GUEST COLUMN: Professional Disc Golf Association tournament Oct. 8
Disc golf open, Oct. 8, at Deerfield Nature Park.
By master’s degree students in PES 602SL
Central Michigan Sport Administration program
Hosted by Sport Event Management, the Wilddeer Open sanctioned Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) tournament will take place on Sunday, Oct. 8.
The tournament will be held at Deerfield Park with tee time starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m. It will be composed of two rounds of 18 holes for a total of 36 holes.
The event is a PDGA-sanctioned singles tournament for professional, amateur and junior players who can register through The Disc Golf Scene website.
The registration fee varies by division and age, and ranges from $25 to $60. A PDGA number is required to accept any cash prize from the tournament. An additional $10 fee will be applied for those competing without current PDGA membership through 2023.
Registration will close at 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 6. The field locks divisionally at 8 p.m., the night before the event, and no changes may be made after that time. On the day of the tournament, check-in will be from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
PDGA membership can be acquired or renewed during the event registration process. Proceeds from the tournament will support Sawyer's Light and Save A Heart, which are organizations that support families with children who are born with congenital heart defects (CHDs).
Sawyer’s Light was founded by a family that had a son, Sawyer, who was born with a rare CHD called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. In memory of Sawyer, the family created the fundraiser in connection with the Save A Heart program and Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor.
There are options to make individual donations through registration or the Sawyer's Light and Save a Heart website.
The event includes a 50/50 closest to pin contest for competitors, with half of the proceeds going to the player and the other half going towards Sawyer's Light. There will also be an Ace pool for the tournament, in which all proceeds will go to Sawyer’s Light if no Ace is hit.
A free T-shirt will be provided for the first 100 people who register for the tournament by Oct. 1, regardless of division. First place winner in each division receives a trophy.
During the tournament, Bubba-Q Food Truck will be serving lunch at 11 a.m. There will be raffles to give attendees an opportunity to leave the event with additional prizes throughout the tournament.
Professional payouts will be available through PayPal and cash. Amateur payouts will be provided through Disc Barron’s website with a voucher.
Competitors are encouraged to review the PDGA Rules of Play and PDGA Competition Manual prior to registration.
