Finland has once again retained the number one spot in the latest edition of the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) Disc Golf World Rankings, making it their fourth year in a row in the top spot. Canada just pip Estonia for second place after their Continental Team Disc Golf Championship win in the Pan American event in November. This updated version of the World Rankings is, as usual, compiled in cooperation with the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA).
WFDF Disc Golf rankings are calculated using performance at WFDF team events, including the WTDGC and continental and regional events, and the PDGA ratings of the top male and female players. The U.S. ranked first in the PDGA world rankings as it has done for every WFDF world rankings, followed by Finland and Japan, with Canada and Estonia holding fourth and fifth place for PDGA points.
Overall, the top 10 countries remain the same and in the same place – with the exception of the Canada and Estonia exchange – but there have been 2 countries that have made significant progress into the top 16: Japan and Croatia. The impact of the Continental Team Disc Golf Championships in Pan America and Asia Oceania has seen Japan, Colombia, and especially Chinese Taipei move up the table.
There are now 61 countries included in the World Rankings. The countries included are adjusted given their level of participation in events contributing to ranking points and requires involvement of both Women and Juniors. We anticipate that there will be several more countries included in the next round of Rankings after the WTDGC in November 2024.
Disc Golf Chair Charlie Mead made the following points: “The increase in the number of countries included in these rankings as well as the rise in points earned is testimony to the work put in by National Disc Golf Associations and Federations across the globe. Individual countries who have nurtured their Women and Junior players have seen a significant improvement in their overall ranking and will continue to do so as WFDF promotes diversity in all our events.”
Disc Golf has recently been reintroduced to The World Games with the edition that will be held in Chengdu, China in 2025. The top 15 countries along with host country China will qualify based on the World Rankings after the results of the WFDF 2024 World Team Disc Golf Championships (WTDGC) in Perth, Australia have been incorporated.
“We are pleased to see the ongoing expansion of the World Rankings for disc golf,” stated WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch. “Our rankings are an important tool in deciding on the potential inclusion of countries in multi-sports games that require a critical and objective means for selecting athletes for their events. The competition at WTDGC in Australia this November should be fierce as teams vie for a slot at The World Games in 2025.”
The WFDF Disc Golf world rankings were first published in 2018 after the 2nd WTDGC, held in 2017 in Great Britain. The rankings were created as a way to acknowledge performance and participation in disc golf by those countries around the world who are WFDF members who participate in disc golf, both by their members individually competing, and by their participation as national teams in international events. The WFDF World Rankings also aid countries seeking funding and sponsorship for disc golf, and thus can play a part in global development of the sport.
The WFDF Disc Golf Committee regularly reviews the World Rankings criteria and continues to be open to feedback from the international disc golf community on how the rankings are calculated. The committee have published a guide to the World Rankings where criteria and calculation methods can be viewed in detail and are available on the WFDF website.