I’ve been following professional disc golf for the better part of a decade. I love the game. I love the players. I love the intensity of competition and the thrill of victory. But for me, something the sport is desperately missing at the highest level is a number of heated, well-known rivalries.
This isn’t a strange request, either.
Think of the more “household” sports Americans follow: football, baseball, basketball, hockey, etc. These are great sports for a number of reasons, but each is jam-packed with intense rivalries. They’re fun. Fans lose their minds over ‘em. The gravity of performance immediately escalates.
On this day four years ago, Kevin Durant returned to Oklahoma City for the first time signing with the Warriors.
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) February 11, 2021
There was no lack of drama between KD and his former Thunder teammates Russell Westbrook and Andre Roberson 😤pic.twitter.com/V744HzmTt4
We’ll stick with individual rivalries, though, as they better align with disc golf …
Try these on for size:
- Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson
- Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali
- Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer
- Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning
- Wayne Gretzky vs. Mario Lemieux
Yeah, disc golf isn’t quite there yet.
There’s nothing wrong with sportsmanship. To grow the sport, it must be encouraged. But the current culture of disc golf isn’t conducive to the building of rivalries between players. Disc golf is handshakes and high-fives. It’s not grudges, pettiness and cold-shoulders amongst cardmates.
That’s a good thing, but still …
A step or two on the wild, more “Locastro-esque” side wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
There’s good news, though …
For anybody who thinks like me, disc golf contracts are now 1) starting to command top-dollar compensation, and 2) very public. Not all disc golf contracts – just the “top-dollar” ones.
Unlike more mainstream sports, in disc golf there are very few high-end offers available. In most professional sports, there’s payday disparity, but it’s nothing like the current state of disc golf.
Take Kona Panis’ new contract, for example:
- $500,000 over four years.
- Performance and social media bonuses.
- Tour series discs, a signature disc, a signature bag, etc.
The ninth-ranked female disc golfer in the world is not only making substantially more money than most of the eight female disc golfers positioned ahead of her, but (probably) the majority of the top-10 best disc golfers in the MPO field, as well …
That’s not a normal thing in any professional sport.
And if you don’t think the likes of Eveliina Salonen, Haily King, Missy Gannon, Sarah Hokom and Valerie Mandujano – all golfers whose on-course product is arguably more conducive to winning tournaments than Kona’s – aren’t painfully aware of this, you’re kidding yourself.
The exact same thing goes for the guys.
Tom Brady’s name appeared earlier on in this article. This is a guy who’s won the Super Bowl seven times, but to this day, never misses an opportunity to remind people that he was drafted by the New England Patriots with the 199th pick during the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft.
Be it about draft position or contract details, know this: Perceived disrespect fans the flames of excessive competition. Disc golf is changing. Intense, must-watch rivalries aren’t far away.
The boom of disc golf contracts is to be thanked.
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