Hello everybody and welcome back to the blog! If you are a die-hard reader, you’ll notice that in last week’s issue I said I would be covering all issues in disc manufacturing. Turns out, I was just kidding! 

After reading Mackensie’s passion blog about women in sports, I thought this week would be an apt week to talk about the FPO (Female Pro Open) side of disc golf. Not that this is a shocker, but female representation in professional disc golf has been shockingly low for many reasons I will cover today. However, in the last 5 years, female representation has doubled and many non-profits have been established to provide funding for women in disc golf. 

Alright, let’s cover the FPO division on the pro tour; I’m not going to lie to you, it’s sort’ve in shambles. Up until very very recently, there just hasn’t been enough money on the tour for pro women to make a reasonable living off of disc golf. In 2017, professional Sarah Hokom conducted a study on payouts and had this to say on the matter:

“Women are making around 40 percent of what the men make at the most elite level.” – Sarah Hokom

However, in recent years that disparity has been closed. For example, in 2020 the top 10 male and female professionals received the same bonuses for their National Elite Series Finishes. However, the DGPT still has a long way to go, with some payouts being double for MPO what they are for FPO.

One issue in this pay gap is the difference between FPO and MPO in number of players. In the 2022 Ledgestone Open, 147 men competed compared to 49 women. Regardless of what you think about equal payouts, it’s hard to argue when players pay to enter tournaments and the money put in by men almost triples the money put in by women.

 

So, where does the gap in numbers come from? The answer comes in the form of one player; Kristin Tattar. Let’s take a look at the rankings of women on the disc golf Pro Tour;

 

As you can see, Kristin is first and it isn’t even close. You see the average event placement? First, She won every event in the 2023 season that mattered to her ranking. A huge problem in women’s disc golf right now is that no one is excited to watch the same person win ever single event; it’s boring programming.

So how does the Pro Tour and the community come together to fix this problem? The good news is, they already have been. One large win for the FPO side of disc golf is that in 4 years, the percentage of representation of females in disc golf more than doubled; from ~7% in 2017 to 14% in 2020. This number is still on the rise, with more and more women signing up for PDGA memberships every day. Another large help in the fight for equality for women in disc golf is Throw Pink, a non-profit who’s motto is to support women’s health initiatives through disc golf events nationwide and encourage more female representation in the sport. Throw Pink also hosts USWDGC, the most highly attended FPO event every year.

To wrap things up, disc golf as a whole has been working towards a more equal game, but they still have much progress to make before FPO is equal in payment and representation to MPO.