For the first time in the history of disc golf, a three day conference about disc golf course design will be held at the International Disc Golf Center in Appling, GA. The conference will feature presentations from some of the brightest minds in contemporary disc golf course design including the likes of John Houck #1688, Chuck Kennedy #4949, Pete May #12700, and many more. 

The Disc Golf Course Designers group was a concept originally conceived by "Steady" Ed Headrick #0001, Chuck Kennedy, Tom Monroe #33, and John David #790, two decades ago towards the latter end of 1994. After working out the kinks they officially formed the group in December of 1994. One of the first new members to join was none other than John Houck just a month later in January of 1995. Shortly after Houck joined the group, one of the co-owners of Innova Discs, Harold Duvall #2018, joined as well. Over the years the group has added more and more members, with a current membership total of 184.

The idea of bringing all the members together for a conference was being talked about by the DGCD group as far back as 9 years ago, back when the International Disc Golf Center was still called the National Disc Golf Center. During a brief interview with the IDGC Manager, Jason Allind #21568, he commented that, "...the IDGC was constructed to serve as the home base of the PDGA staff, but it was also intended to serve as an educational experience for PDGA members, and non-members alike. Visitors come here to play disc golf, but they also come to the IDGC to learn about the different aspects of the game and its history. One of the things the Board of Directors wanted to see more of at the IDGC this year was more high quality educational disc golf events. After speaking with Chuck [Kennedy], we realized this event fit the mold perfectly." 

The IDGC, in partnership with the PDGA and the DGCD, agreed to host the conference in May of 2014, now only a few days away. It begins in the morning on Friday May 2nd and comes to end on the evening of Sunday May 4th. Several different events and activities are scheduled for those attending including presentations about the stages of course design, hole validation, par setting, mapping, course marking, field work techniques, and more. There will also be IDGC course walk-throughs available for all 3 of the world class courses on the property. The "Steady" Ed Memorial Course and the W.R. Jackson Memorial Course will be featured in this activity, led by their respective designers, Kennedy and Houck.

A similar tour will take place on the courses located at the Hippodrome Sports Complex in North Augusta, SC led by designer Pete May on Sunday afternoon. The Hippodrome was the host of the 2014 National Collegiate Disc Golf Championships just a few weeks ago and it's consistently one of the busiest disc golf parks in the region. 

Manufacturers of discs, targets, tee pads, and basically anything and everything else disc golf related have all been invivted to join the conference to showcase their products on Sunday afternoon. It will be an interesting weekend of disc golf course design activities to say the least. And of course, plenty of fun rounds of disc golf in between! The official schedule of events and activities can be seen at the bottom of this page. Clicking on the schedule will bring up the full size image.  

If you'd like to sign up for the conference, you can do so on the Disc Golf Course Designers Conference Eventbrite page. For more information about the Disc Golf Course Designers Group, check out their wiki site. A membership is only $49 and it's good for life. If you have any other questions, feel free to send an email to Chuck Kennedy.  

The IDGC is located in the county-run Wildwood Park. The entrance fee of $3 per day is not included in the cost of the conference so be sure to bring a few spare bucks with you. Lunch packages for the weekend are available for purchase on site and lodging information for the IDGC area is available at the bottom of the Directions to the IDGC page on PDGA.com.