Sunday saw the Disc Golf Pro Tour’s first Silver Series event of the season come to a close.
Chris Dickerson took down The Open at Belton by three strokes over Paul McBeth and Ricky Wysocki. On the FPO side, Catrina Allen won a nail-biter, beating out a scorching-hot Valerie Mandujano by one stroke and Kristin Tattar by two. Cat’s victory even made history …
Allen’s now the first disc golfer to win the same Silver Series event in back-to-back years.
But many disc golf fans didn’t see or know about any of this …
For starters, they might not’ve known about the DGPT running post-produced coverage of each round on their YouTube channel. Or perhaps some Disc Golf Network subscribers weren’t aware that the DGN broadcast live footage of the final round for both the MPO and FPO fields.
For some, however, plain and simple – there might’ve just been a lack of interest …
After all, The Open at Belton is little more than a Silver Series event, right?
Yes, but know this: If your brain thinks along these lines, you’re wrong …
First off, all Silver Series events play an important role in the earning of DGPT points. At each of them, disc golfers have a chance to nab 25% of standard DGPT Elite Series points.
If you’re a “bubble golfer” with an outside shot at qualifying for the Disc Golf Pro Tour Championship in Charlotte, get your butt to as many Silver Series events as possible …
Remember: Nathan Queen was the 28th seed last year – he left with 30 large in his billfold.
Next, Tour Cards are a thing this season. If you’re not a 1,000-rated professional, gaining entrance to Elite Series events is going to be an uphill battle. Jeff Spring made it clear that “qualifier tournaments” will be held to give regional pros and outsiders a real shot …
You guessed it: Most of those “qualifier tournaments” are Silver Series events.
And lastly, some of these Silver Series tourneys are flat-out legendary:
- The Santa Cruz Masters Cup? It’s a Silver Series event.
- The Beaver State Fling? Yup, that’s a Silver Series event, too.
- The PCS Sula Open? It’s also a Silver Series event … in Norway.
There’s only so much space on the Pro Tour calendar for Elite Series events. As such, it shouldn’t come as a surprise when some of the “big-name” stops of yesteryear get cut.
They still matter, though – the Silver Series ensures it.
Smart disc golf fans watch (or follow) Silver Series golf.
They enjoy it. They support it. They understand its implications.
Have anything to add? Take to Twitter to let us know – we’ll actually (for real) get back to you.
I was searching why the Silver events are worth fewer points and landed here. Reading that Silver is qualifying events, are they worth less because the field is softer?
On the flip side, why are E+, Majors, and playoffs worth more points?
Anything to do with the difficulty of the courses?
Owen, that’s a good question, my man …
It’s usually chalked up to a number of factors: field size, lower payouts, strength of field, amount of administrative staff, qualifying regulations, etc.
For higher-tiered stuff, it’s just the opposite …
The only thing I’m not really sure about is “difficulty of the course.”
I could be wrong, but I don’t believe that has much to do with it …
Great questions!