There's a lot of sexism and jealously, related certainly, in the Kona hate.
There's probably some of that, but there's more to consider.
(quotes below from
this article)
Panis, 23, was previously signed with Innova. About halfway through her last season, Team Dynamic Discs director Eric McCabe had told her that, if she ever needed anything, to reach out — especially if she was open to new opportunities.
Then she heard about Kristin Tattar's multi-year record-breaking $125,000 contract with Latitude 64 — a sister company to Dynamic Discs. Unhappy with how her talks were panning out with her current sponsor, Panis reached out to McCabe.
"I was like, 'Wow, that's big money for women in our sport,'" she said. "I reached out to Eric and I was like, 'I just saw this contract with Kristin, is that something that Dynamic Discs could do for me?' Eric said they could probably do something in that ballpark."
Note that the $500k figure is not a fixed amount. Her actual paychecks are based on disc sales and performance.
Kona Panis has signed a four-year, $500,000 commitment with Dynamic Discs in one of the largest announced FPO contracts in disc golf history.
The contract includes multiple tour series discs, a signature disc to launch next year, a signature bag and an incentive structure tied to tournament finishes and milestones.
Now DD was making a calculated bet. Kona is one of the best throwers of the disc in FPO, has been playing since she was 7, and her major problem is/was putting. If DD could help her improve her putting success by 2-3 putts per round, her rating would rise to 970ish making her one of the highest rated FPO players. If she could improve by 4-5 putts a round (and there's room for that), she'd be one of the top 5 in ratings.
Also DD has a long-term plan to invest in FPO competition.
Rusco said Dynamic Discs is excited to work with Panis to support and grow more women in disc golf. He said he wouldn't be surprised if Emporia added a women's-only competition in the coming years, after already hosting the Professional World Championships and Junior Worlds.
Now why, other than jealousy or misogyny, would Kona be reviled by some people?
The first seems to be that she's on the wrong side of the cockiness/confidence divide. Generally, confidence is accepted if the player performs at or near the level they publicly assess their ability. Kona has not been performing well.
The second seems to be that her contract is, to an extent, based on her social media shills rather than her disc golf skills. While that's clearly a good reason for DD, most dg fans want athletes rewarded primarily for on the field performance, like most major sports (even if that may not be a business wise attitude).
The third reason I see hasn't been discussed, but I think it lurks in the shadows. Her father works for Innova. Moreover,
Panis said she started playing disc golf when she was just 7-years-old after her father introduced her to the sport.
...
Panis and her family moved from Colorado to California so she could continue to pursue disc golf at a professional level.
"My family kind of took a chance and said, 'If this was something you want to do, I guess let's do it,'" she said.
and
So leaving Innova for DD might be viewed as a young adult declaring her independence, or it might be viewed as an opportunist abandoning a supportive family for personal monetary gain. Consonant with the latter interpretation is that DD may have seen luring Kona away from Innova as a strategic victory over a competitor.
That said, Kona being unhappy with Innova's contract offer follows other top FPO player's dissatisfaction with the company's treatment of their female professionals.
It's complicated. And the Venn diagram for jealousy and misogyny will not contain all the reasons for criticism.
