For the Fans

Collegiate Disc Golf. Why Not?

Posted by: Tom Young

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 6:53 AM

I’m in the middle of getting ready for a tournament.  This weekend, I will be playing the Peoria Frisbee Club’s Greater Peoria Open.  This will be the biggest tournament that I’ve played in, and I am very excited to see how I stack up to some stiff competition.  I will play two rounds of 18 at Northwood Park in Morton and 18 at McNaughton Park in Pekin on Saturday.  Sunday, we will play 27 holes at Lake Eureka Park in Eureka.  Disc golf tournaments are a blast.  Although I have had some bad experiences, the great experiences I have had make it worth it.  You meet some interesting people who share the same passion you do, and you get to see some phenomenal disc golf. 

 

About 5 years ago, I took part in a small collegiate tournament in Bowling Green, KY.  Players from colleges like Illinois, Vanderbilt, Western Illinois, Western Kentucky participated, and it was one of the first tournaments of its kind.  I think it would be awesome if there could be more tournaments like this across the country.  I think it would be great if different college clubs got together and set up some sort of league for disc golf at the college level.  This sport grows more and more every year.   I remember when I first started playing in 1999 and a lot of people I talked to about it had no idea what it was.  Today, people have at least heard about it, or have played it before.  The PDGA (Professional Disc Golf Association) grows more and more with each passing year.  Every year, you see more people become members, more tournaments, and more winnings for the pros, amateurs, and beginners. 

 

There are close to 3,000 courses in the world, and most of those are located here in the USA.  Did you know that there are currently 124 courses in Illinois alone?  There are plenty of places to hold tournaments.  How cool would it be if there were a Big Ten Open, where players from all the Big Ten Schools competed in a big weekend tournament somewhere in the Midwest?  You got a number of courses in the Chicago area, also a fair amount around Indianapolis, so you could make it a neutral site.  I know I would watch this event and enjoy every minute of it. 

 

There was a collegiate event back in April that took place in South Carolina, and a number or schools participated.  It would be great to have conference, or regional tournaments, where the best teams would move on to a championship to compete for the national title.  I don’t think we are all that far away from something like this, but that all depends on how much the colleges help out with the financial aid. 

 

What do you guys think?  Leave a comment below.

 

I-L-L…

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