March 28, 2024

The Inaugural PDGA Champions Cup

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This week the inaugural Champions Cup kicks off at the WR Jackson Memorial Disc Golf Course in Appling, GA. This is the legendary course that has hosted Worlds in 2017 and the Hall of Fame Classic in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Now it will play host to the newest PDGA Major, the Champions Cup. The course was originally designed by John Houck; portions of the course were redesign in 2018 by IDGC Manager Zach Shafer. At the time, many of the pros were upset that the course was redesigned by someone who wasn’t a course designer as reported by Ultiworld Disc Golf. In the end the changes proved to be an excellent addition to the course.nnFor the 2022 Champions Cup, the course will have two layouts. For those who have watched past MPO coverage since 2018, you won’t notice any significant changes. The course the MPO plays is the longs and measures in at 10,485-foot par 68. The odd limb or tree may have come down in the last 4 years but the course will play the same. On holes 9 and 18 there is a ditch and a creek respectively. The Tournament Director, Robert Leonard, saw fit to mark those as out of bounds and add a drop zone for both holes. This addresses both pace of play issues and player safety.nnFour this tournament, some of the issues expressed by the FPO field have been addressed as well. Three of the holes; 8, 9, and 18, have changes. The MPO drop zone is also the FPO tee on holes 9 and 18. A par was assigned to hole 8 to address the issues of a majority of the field taking bogey or worse at the Hall of Fame Classic tournaments. The FPO layout is a mix of the long and short tees coming in at an 8,915-foot par 68 layout.nnAdding a wrench to the mix, mother nature was kind enough to flood parts of the course on Thursday April 7th, one week before the scheduled start of the tournament. The TD and IDGC staff have scrambled to get the course in a playable condition. At the time of writing the efforts of this incredible staff have paid off and you’d be hard pressed to find flood related issues with the course.nn

Weather Report Appling GA Champions CupnnAt the time of writing, there is a low chance of thunderstorms during rounds 1 and 3 for the Champions Cup. But anyone who has tried to plan an outdoor event knows the weather can change rapidly. nnThis is an exciting time for disc golf. This is the newest major for the PDGA and has some high expectations. The PDGA ceded control of the National Tour to the Disc Golf Pro Tour. The expectations from the fans and the pros are that this tournament will be on par with an average DGPT event. If not, you can expect everyone to voice their options, loudly, on social media. I wish the PDGA, TD, IDGC Staff, and the DGPT luck with this event. There is a lot riding on it and like you I want this tournament to go off well and be entertaining.nnDon’t forget that this tournament is free to all PDGA members. Follow the link to find out how and check out what the Disc Golf Network has to offer! You can catch the MPO Post Produced Lead Card on Jomez and Chase Card on Gatekeeper Media. You can watch the FPO Post Production Lead Card on GK Pro and the Chase Card on Ace Run Productions.nn

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