An unbiased look at “team” performance during the season by assigning points to quality finishes at Elite Series events
November 12, 2021 by Bennett Wineka in Analysis, Awards with 0 comments
As the season came to a close, the Manufacturers’ Cup titles for 2021 were close to being decided, but there was still plenty of movement possible in the individual standings.
The Manufacturers’ Cup is an objective look at “team” performance during the season by assigning points to quality finishes at elite events.
As far as awarding points to players to count toward the cup, we only count top 10 finishes, and use a variation of the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship points system: winner of event receives 25 points, the second-place finisher 18 points, with 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and 1 points for positions 3 through 10.
Ties in positions 1-9 split total points1. Ties in positions 10 and lower do not receive points.
Additionally, the highest round rating of the event gets 1 point added, and the hot round point can be awarded to more than one player, with each getting a full point.
In 2020, Innova took home its second consecutive Manufacturers’ Cup in the Open division, and Discraft earned its first Manufacturers’ Cup with its Open Women’s success.
The 2020 efficiency prizes, given to the manufacturers with the highest points per player finish, were Westside Discs in Open and Prodigy Disc in Open Women.
In total, 20 Elite Series events were scored in 2021 to determine our champions.
Due to ongoing travel restrictions and cancellations, we’ve decided to exclude EuroTour and Prodigy Disc Pro Tour events from the 2021 Manufacturers’ Cup, and will include results from Elite Series events, including PDGA Majors, National Tour, and Disc Golf Pro Tour. We will release a special edition including European results at the end of the season.
Open Women – Discraft
Discraft had taken a lead heading into Pro Worlds in the overall manufacturer standings and never let go. With a final tally of 736 points, Discraft repeated as the overall Manufacturers’ Cup champion in the Open Women’s division, 232 points better than second place Innova. The difference between first and second place was greater than the total scored by all but three companies.
With a 184 points per player average, Discraft also took home the efficiency award in the Open Women’s division, splitting the largest point total between four players. MVP, which was only represented by Sarah Hokom’s 173 point total, seemed like it should have been a sure lock for the efficiency prize. Missy Gannon, who finished fifth in the individual standings, could have made the margin of victory even higher for Discraft had her win at the Throw Pink Women’s Disc Golf Championship counted toward the final score. TPWDGC was an A-tier for the Open Women’s division, as the USWDGC Major had already been played earlier in the season.
Heather Young was the only women’s player to move into the top 10 over the final events of the season, replacing Lisa Fajkus.
Open – Innova
Innova remains undefeated in three Manufacturers’ Cups for the Open division, with its 708 point total almost 300 points better than second place Discraft. Mason Ford’s win at the Music City Open and Nathan Queen’s DGPT Championship victory were icing on the cake for the California company.
With an average of 63 points earned by five players, Discmania took home the 2021 efficiency award. Strong closes over the final three events from Paul McBeth and Adam Hammes meant Discraft jumped Innova for second place in the points per player category at 51.3 compared to 50.6 from Innova. In that regard, the addition of Ford to the qualifying players pool hurt Innova. Either way it was fighting for runner-up.
The only player to move into the individual results on the Open side was Drew Gibson, who bumped Andrew Marwede from the final top 10. His finishes at USDGC and the DGPT Championship also moved “Mixed Bag” over MVP Disc Sports in the final overall standings.
