seriously good MPO player on the Disc Golf Pro Tour, so why not snag the now two-time MPO World Champion? They already have Kristin Lätt, the two-time FPO World Champion.
What is the most favorited molds for each disc-speed?
PS! If you are ever asked which discs you’d recommend to a beginner or heck, any level disc golf player, just show them this table!
Here are the results from 4210 respondents. Source – 2024 FAR/Ultiworld Fandom Survey – https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2024/12/31/2024-fandom-survey-fan-relation-to-discs/
How many discs from this table do you bag?
2024 PDGA MPO and FPO Player of the Year announced!
Kristin Lätt (formerly Tattar) is the 2024 PDGA FPO Player of the Year and Gannon Buhr, obviously, is the 2024 PDGA MPO Player of the Year!
Who was the best FPO putter from C1X and C2?
Holly Finley is the 2024 season’s best FPO C1X putter on the DGPT, with an impressive 84.4% of putts made inside Circle 1 (excluding bullseye), 709 makes out of 840 attempts.
Meanwhile, Ohn Scoggins leads in Circle 2 putting, boasting an astonishing 27.92% make rate, with 110 makes out of 394 attempts!
Who were the best FPO putters in 2024 if we combine both C1X and C2?
#1 Ohn Scoggins
#2 Silva Saarinen
#3 Holyn Handley
#4 Holly Finley
#5 Lisa Fajkus
#6 Cadence Burge
Top 3:
#1 Ohn Scoggins
C1X: 83.77% (2nd)
C2: 27.92% (1st)
Ohn Scoggins stands out as the best putter overall because she ranks 2nd in C1X putting and 1st in C2 putting, showing exceptional accuracy from both circles.
#2 Silva Saarinen
C1X: 83.01% (3rd)
C2: 25.91% (2nd)
Silva Saarinen is ranked 3rd in C1X and 2nd in C2, consistently strong in both categories, making her one of the best overall.
#3 Holyn Handley
C1X: 80.86% (4th)
C2: 20.36% (6th)
Holyn ranks 4th in C1X and 6th in C2, which shows strong, consistent performance in both ranges. Although her C1X percentage is lower than Finley’s, her C2 putting is significantly better, making her a more well-rounded putter overall.
Interesting in knowing which putting putters and in what plastic do pro disc golfers use? I’ve compiled a HUGE database of 150+ pro discgolfers and their go-to putting putters, check it out here – https://discgolffanatic.com/what-putters-professional-disc-golfers-use/
The PDGA is on the verge of reaching 300,000 members!
The PDGA was founded in 1976, and it took 41 years to reach the 100,000-member milestone in 2017.
It took only four more years for the PDGA to reach 200,000 members, an achievement recorded on December 24, 2021.
Now, just three years and two weeks later, the PDGA is about to hit 300,000 members!
PDGA #1 – Steady Ed Headrick – 1976
PDGA #100000 – Ryan Quinlan – 2017
PDGA #200000 – Dustin Welu – 2021
PDGA #300000 – ???????? – 2025
How many active members, new members, renewing members etc. does the PDGA have?
In 2022, there were a total of 130,791 active members, of whom 40,779 were new members and 90,012 were renewing members.
In 2023, there were a total of 136,636 active members, of whom 33,635 were new members and 103,001 were renewing members.
The 2024 PDGA Demographics report is in the making and I will notify you when it will come out!
Here’s a closer look at the statistics, numbers from the 2023 PDGA Year end demographics report:
Source – https://pdga.com/files/2023_pdga_yearend_demographicsreport.pdf
Disc Golf in Europe is GROWING!
While we are on the topic of PDGA members. PDGA Europe announced that they’ve reached 21,600 active members at the end of 2024, tying the 2023 all-time membership record!
Europe now accounts for about 17% of global PDGA members!
PDGA Europe members:
2020 – 10,950
2021 – 16,591
2022 – 20,223
2023 – 21,612
The most important part is that the membership number has gone from 10k to almost 22k in 4 years. It’s a new floor, and the sky’s the limit.
Dynamic Discs Drama
A former Director of Operations at Dynamic Discs did an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit
There were tons of questions asked and answered by the former employee, be sure to check out the full thread here on Reddit – https://reddit.com/r/discgolf/comments/1hsvj5t/official_ama_former_director_of_operations/
Poor business ethics by Dynamic Discs
The former employee confirmed that Anthony Van Den Heuvel had been promised a promotion before being laid off, and shortly afterward, someone else was hired to fill his role.
Wysocki’s and Kona’s contracts are a failure
The former employee of Dynamic Discs also confirmed that both Ricky Wysocki’s and Kona Montgomery’s contracts have not been profitable for Dynamic Discs.
Wysocki earns at least 1,000,000 USD (1M) per year.
Kona earns at least 125,000 USD per year.
Clearance Hot Deals & What’s on Sale?!
Infinite Discs has this awesome “Clearance Hot Deals” and “What’s on Sale” section. They have a lot of discs from many different brands marked-down. Take advantage of these clearance deals and stock up for the coming season!
2025 DGPT season kickoff:
53 DAYS!
2025 DGPT season’s first event: Discraft Supreme Flight Open, Brooksville, FL, USA. From 28th February to 2nd March, 2025!
That’s it for this newsletter! If you haven’t subscribed yet, be sure to do so and share it with your disc golf buddies.
Share your thoughts!
Got any disc golf related hot takes, tips, pictures, memes, videos or anything else you’d like to share? Just reply to this email or send them over to info@discgolffanatic.com or message them to me through any social media platform (Disc Golf Fanatic).
Oh, and don’t forget to go out there and enjoy a round or two, because I definitely will!
If my calculations are correct I played a total of 604 rounds in 2024!
And I’ve played 8 rounds in 2025 so far!
DiscGolfFanatic.com – Your source for disc golf content, news, memes & more.
Discover more from Disc Golf Fanatic
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.