2010 PDGA NT Preview

By Dr. John G. Duesler, Jr.

Right on the heels of awarding Nikko Locastro the 2009 Woodchuck Cider Drive for the Championship points award, the Professional Disc Golf Association has announced its nine-stop National Tour schedule for the 2010 disc golf season. 

Combining many of the traditional NT stops with a few of disc golf’s solid Super Tour events, the 2010 PDGA National Tour will cover all four corners of the nation, as well as  the Mid-western and Mid-Atlantic regions too. 

Relished by many as their initial refuge from the long winter off-season, the 2010 National Tour will begin again in the springtime paradise of Scottsdale, Arizona at The Memorial Championship presented by Discraft.  A new format will feature an expanded four days of play during this March 3-6 time slot.  Nikko Locastro is the defending Memorial Champion, and it’s where he began his quest as the 2009 NT points winner.  In 2010, it’s where everyone else will be trying to get their 2010 season off to a smashing start. 

The tour will then move eastward three weeks later to the tropical environs of Florida.  Consummate tournament director Mike Barnett will expand his impressive promotional resume with his first PDGA-sanctioned NT event on March 26-28 at the Sunshine State Shootout in Ocala, Florida.  Though promoted as a National Tour stop, it will be the regional talents of Ken Climo, Garrett Gurthie, and Aleksey Bubis that the touring pros will most likely have to deal with to gain this coveted title. 

A few weeks later, once the Florida experience has concluded, the disc golf caravan will head up north a few clicks to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Carolina Clash on April 23-25.  This Mid-Atlantic regional hotbed of disc golf will be transfixed in the national spotlight during what many feel will be the first of more than a few warm-ups for the PDGA World Championships that are being held there in 2012. 

The May swing then moves out to the northern half of the West Coast where the Steady Ed Memorial Masters Cup will be reconstituted on May 21-23 in Santa Cruz, California.  With most people reporting that course conditions at DeLaveaga are better than ever, our friends from the Disc Golf Association will have a great pallet from which to paint this awesome event.  Last year’s Masters Cup featured final round aces by both Nate Doss and eventual winner Gregg Barsby in what became one of disc golf’s instant classics. 

A quick turnaround then comes on the following weekend, as the tour turns even further northwest to Portland, Oregon for the 2010 Beaver State Fling on May 28-30.  In what can only be described as disc golf paradise, the two Milo McIver river-bend courses offer, not just some of the most challenging golf on the tour, but the most aesthetically pleasing as well.  And combined with a rock solid staff to support the event, Jeff Mittl and Mike Phillips have continued to build upon the strong foundation that the Bellingers have left to them. 

After a month-long National Tour hiatus that will allow disc golfers time to travel to the 2010 Japan Open, the PDGA National Tour will pick back up on June 25-27 at the Minnesota Majestic, where Mike Snelson and Timmy Gill carry on the great competitive disc golf traditions that were started over 22 years ago by one of the nation’s first flying disc clubs—The Minnesota Frisbee Association.  A great gallery and exciting finishes have characterized the Majestic over the last few years. 

The tour then begins winding down by heading east for a July 10-11 stop in Columbus, Ohio at the Brent Hambrick Memorial.  And while this event will certainly include a great competitive spirit on the surrounding grounds of the Hoover Dam, it is the event’s cumulative total of $30,000 donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society that makes TD Paul Jay and his entire staff from the Columbus Flyers Disc Golf Club beam with pride. 

The homestretch then moves to Leicester, Massachusetts, where the much anticipated 2010 Vibram Open at Maple Hill will commence on August 13th and run through the 15th.  Steve Dodge is always on the cutting edge of event management with his tournaments, as evidenced by Vibram becoming recognized by both players and the PDGA alike as one of the sport’s top events in the World. 

Dan Doyle and Steve and Lesli Brinster have always been a formidable disc golf team, and their talents will once again be on display at the 2010 PDGA National Tour finale, the Skylands Classic at Warwick, August 27-29.  After a two-year break from the National Tour, Doyle and the Brinsters are re-energized to have the spotlight shining once again on their renowned disc golf course in southeastern New York. 

As you can tell, the 2010 PDGA National Tour holds great promise and prestige for our sport to gain increased visibility around the country.  With the incredible talents of our tournament directors and staffs, as well as the full cooperation from the PDGA and its resources, the 2010 NT will continue to fulfill its mission of highlighting the best our sport of disc golf has to offer.