Christine Jennings and Luke Humphries took home the 2019 PDGA Rookie of the Year crowns. Photos: Alyssa Van Lanen

Grind is a major word used these days in professional disc golf.

It means that players, in a stacked and growing talent pool of competitors, must put in the work, hit the road and excel.

The word exemplifies this past season for Luke Humphries and Christine Jennings, who were recently named the 2019 PDGA Rookies of the Year. Both topped a competitive field of players that promise to be household names soon, if they're not already.

2018 PDGA Rookies of the Year: Mason Ford (left) and Lauren Butler (right). Photos: Joni Floyd Smith, Alyssa Van Lanen

While many are content with competing as an amateur for their entire disc golf career, there are those with the desire to not only play as a professional but to thrive as one. That path can sometimes be a rocky one -- especially during the first year -- but there are always a handful of rookies that traverse the trail better than anyone else, with the most successful earning the title of PDGA Rookie of the Year.

Left to right: Des Reading, Brian Graham, and John Bird.

Introduction

The Professional Disc Golf Association, founded in 1976, held the first PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships in Los Angeles in 1982. The title of World Champion is still the most coveted in the sport today, with hundreds of the best male and female competitors on the planet attempting to add their name to the list of PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Champions each and every year.