How much money do top pro disc golf players make a year?

Via tournaments? I'm thinking about quitting my day job.

[Luke B]

Innova has given some pretty cool bonuses to their top players, rewarding them for traveling to promote the sport, and not because of a specific top finish. I think they do a lot more than most players realize. And last I checked the guys at innova/discraft weren't rolling into the tournament parking lot in lambo's, there isn't anyone behind the companies getting crazy rich off the sport.


you gotta remember that touring "full time" is essentially a 8 month/year job, where depending on your skill set you could be working on weeks off during that time as well.

I was really impressed when talking with Feldberg a few months ago, as he was telling me how many different things he has going on in terms of disc golf related projects. I think there's definitely more potential for profit than just what is paid out at the end of tournaments. Many players still sell discs to help cover travel costs, others give 1 on 1 lessons, etc.

[Kris Orrick]

I just got sponsored by INNOVA this year, and I'm not complaining. Yeah cash could be better and a 30k year end playing bonus would be nice, but Its a performance based sponsorship, which I like "you have to earn your keep." My only problem is this...We all know that Discgolf is a rapidly growing sport but it basically prays for promotion. Here is my scoop from a professional player's standpoint.

I personally believe that there should be a seperation among tournaments. Meaning that, Pros and Ams Should'nt play on the same field. (Sorry if my opinion offends anybody) Last year I played 24 events and could have earned some pretty good bonus cash Had I been sponsored at the time.

Besides that, the only other problem i had were EVENTS filling up a month prior, As many people live from paycheck to paycheck I live weekend to weekend. So if the advanced or am player gets his money 1 month and a day before me than I don't have the oppurtunity to earn bonus cash or move UP or down in the world rankings. Not to mention the other pro guys who tried to sign-up after me. (this happened 6 times in a year----do the math 6 tournaments * $450 my tournament avg = $2500 not in my pocket.)

On the other hand, From a spectators point of view, who would ever want to watch any sport If pros were not on the field?
For example, Do you want to see me play ball golf or do you want to see Tiger Woods play ball golf? uuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmm thats hard to answer. However thats sort of the case in discgolf. That could be why its hard to get a 2min local news segement for that A-tier thats paying 2k for first place, b/c (daddys little Jr got 3rd in the 16 and under division)

This is all personal opinoin, feel free to bash at your own will , but thanks to all of the TD's who have Am weekend tournaments first, and Pro tournament weekends second GREAT IDEA & ORGANIZATION. Kris Orrick "KO" 20020

[Kris Orrick]

you rock

[Jamestown]

I agree with Chuck also. If you have ever been to a Pro Golf Tournament that is televised you will notice that you see no one smoking. Let me tell you there are chain smokers and drinkers on the links during play. This is not band even though televised. The players just realize that if this is going on they will not get any air time.

My question to all who reads this... What have you done to help bring big business and sponsorship to your sport?

Chuck Kennedy said:

The image is a relatively insignificant factor compared with lack of spectators either in person or online, especially those that pay to watch. We are a participation sport where most people would rather play than watch. If that continues, we can become as big as softball in participants, but still no spectators, meaning few sponsors outside the sport, if any. If we were pulling a few thousand spectators to an event, bigger sponsors would notice. As long as the top players kept on a straight line in public, any overall image produced by casual players would not matter. Use snowboarding as an example.

[stephen b]

you'd be lucky to cover travel expenses

[Donny Olow]

Just Traveling , Rental Car , Hotel and Food really add up !!!!

[Nascar Mike]

You really have got to be kidding me. I have the perfect Major sponsor for the PDGA. How about KLEENEX. THe am sent his money in first. HUH? you obviously Believe that the sport revolves around the pros. NOT. The PDGA already caters to the pros enuff. For example, pros with a player rating low enuff are allowed to compete in advanced. I say bullspit to that. So basically you are saying thanks for playing advanced, now go beat these bagging pros. Example, clubs and or td's make money off the am payout...(plastic) and usually add this money to the Pro players payout. This is bullspit. Why couldn't this money be added back to the am payout. TD's put on these events for all players,not just the pros. Split weekend, lets go into that. TD's twice the work, twice the complaining, full am weekend, 50 entries pro weekend, and 25 of them are ams just wanting to play. So basically you are saying have a second weekend for pros only so we can win all this money that the ams are paying in? Oh yeah, where are all the pros voluntering their time during am weekend. Be a spotter, putting on some sort of DG clinic during lunch time, or simply helping out by trying to raise cash or merchandise sponsorsip for said event that they want to play. Some do but it is very few. Most places that can afford to have seperate weekends usually do. Right now the economy is in the toilet and I think the pros should be pleased to share a course with the ams whose money goes to their payout. Cry me a river. I can't get in the tournamnet because an am sent his money in first. I got an idea, how bout the Pdga puts an official on every hole with every group and people start playing by the rules. Like when you see all those pros jump putt and their foot is off the ground when they release the disc. FOOT FAULT! Sorry for the rant but come on

Kris Orrick said:

I just got sponsored by INNOVA this year, and I'm not complaining. Yeah cash could be better and a 30k year end playing bonus would be nice, but Its a performance based sponsorship, which I like "you have to earn your keep." My only problem is this...We all know that Discgolf is a rapidly growing sport but it basically prays for promotion. Here is my scoop from a professional player's standpoint.

I personally believe that there should be a seperation among tournaments. Meaning that, Pros and Ams Should'nt play on the same field. (Sorry if my opinion offends anybody) Last year I played 24 events and could have earned some pretty good bonus cash Had I been sponsored at the time.

Besides that, the only other problem i had were EVENTS filling up a month prior, As many people live from paycheck to paycheck I live weekend to weekend. So if the advanced or am player gets his money 1 month and a day before me than I don't have the oppurtunity to earn bonus cash or move UP or down in the world rankings. Not to mention the other pro guys who tried to sign-up after me. (this happened 6 times in a year----do the math 6 tournaments * $450 my tournament avg = $2500 not in my pocket.)

On the other hand, From a spectators point of view, who would ever want to watch any sport If pros were not on the field?
For example, Do you want to see me play ball golf or do you want to see Tiger Woods play ball golf? uuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmm thats hard to answer. However thats sort of the case in discgolf. That could be why its hard to get a 2min local news segement for that A-tier thats paying 2k for first place, b/c (daddys little Jr got 3rd in the 16 and under division)

This is all personal opinoin, feel free to bash at your own will , but thanks to all of the TD's who have Am weekend tournaments first, and Pro tournament weekends second GREAT IDEA & ORGANIZATION. Kris Orrick "KO" 20020

[Kris Orrick]

Nascar Mike, thankyou for the Negative comments, Great reponse though. The fact is this, Sorry for the "Bagger Pros" playing Advanced, but lets make one thing clear I dont have a problem beating bagger Pro/Advanced players I think bagging shows weakness, but thanks for your support.

Maybe I should hve said have the pro weekends 1st and the Adv weekend 2nd. I dont want to give out the impression that I want to take from the AM fields. In fact, I believe that their should be a 110% payout in all divisions. So I really think that you missed the Idea or maybe you were just "crying me a river" , but the fact is the Am fields are the PDGA's and the disc companies bread and butter, So by having seperated fields would probally expand growth.

Sorry I never realized I was playing for the AMs money. I thought I compete for 40% of my fellow (pro) competitors money Plus whatever added cash required by the PDGA. When did this rule change? Anyway I think having seperate weekends would be great Idea meaning Pros can play for their cash Ams can play for ALL of their cash, Nobody gets turned away, Sandbagging wil be restricted by ratings and seperate tournaments, And pros don't have to play course layouts that are set up to accomidate AM fields. Thankyou for your response feel free to bash some more Kris Orrick 20020

[Kade Atkinson]

Kris Orrick said:

I thought I compete for 40% of my fellow (pro) competitors money Plus whatever added cash required by the PDGA. When did this rule change?

Wow If I could find 72 pros who would give me 60% of thier buy in just to put on a tourny, Id do it every weekend. I think you should check out pdga.com for official rules. The 40% you are referring to is the amount of the field getting paid out. Look at the numbers.

[Kris Orrick]

The answer to the last paragraph . Its simple are you into the tournament for the players, local club or pocket? This is my arguement because I previously Ran a local event to raise money for baskets and discs for a local national guard troop leaving for Iraq this month. the first thing that I had to do was to get Added cash so the wheels will turn. And within 3 days I had $500 dollars (enough for a B-tier. Not to mention the other 600 I turned down). So here is the scoop taking money from the advanced field to pad the pro field in my opinion is being lazy. Of course I know the stresses of a TD this is not my first rodeo. But I also know how club events work, 1 dollar off every head is taken out for the club, similarly thats how the PDGA operates. thats Fine. However with all of the courses and clubs being organized the only direction that we are going in is over population, meaning that if there is no future seperation of tournaments and weekends than there will be 5 different pdga tournaments on the same weekend in the same state (its already happening). And the only thing that will seperate a pro player (who actually puts in the time) from the Advanced players is the extra 25 bucks we pay at renewal time. So lets face it discgolf is never going to be reconized as a mainstream sport if the pros are not respected for their talents. But to answer your question about where do you think the pro money comes from? from my personal expierence the best way is to simply ask. Yeah you may be told no but not every time. I raised 500 bucks in 2 days simlpy by asking.

Oh yeah sorry again for not wording everything correctly Mark you are right "typically only the upper 40% of the field is paid out from that pool of money. I'm actually very aware of this I was in that top 40% 24 out of 24 times last year. I know whoooray for me. I guess if you understand what its like playing for cash, there is a little more stress than playing for discs but I guess thats hard to understand If you have never been there. Never the less my opinion has not yet been changed, Seperate tournaments, forget the added AM cash Just increase the pro entries, play the hardest layouts, and no hold-ups or distractions from other divisions.

. All you have to do is ask and they will sponsor. you may not get the five hundred everytime but you will get something most of the time I know from expierence. As far as sactioning fees go I have seen the set-up and they are not that much at all, So if thats a concern then let me know. If you split weekends at your events I will pay those chump change fees.

Incase asking for sponsorships is too time consuming, than combining clubs for 1 event is not a bad Idea, and even run a local fund raising tourney with cool donated prizes from club members. that is what our club does. If worse comes to worse than I ll come up to michigan and personally go into business's and show u how to raise added cash and prizes. I know its not as easy as it sounds neither is becoming top 25 in the world just takes time, effort, and dedication.

Thankyou for your response I have no hard feelings to your disagreements keep the bashing coming It helps me get outlooks other than my own. Kris Orrick "KO" 20020 And maybe some day the proplayers wont be laughed at on websites because of the money they earn. As for now dont quit your day jobs unless you can really play

[Nascar Mike]

If I made it seem like a bashing my apologies. I only ask that you read your comments from an outsiders perspective. Our Club puts on Four events every year. Two actually but the PDGA requires seperate sanctioning fees for seperate weekends. There is about $400. One weekend am and one weekend pro. Our club charges a competition fee of $1 to every player in Handicap which goes towards our PDGA events. We buck up the money for the am's players pack, and DO NOT take this from their entry fee. We always add cash to the pros field. $500 in April and $1500 in November. MOney is also raised by purchasing large amounts of plastic for the am payout. Just so you know, we pay wholesale and do payout in retail. There is your profit sir. This helps pay for THE PRO PAYOUT. Oh yeah, lets not forget about the cost of feeding every person at each tournament at each weekend. Also, big props to a big time pro in our area who always gives HUGE amounts of sponsorship stuff. I understand not everyone knows how events are run and where the money comes from. Yeah you have small fundraiser events and hit some bars and clubs and eateries, all trying to raise cash, prizes, and stuff for players packs. I have yet to see a company buck up anything more than a $200 sponsorship. Usually half of that in merchandise. It costs a lot of money to run an event and not to mention time. Personally, I would rather have a bunch of C-tier events and not give players packs or add money to the pro purse. This way the money could be used to put on events in our area for club members only and show appreciation to the people who donate their money every week and don't complain. As far as the PDGA goes, I don't want to bash them too much, but the rating system is flawed. Giving "amnesty" last year or was it the year before, was a joke. I don't really know what the PDGA does to promote the sport or try to make things better for all golfers except they charge a sanctioning fee to run an event, charge to be a member, charge to be a certified official, and charge money from each players entry fee. Maybe the payout for am's should change from plactic to cash.

How about the PDGA does this. You must be a PRo to Compete in Pro weekend events. That way the ams play their weekend only and cannot "donate" their entry fee to the pro purse. I am also confused about an Am layout. The course is the course isn't it? That is what short pads are for. Why should the course change for different divisions? I can understand that pros would rather play in foursomes only having 50 players in the tourney. It makes for a quick event for the staff and the competitors. I traveled last year to an event and was showered, drinkin beer in the hotel by 4:00 p.m. Yeah great we were done early, but the payout sucked and it was an A-tier. One funny thing too, it was a PDGA event and their was a keg of beer at tourney central that you could fill up your jug passing thru during the round. Isn't this illegal according to the PDGA rule book? Sorry PDGA and their staff, but you guys confuse me.

Back to the thread that started all this Chris. I do not dislike you. I don't even know you. What I do know is that you didn't like the fact that an am sent his money in first which cost you to miss a tournament. Not all clubs can afford to run seperate events or have the volunteers to do so. So my only real response is send in your money sooner if it is a combined weekend. Again apologies for bashing you but don't get pissed at volunteers who put on single weekend events. It is already a thankless job that requires lots of time, money, and stress. Good luck to you this year in your tournaments.

Kris Orrick said:

Nascar Mike, thankyou for the Negative comments, Great reponse though. The fact is this, Sorry for the "Bagger Pros" playing Advanced, but lets make one thing clear I dont have a problem beating bagger Pro/Advanced players I think bagging shows weakness, but thanks for your support.

Maybe I should hve said have the pro weekends 1st and the Adv weekend 2nd. I dont want to give out the impression that I want to take from the AM fields. In fact, I believe that their should be a 110% payout in all divisions. So I really think that you missed the Idea or maybe you were just "crying me a river" , but the fact is the Am fields are the PDGA's and the disc companies bread and butter, So by having seperated fields would probally expand growth.

Sorry I never realized I was playing for the AMs money. I thought I compete for 40% of my fellow (pro) competitors money Plus whatever added cash required by the PDGA. When did this rule change? Anyway I think having seperate weekends would be great Idea meaning Pros can play for their cash Ams can play for ALL of their cash, Nobody gets turned away, Sandbagging wil be restricted by ratings and seperate tournaments, And pros don't have to play course layouts that are set up to accomidate AM fields. Thankyou for your response feel free to bash some more Kris Orrick 20020

[Kris Orrick]

Mark looking foward to reading your response, I think that Nascar mike has a great Idea (multiple Ctiers). I'm not saying lets all have a ton of c tiers, but you could use tiers to seperate fields meaning that C- tiers are for Int and beginner players B tiers could be for the good adv players and bagger open players, A-tiers for pros who are trying to EARN their way to the national tour statistics. I guess my main concern is not to ban the ams but to add structure into our sport to accomidate future growth. Honestly lets be real the way things are set up know I can pay 75 bucks and sign my dog "birdie" up as a professional player. I would simply like to see our sport set-up like golf Where each player has to earn their way to the top. I think by having maybe 7 usdgc type tournaments a year may add a little gasoline to the slow burning fire that our sport is. This will allow local clubs to become stronger and in return maybe have a great pro and am tournaments one day. Or maybe If mutiple clubs within 1 state could all get together and run a big pro event. I would Give up playing 7 C or B tiers for the ams to play one Bad Ass tourney for pros. If the clubs state wide got together than we could have awesome AM state championships and awesome pro state championships and who knows If it draws the stud players like Climo, Dave, Avery,etc... than we may actually have spectators. Keep the comments rolling both good and bad I'm always up to hear new Ideas to help or sport grow so that one day the next generations can make an honest living off this awesome game. That will be the day where threads like this will be viewed as "wow look how much top discgolfers make in a year, rather than dont quit your day job the top discgolfers only make 30k. KO-20020