In honor of the upcoming 2014 PDGA Women’s Global Event (WGE), we wanted to cover what is and always has been one of the most successful women-only disc golf events in the country, the Texas Women’s Championship. The WGE already has 1000+ registered women playing in 60+ events all over the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Japan.

“Running an event isn’t easy but the satisfaction from doing so is beyond my wildest dreams, especially when it is for the ladies,” says tournament director Ed Coffey #12602, of the Texas Women’s Championship (TWC). “The one amenity that we take pride in more than anything else when running our women's only event is the atmosphere created by all the players and staff. We even have ‘girlie stations’ on the course. It’s very rewarding to see the women socializing and making new friends and connections in the disc golf world.”

This year the TWC was honored to have Time Warner Cable News do three live broadcasts from the park before the tournament started. This was arranged by a local player and when she found out that they followed through with their commitment to cover the event she was so happy that it affected her game, helping her to play some of the best disc golf of her career. The news crew did an interview with Ed Coffey as well as Vinnie Miller #5521. Amongst other things, Vinnie Miller recently served as the tournament director of the 2014 Texas State Championships, the second stop on the PDGA National Tour. During their 15 minutes of fame, the tournament staff discussed the format of play, how many participants were involved, the skill level and age difference of the competitors, etc.

The final interviews of the day were with Texas natives and top touring women professional disc golfers, Liz Dorries #31162 from Austin and Paige Pierce #29190, 2X PDGA Professional World Champion, from Plano. They gave tips about the game, what they do to prepare for an event, and what it’s like being women touring professionals in a sport where a majority of the competitors are men. "Women are only 6 percent of the competitors that play disc golf in tournaments and so to see a tournament with, something like 80 women, is really awesome," Pierce said.

A total of 78 women took to the tees, with ages ranging from kids to seniors, to celebrate the 10th Annual TWC at Williamson County Regional Park, or “Wilco” as the locals would say. Wilco is a well laid out 21 hole course where hitting your lines cleanly off the tee is an absolute must. One unlucky kick off a tree or branch and you're stuck in thick cedar with no other option but to pitch out, which will quickly add unwanted strokes to your score.

Players traveled from Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, and of course from all over the Lone Star state to attend the event, fighting for cash, prizes, and pride. The tournament staff and community worked together to collect multiple sponsorship's for the player's packs and also raised an additional $750 cash for the pro purse and another $250 in prizes for the amateur divisions, making the battle that much more exciting for the players involved.

In the Women’s Open division, Paige Pierce dominated the course, finishing with a score in the 60’s for each of the three rounds (64, 66, and 65, respectively). To put that into perspective, the next best score of the entire weekend for a single round was a 71, shot by another PDGA World Champion, Sarah Hokom #34563. Pierce finished the first round with a 9 stroke lead and never looked back. Local favorite Lisa Fajkus #32654 finished in second place and Hokom would finish in third.

In the Master's division, Kathy Hardyman #19150 and Sheila Kirkham #7646 battled all day Saturday and were tied going in to the final round on Sunday. Hardyman pulled away from Kirkham and would finish the tournament 6 strokes ahead of Kirkham to take home the gold. Altogether, nine divisions were represented at this year’s event, including seven juniors.

The tournament staff was extremely pleased with the turnout this year, but they strive for more, hoping for a turnout hitting and/or breaking the 100 mark next year. The plans for the 11th Annual Texas Women’s Championship are already in the works, with the intention of running the event in 2015 as a PDGA A-tier for the professional divisions and a PDGA B-tier for the amateur divisions. In fact, they already have $3000 of added cash for the 2015 pro purse and they’re already working towards securing alternative vendors for the event.

The staff and volunteers are currently negotiating with the parks and recreation department to secure Williamson County Regional Park and The Cat Hollow Disc Golf Course so they can host up to 144 women next year. One of the goals of the TWC is to motivate and encourage more women to come out and play, with a focus on getting more junior division competitors on the courses and at the events. “My personal goal and quest is to have 25 juniors at next year’s event. Let's make 2015 the year!” says Ed Coffey.

For more information about the 10th Annual TWC, visit their Facebook page or check out the final results on PDGA.com. And most importantly, don’t forget to cheer on your favorite ladies this Saturday May 10th during the biggest women-only disc golf event in the world, the 2014 PDGA Women’s Global Event!