October 1, 2020 by Patrick Aubyrn in News, Rankings with 0 comments
In our last mid-season edition of the 2020 Power Rankings, America’s top three players—Paige Pierce, Sarah Hokom, and Catrina Allen—retain their hold on the top three spots, but the young guns are lurking. The Green Mountain Championship and the MVP Open featured some thrilling final rounds, and we’re hoping for more of the same in Arkansas and the Carolinas. It’s fair to say that everyone is chasing the six-time DGPT winner and presumptive Player of the Year Paige Pierce at this point. She’s back to her winning ways, has never lost the Jonesboro Open, and has past competitive experience at the Winthrop Arena that is sure to give her an advantage between the ropes. But with three tournaments over three consecutive weekends, including the only Major of the year, the physical and mental toll will be grueling. It’s all about that grind, and it ain’t over ’til it’s over.
Methodology: We combine an algorithmic objective ranking with subjective ballots submitted by UWDG staff and subscribers. The algorithm uses a standardized scoring model to compare elite events, awards competition and cash bonuses, and features a decay function that gradually phases out past results. Staff and subscribers consider results from the past two months, prioritizing elite events in the U.S. and Europe. The most recent month receives priority over the previous month. Voters may consider other PDGA sanctioned events but observe the following hierarchy: Elite > A-tiers > B-tiers > C-tiers. For this edition of the Power Rankings, we prioritized the following tournaments:
| US Tournament | Dates | Euro Tournament | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| MVP Open | Sept. 11-13 | ||
| Green Mountain Championship | Sept. 3-6 | ||
| Ledgestone Insurance Open | Aug. 13-16 | ||
| Idlewild Open | Aug. 7-9 | ||
| Prodigy Disc Pro Tour - Kuopio | Jul. 31-Aug. 2 |
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.
FPO Power Rankings:
| Rank | Player | Change | Prior |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paige Pierce | - | 1 |
| 2 | Sarah Hokom | +1 | 3 |
| 3 | Catrina Allen | -1 | 2 |
| 4 | Hailey King | +5 | 9 |
| 5 | Heather Young | +3 | 8 |
| 6 | Missy Gannon | -1 | 5 |
| 7 | Eveliina Salonen | -1 | 6 |
| 8 | Kristin Tattar | +2 | 10 |
| 9 | Henna Blomroos | -2 | 7 |
| 10 | Ellen Widboom | -6 | 4 |
1. Paige Pierce
Rating: 982
Last Month: 1st place – Green Mountain Championship, 1st place – MVP Open
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 1st place – The Memorial, Dynamic Discs Open, The Preserve Championship, Great Lakes Open, Green Mountain Championship, MVP Open
Paige Pierce suffered an acute case of the “what ifs” after her second place finish at the Ledgestone Insurance Open. There she averaged 960-rated golf over the first three rounds but capped her tournament off with a 1032-rated, 11-under par 50 in the final round. In the seven rounds since then, Pierce has averaged 999-rated golf and picked up two more Ws on the DGPT against stiff competition from Hailey King at the GMC and Sarah Hokom at the MVP Open. Winning handily like she did at the Dynamic Discs Open (10 strokes) and the Preserve Championship (13 strokes) is impressive, but winning back-to-back tournaments in the final round shows some real grit.
2. Sarah Hokom
Rating: 968
Last Month: 3rd place – Green Mountain Championship, 2nd place – MVP Open, 1st place – The Maine State Championships (A), 1st place – The Hollows Fall Classic (A)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 2nd place – Idlewild Open, MVP Open
Sarah Hokom is peaking at the right time. With three consecutive off-week wins and podium finishes at the last two DGPT tournaments, she’s in prime form to contend at the final three events. It’ll be especially interesting to see how Hokom fares at the Disc Side of Heaven course. The early days with MVP Disc Sports in 2019 were a bit bumpy and she finished in eighth place at the Jonesboro Open, but in ’17 and ’18 Hokom finished second and fourth, respectively. Comfort with her disc arsenal combined with her recent run of play should yield a better result this time around.
3. Catrina Allen
Rating: 966
Last Month: 3rd place – Green Mountain Championship, 4th place MVP Open, 2nd place – The Music City Open (A)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 1st place – The Ledgestone Insurance Open
In her last two DGPT tournaments, Catrina Allen turned in the type of solid top-5 finishes expected of her when she’s not winning. She looks more relaxed on the course lately, which bodes well for her heading into the Jonesboro Open and the Women’s National Championship. On paper, these courses are well-suited to her strengths, and if you follow Sara Sinclair on social media, you know that Allen’s been hitting the gym the way she likes to before a big event. Like Hokom, she’s in prime position to challenge Pierce heading into the final stretch of the season.
4. Hailey King
Rating: 949
Last Month: 2nd place – Green Mountain Championship, 4th place – MVP Open
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 2nd place – Green Mountain Championship
In the last edition of the Power Rankings I said, “Hailey King is flying a bit under the radar right now. She’s only played two of the five Elite Series DGPT events since the restart, but quietly notched top 5 finishes at both.” Under the radar no longer. If King had matched her tournament average for C1X putting in rounds 1-3 during the final round of the GMO, she likely would have walked away with the W in Vermont. No matter, she outclassed everyone but the best player in the world that weekend and has two more top 5 finishes in the ledger. If she can keep it on the dance floor in Arkansas and the Carolinas—fairway percentage is her weakest statistical category—I’ve got a feeling she could make another serious run at the top spot.
5. Heather Young
Rating: 948
Last Month: 6th place – Green Mountain Championship, 3rd place – MVP Open
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 3rd place – Ledgestone Insurance Open, MVP Open
It is a shame that we won’t see Heather Young in Jonesboro, it’s an attackable course that rewards a steady hand. She claimed the third podium spot at the MVP Open courtesy of a 1002-rated, 2-under par 59 in the final round, her first time cracking four digits on the ratings front. Though she only ranked sixth in the G.I.R. categories, her stellar putting and scrambling set her apart from the remainder of the field.
6. Missy Gannon
Rating: 949
Last Month: 6th place – Green Mountain Championship, 7th place – MVP Open, 1st place – Stafford Open (A), 2nd place – Hollows Fall Classic (A)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 2nd place – Dynamic Discs Open
Missy Gannon has averaged 952-rated golf over the past four tournaments, just north of her current player rating, but hasn’t really pushed her ceiling during that span. Of her last 13 rounds, her highest single-round ratings are 986 and 970. That said, the Disc Side of Heaven course is similar to the Emporia Country Club and Airborn Disc Golf Preserve, where she notched her best DGPT finishes this season. What’s the weather forecast in Joneboro? If it gets a bit breezy, Gannon has a distinct advantage on the green courtesy of her trusty spin putt.
7. Eveliina Salonen
Rating: 970
Last Month: 1st place – Nokia Open (C)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 1st place – Waco Annual Charity Open, Prodigy Disc Pro Tour – Turku, Prodigy Disc Pro Tour – Tampere, Prodigy Disc Pro Tour – Kuopio
It seems as though the season is over for Europe’s #1. Eveliina Salonen picked up her fifth win of the year at the beginning of September in Nokia, besting her buddy Henna Blomroos by six, and isn’t currently registered for any more tournaments.
8. Kristin Tattar
Rating: 971
Last Month: 1st place – Eesti Meistrivõistlused (B), 1st place – Pärnumaa Lahtised Meistrivõistlused Discgolfis (C)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 2nd place – Prodigy Disc Pro Tour – Turku, Prodigy Disc Pro Tour – Kuopio
Ditto Europe’s highest rated player. She won by 17 at the Eesti Meistrivõistlused over Anneli Tõugas and by 20 at the Pärnumaa Lahtised Meistrivõistlused Discgolfis. Neither was an Elite Series event, but dominance is dominance.
9. Henna Blomroos
Rating: 965
Last Month: 2nd place – Nokia Open (C)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 1st place – Prodigy Disc Pro Tour – Helsinki
Ditto Europe’s #3. The Henna-coaster rolled on in Nokia, where Blomroos recorded 948-, 869-, and 996-rated rounds. Her second round was the worst of the weekend in FPO and her third round was the best of the weekend. Without the stat sheet it’s hard to say what caused the second round slump, but it’s a recipe for disaster any time you fail to card a birdie and log a sextuple-bogey 10 in the same round.
10. Ellen Widboom
Rating: 940
Last Month: 1st place – Three Rivers Open (B), 1st place – The Hamilton County Open (B), 1st place – Jacksonville Open (A), 3rd place – Music City Open (A)
2020 Best Elite Series Finish: 1st place – Idlewild Open
Ellen Widboom just plays good golf. She eked out a playoff victory over Christine Jennings in Indiana after a spell of below average play in the final round, cruised to an eight-throw victory in her home state of Florida, and hopped on the podium against a solid 24-player field in Nashville this past weekend.
Top 25 continues below.
Bonus Content for Ultiworld Disc Golf FPO Power Rankings [October 1, 2020] is only available to Ultiworld Subscribers
Already have a subscription? Log in
Whether you visit Ultiworld for our reporting, our podcasts, or our video coverage, you can help us continue to provide high quality content with a subscription. By becoming a subscriber, not only do you receive benefits like bonus content and full article RSS feeds, you also help fund all of Ultiworld's coverage in general. We appreciate your support!
