2025 Amateur (MA1 & FA1) Worlds Invite Letter

Registration | Overview Map | Course Schedule

Dear PDGA Tour Player,            

Congratulations! You have been invited to enter the 2025 PDGA Amateur Disc Golf World Championships in Columbia, MO from August 16th to the 23rd based on your excellent performance during the 2024 PDGA season. The PDGA and the local worlds team are looking forward to seeing you in mid-Missouri later this year.    

Host    

Adam Morrison and his team are ecstatic to host your 2025 PDGA Amateur Disc Golf World Championships and invite you to explore mid-Missouri this August. The area features a variety of disc golf courses and other things to do and see. Columbia, Missouri, is home to the world's #1 ranked free-to-play disc golf course per Disc Golf Course Review: Harmony Bends. 

Founded in 1983, the CoMo Disc Golf Club is home to the world's first-ever Ice Bowl. This year, the club continues this tradition of great disc golf tournaments with the 39th Ice Bowl and 41st Mid America Open. In 2021, Adam and his team alongside Columbia Parks and Recreation successfully hosted the PDGA's Tim Selinske U.S. Masters Championships. Joining this team is the Jefferson City Disc Golf Club with full support of the City of Jefferson Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry. Together these groups are eager to showcase everything the area has to offer during Missouri’s second disc golf world championships. 

The team looks forward to bringing together the best staff from across Missouri to support the 2025 PDGA Amateur World Championships, ensuring you have a fantastic experience while visiting the Show Me State. This community goes above and beyond to make disc golfers feel welcome, and we hope every player leaves our tournaments feeling that Columbia is your "disc golf home away from home." 

Courses   

Harmony Bends Disc Golf Course

Only a few minutes from a food and retail hotspot in Columbia, Missouri, you will find yourself immersed in an isolated pocket of wilderness that has been carefully molded into a full-service, world-class disc golf course known as Harmony Bends Championship Disc Golf Course in Strawn Park. This course showcases some of the most beautiful terrain, with magnificent elevation changes, and heavily wooded fairways. Designed by John Houck and completed in 2016, this course weaves its way through topography twisted into grand curves by the mighty Harmony Creek which feeds into the even larger Perche Creek. Houck’s design features his signature split fairways and natural OB. Multiple tee pads make this course fun for all levels of play, but at its max boasts a daunting, 8,900-foot par 68. 

The City of Columbia continues to invest in this property, which already includes the infrastructure to host DGPT events, including ample overflow parking, warm-up area with permanent bathrooms, practice greens, and a full-sized driving range with tee pads. A massive creek bank project on hole 18 was completed in 2024, and improvements will continue this spring! 

The Dam Disc Golf Course

Fairways over open rolling hills provide fabulous views of Binder Lake and entice full-arm drives! Mind the landing zones or the natural bunkers and rough will test your scrambling skills. A healthy dose of shorter tight wooded fairways is mixed in with gaps and technical lines that must be hit to score. The Dam Course was extremely well received as part of the 2021 Tim Selinske U.S. Masters Championship. 

Created by JCDGC and JC Parks in 2014, this course lays on 30 acres nestled around the Northwest corner of Binder Lake where the dam (okay, it’s really a levee) holds 153 acres of lake. Multiple pin locations create layouts that can range from a 6,660-foot par 59 to a 7,720-foot par 63. Elevation ranges from 640 to 690 feet above sea level, and eleven of the eighteen holes feature 20 feet of elevation difference or more, a few approaching 30. The course is cart friendly and features Innova Pro 28 baskets. 

As the crow flies, the Dam course is only 4,000 feet away from Miller, and they are connected by a scenic, twisty, and very hilly short drive. The greater Binder Lake Park area features 5 softball fields, 3 sand volleyball courts, miles and miles of mountain bike trails, campgrounds, summer camp facilities, a bird sanctuary, archery range, canoe and kayak rental, and–of course–fishing. 

Albert-Oakland's "Back" Disc Golf Course

Columbia’s disc golf legacy began in 1979 when its first course, now known as the Front Course, was installed at Albert-Oakland Park. The Back Course was established in 1989 and features some longer holes, pond and creek water hazards, mature woods, and a paved walking trail that marks out of bounds on many of its holes. The courses are in a pleasant park setting that includes playgrounds, pickleball courts, and an aquatic center. The Back Course has hosted many of the world’s elite players throughout the years at the CoMo Disc Golf Club’s flagship event, the Mid America Open. This course is not terribly long or tight, but you can find trouble off the fairway - perhaps in the OB creek which meanders through the course, the pond on holes 16 and 17, the baseball fields along holes 2, 3 and 4, or the pedestrian sidewalk that runs throughout the course and can add strokes on 15 of the 18 holes. 

Joseph C. Miller Disc Golf Course

Be prepared for tight fairways lined with mature trees, punishing rough, and well-guarded greens that demand a strong approach game. Several fairways open to tempt the full rip. Elevation changes will challenge distance control and shot execution. Players will need a complete game of distance, accuracy, and mental fortitude to score well here. 

Established in 2004, the Joseph C. Miller Disc Golf Course has been tailored by the Jefferson City Disc Golf Club (JCDGC) to become a versatile experience that will hook the beginner and challenge highly rated players all on the same cart-friendly 34 acres dedicated to the course. Fresh tee signs and two high-visibility baskets on every hole make the short and long layouts easy to decipher. The shortest possible layout is a 4,900-foot par 54 and the longest is a 8,860-foot par 67. This course has hosted 19 Ice Bowls, 11 b-tiers, dozens of c-tiers, and over 14,500 rounds kept on UDisc since 2016. 

JCDGC is working closely with JC Parks on course improvements that will be in place prior to August, including erosion control and path improvement, compacted gravel and terracing at tee pads, and the original Mach 5 basket set will be replaced with Innova Pro 28s! 

Lodging & Meetings   

Hotel

Our host hotel for this event is the TownePlace Suites Columbia by Marriot  (please use this link to book your rooms)
 
These rooms were originally $239 per night but they have discounted these rooms by $100 down to $139 per night for our event.  The cutoff date to receive this rate is July 16th.   
You may also call the hotel and say you would like a room in the Disc Golf Block.  Hurry because only 50 rooms are clocked off at this rate! 

Camping

Primitive Camping Area:  Located just ¼ mile west of The Dam Course. This 16 acre field offers shade and seclusion, and is served with porta-potties and a few campfire pits 

Coopers Landing:

• Finger Lakes State Park
• Cottonwoods RV Park - this is a good option for anyone with an RV, but not for typical outdoor camping 
• Camp Takimina

Binder Park Campground:  Right next to Joseph C. Miller DGC and The Dam DGC. 

• 114 Campground Ct Jefferson City, MO 65109 
• Sewer, Electric, Water, Shower, Laundry, Covered Picnic Table, BBQ Grills, WiFi Available. 
• Now is the time to make reservations! 

Player’s Meeting

The player’s meeting/opening ceremony will take place at the Gans Creek Recreation Area on Monday, August 18th at 7pm.   

Check-in

Check-in will be available on Sunday, August 17th from 10am to 5pm and Monday, August 18th from 9am to 6pm at the Columbia Sports Fieldhouse  

Travel   

Those flying to Amateur Worlds will find either the Kansas City International Airport (MCI) or the St Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) as the easiest and most convenient way to reach Columbia by air.  Both airports are located roughly 2 hours from all tournament activities.  Columbia Regional Airport (COU) is another option for flying into Columbia directly, but it is a smaller airport and doesn't have near the connecting flights that Kansas City and St. Louis. 

Website   

More detailed information about everything surrounding the event can be found on the PDGA event webpage.  

Field Events   

The field events will take place at the Gans Creek Recreation Area on Sunday, August 17th. Times for the field events will be from 9am to 3pm on Sunday, August 17th. If you decide to test your skills at the EDGE event, the latest start time is 2pm.   

Longest Drive and Putting: Drive for show or putt for dough???  No need to decide, we’ve got both covered at this year’s 2025 Am Worlds Field Events.  Do you think you have the biggest arm?  Are you the best putter in the world?  Put your skills to the test and see if you can throw the furthest or if you can make the most putts.  

Mixed Doubles:  Mixed Doubles at Am Worlds will be held on Saturday at Harmony in Columbia, MO. This event will be a one round tee time event.  The format will be Modified Best Shot.  The layout will consist of a mix of the MA1 tees and the FA1 tees. This year sign-ups for the event will be held separately from the main event registration.  Registration for 2025 Am Worlds Mixed Doubles will open on June 7th at 10:30 PM  EST.   The field is limited to 72 doubles teams.   

Other Events: Other fun events during the week include a Players Party, Flymart, Glow Golf, Flex Start Events and many more!   

General Info 

Entry Fees: Fees for all divisions this year is $175.   

NOTE: you must be a current 2025 PDGA Member and Certified Official before you can register for the event!  

Tournament Format: There will be a cut after the 4th round and the final round will take place at Harmony Bends DGC on Saturday, August 23rd. All rounds will utilize tee times. There will not be a final 9.   

Sponsorship   

Sponsorship opportunities are still available for the event.  For more information please contact Tournament Director Adam Morrison for sponsorship information at 573-823-2200 or [email protected].   

The 2025 Am World’s Fly Mart will take place on Friday, August 22nd at the Missouri State Historical Society. We will also have the Midwest Disc Sports Collection on display which has been safeguarded by the SHS since 1997. Contact TD Adam Morrison for more information on how to get a Vending Area at [email protected].     

Sincerely, your 2025 PDGA AM Worlds Team,   

Tournament Director – Adam Morrison 

Please direct player registration related inquiries only to the PDGA Event Support Team. For all other inquiries please contact TD Adam Morrison at [email protected].