Nikko Locastro

Nikko Locastro
Born	September 16, 1988 (age 27) St. Louis, Missouri
Nationality	American
Occupation	Professional Disc Golfer

Nikko Locastro (born September 16, 1988) is a professional disc golf player from St. Louis, Missouri. He has been playing the sport professionally since 2006. As of December 2012, Locastro is ranked 19th in the world,^[1] and has the 10th highest rating, currently at 1037.^[2] Although he has only been playing professionally for six years, he has improved quickly and added multiple Major wins to his name. In 2009, and then again in 2010, he broke Barry Schultz's season winnings record. He was previously sponsored by Gateway Disc Golf, Dynamic Discs, and Innova Discs. In 2011, Nikko was awarded the Player of the Year award, for the third consecutive year.^[3]

Amateur career

Nikko ascended quickly through the amateur ranks. In 2004, he worked his way through divisions, starting in Juniors and ending in Advanced, where he would stay until turning pro in 2006. While he was not dominant as an amateur nationwide, he was competitive. In 2005, he placed 34th in the Bowling Green Amateur Championships, held in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the largest disc golf tournament in the world. 2006 was his best year as an amateur. He won three tournaments and finished third at Bowling Green and sixth at Worlds. After worlds, Nikko decided to play professionally.

Professional career

2009 season

Nikko's 2009 season is without a doubt his breakout season. In this season, he played 43 events and won 16 of them. Of these wins, six were A Tier tournaments, and one was a National Tour event. His most notable event, however, was his win in the United States Disc Golf Championship, his first major. His win made him only the fifth different winner in this tournament. He also bested the previous record for earnings in a year, beating Barry Schultz's total by over $2,000.

2010 season

Somehow, Nikko improved upon his previous year. In fewer events, he managed more winnings, besting his previous record by nearly $4,000. In addition to earning more, he was much more consistent, finishing no lower than 13th. Among his fourteen wins were 5 A Tiers, a National Tour event, the Vibram Open, and his second major, the 2010 Japan Open, held in Tochigi, Nasu Highlands, Japan. He also finished second at the USDGC and Scandinavian Open, both majors.

2011 season

While no majors were won this year, Nikko still had a very solid year. In 31 events played as of November 11, he has won 15. Of these 15 wins, 5 were A Tiers, and two were National Tour events. One of the A Tier wins included the Stockholm Open, held in Stockholm, Sweden. This was Nikko's only international win in 2011. As of the September and August updates, Nikko's player rating reached 1045, the second highest rating of all time, behind David Feldberg's 1046.^[4]

2012 season

Nikko started out his 2012 season by winning the 13th annual Gentlemen's Club Classic. Averaging a 1070 rating over the three rounds, he took home $1,400 for his first A Tier win of the year. Shortly after on May 5–6, Nikko won his second A Tier win at the St. Louis Open tournament held annually each year. This years tournament took place at the Jefferson Barracks, Sioux Passage, and Endicott courses. Another notable win in 2012 was his in the "Ledgestone Insurance Championships Super Tour", where he took home $2,500 in winnings. Locastro finished 15th at World Championships.

Wins

Date	Tournament	Tier	Location	Earnings
March 5, 2009	The Memorial	NT	Scottsdale, Arizona	$2,500	Results
October 7, 2009	US Disc Golf Championship	M	Rock Hill, South Carolina	$15,000	Results
June 10, 2010	Japan Open	M	Tochigi, Japan	$5,450	Results
August 13, 2010	Vibram Open	NT	Leicester, MA	$3,000	Results
April 2, 2011	Texas State Championships	NT	Hitchcock, Texas	$1,410	Results
May 13, 2011	Alabama Disc Golf Championship	NT	Athens, Alabama	$2,065	Results

Annual statistics

Year	Events	Wins	Top 3	Earnings	$ / Event	Rating
2006	15	2	5	$2,646	$176.40	996
2007	21	2	8	$5,536	$263.62	1008
2008	26	8	18	$13,848	$532.62	1024
2009	43	16	30	$42,926	$998.28	1032
2010	37	14	27	$46,757	$1,263.70	1040
2011	34	17	24	$31,860	$937.06	1044
2012	22	5	9	$14,618	664.45	1037
Career	198	65	121	$158,191	$690.87	x

• The above information was gathered from Nikko's player page.

References

1. PDGA (December 2012). "December 2012 World Rankings". Retrieved 2013-01-02.
2. PDGA (December 2012). "PDGA World Rankings". Retrieved 2013-01-02.
3. PDGA (February 22, 2012). "2011 POY/ROY". Retrieved 2012-02-25.
4. PDGA (March 29, 2011). "He Made It!". Retrieved 2011-11-14.

http://www.stlmugshots.com/show.php?id=076156387&name=nikko-locastro

External links

• Nikko Locastro Website
• PDGA Stats Page