Nearly 400 ambitious disc golfers from around the world are currently competing in Grand Rapids for a shot at the 2024 Professional Disc Golf Association’s amateur world title.
The weeklong event kicked off Aug. 3 with a mixed doubles tournament at Fallasburg Park in Lowell, where players were matched for two rounds of play. Two days later, an opening ceremony at Frederik Meijer Gardens marked the beginning of five days of fierce competition. Each day, players are assigned to one of four area courses: Johnson Park, Fallasburg Park, Earl Brewer (Byron Center), or Rotary North (Belmont). Those who finish in the top 25 percent of preliminaries will compete in finals on Saturday, Aug. 10 at Earl Brewer.
Wednesday, Aug. 7 was day two of the event. Johnson Park had an unmistakably charged atmosphere as players fought to keep their games sharp and their nerves at bay. In order to qualify for the tournament, each player had to earn enough points playing in PDGA events last season. For some of the competitors, this is their first time playing disc golf courses in Grand Rapids, while local players who’ve had years to hone their skills on nearby courses have a distinct advantage.
Jaxson Rinkenberger from Decateur, Indiana had just finished his second round of the tournament when I had an opportunity to ask him about the day’s performance and what he thought of the courses.
“I played Johnson blind today and shot a -6, so I’m pretty happy with that. I liked playing Brewer yesterday, but Johnson has a lot of rollaways that punish otherwise good shots; I saw a lot of that on my card,” he said.
Rinkenberger plans to go pro next year and win some local events before moving onto the elite series.
Grand Rapids native and president of the MSU College Disc Golf Team Luke Conway also competed at Johnson Park on day two. He and Audrey Wicklander won the doubles event at Fallasburg a few days prior.
“It’s awesome having ‘Worlds’ here,” he said. “I’m hosting three players playing in the event from Texas, Indianapolis, and Detroit. All the courses are just 15 minutes away from my house.”
The hottest round of the day at Johnson was a -12, with most of the field ending a few strokes under par. The next three days will likely see the lead players’ scores somewhere around forty strokes under par making for a tight competition.
Grand Rapids’ selection as the host for this major amateur disc golf tournament has spurred improvements to local courses and heightened global awareness of the city’s disc golf parks, cementing its status as a premier destination for the sport.
For rankings, visit the PDGA website.
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