Group photo from the 6th Annual Otter Creek Ladies and Juniors Open Sponsored by Latitude 64 (provided: Kristin Reeves)

Two different communities have been rallying support for women in their local area – specifically for them to play at the 2025 United States Women's Disc Golf Championship in June in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. 

They've been raising money, paying for entry fees, and just all around supporting and encouraging each other to even participate in a PDGA Major. Getting a group of women to travel from their home states of Kentucky and Arkansas is impressive enough, but being able to help fund the participants' entry, and the ambition of seemingly impractical goals is inspiring and worth sharing.

The United States Women's Disc Golf Championships is the only Major that is women-only and has amateur divisions that are not age-based or limited to just FA1/MA1, but include divisions in FA2, FA3, FA4. The USWDGC combines everyone from the elite pros to the most amateur players and those of any age group in one event, the only requirement is that all divisions are gender-based. It is a celebration of women in disc golf and a time of connection.

Louisville Ladies Disc Golf Club, which launched in just October of 2024, distinguishes themselves as "not really a club" as there are no membership fees, bag-tags, or even members. Maybe not a "club," but it is certainly a thriving community. Led by Kristin Reeves and Cassie Boblitt, the group of women disc golfers in the Louisville area are a tight-knit but welcoming community.

Likewise, Brenda Moose, the organizer for the Northwest Arkansas Ladies League, describes her club similarly, describing it as more of a community than a club.

"Instead of focusing on courses, tags, or rated leagues like a traditional club, we focus on building up women and juniors within our community by offering the support and events they’re looking for."

– Brenda Moose

In 2023 Brenda served as event coordinator for Disc Golf of Northwest Arkansas. DGONWA was able to raise enough funds to send 12 women to the 2024 USWDGC in Austin, Texas, covering not only entry fees but also a shared AirBnB. 

Headed to the Destination

Northwest Arkansas Ladies League

Three of the NWALL ladies who are going to USWDGC in 2025; Winter putting league (provided: Brenda Moose)

To kick off fundraising for the 2025 USWDGC, the new Northwest Arkansas Ladies League hosted their first-ever Summer Putting League, which set the stage for eight weeks of minis, followed by a winter putting league, before culminating in a Triples event. $1 from every entry fee was dedicated to the club, ensuring that the funds ultimately went back to supporting the ladies. By keeping all of these events open to the entire community, they were able to foster, what Brenda describes as "an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere."

Brenda's primary goal throughout the year was to encourage more women to come out and play together, whether just for fun or to get involved in tournaments.

"As a mom and wife with a husband who also plays disc golf, I know firsthand how hard it can be to get a babysitter and make it to events. I see so many women with their families at the parks who want to compete but struggle with the added expenses, like childcare and travel. Making tournaments more accessible by raising funds to cover costs just felt like the right thing to do."

– Brenda Moose

Financially, the initial goal was $3,000, as the original commitment was to cover entry fees and team apparel for the players. That goal was hit and they are planning one more small event to raise a bit more for travel expenses.

Louisville Ladies Disc Golf Club

Kristin Reeves and Cassie Boblitt, Louisville Ladies Disc Golf (provided: Kristin Reeves)
Kristin says it started as a dream of Cassie's 

LLDGC had an initial goal of $5,000 to pay for every woman in Kentucky that wanted to play USWDGC. They chose all of Kentucky because of pride in their home state and specifically to support smaller cities that didn’t have the resources to support doing the same for their communities. 

But, Louisville is right on the border of Kentucky and Indiana and in their first event alone, a third of the ladies who participated were from Indiana. So they pivoted. It didn’t feel fair to Kristin and Cassie to say those just beyond the Kentucky border didn’t live close enough to have their entry fee covered, so they opened their fundraiser to any women playing in their fundraiser events (Drive to USWDGC), making their impact that much more far-reaching. 

The Roadmap

Ambitious destinations – how to get there

Northwest Arkansas Ladies League

The NWALL Summer Putting League had a $5 buy-in, with $4 going to payouts and $1 to the club (for the USWDGC fundraiser). The putting league ran for 8 weeks at Rendezvous Junction in Rogers, AR. Likewise, the winter putting league had a $7 buy-in, with $5 to payouts, $1 to the club, and $1 to Ozark Beer Company in Rogers, AR, which has generously let the local disc golf scene use their building for six years. Winter putting league ran for 16 weeks.

At the end of the season, Ozark Beer Co. actually donated all of the funds raised right back to the club.

Triples Tournament from spring 2025 provided: Brenda Moose

The ladies league also hosted a triples tournament which was a trophy-only event where every player received a player pack item—completely donated to maximize fundraising. Team entry fees were $60, and there were multiple sponsorship opportunities offered: $50 for hole sponsorship, $100 for team apparel sponsorship, and $150 for individual player sponsorship. There was also a raffle with over 70 donated items to raise additional funds. The only cost was the trophies, and at the end of the day, they were able to raise just over $3,000.

Brenda credits a huge part of their success to the dedication of the ladies on the team. In addition to reaching out to find sponsors and gathering raffle donations, they also helped spread the word on the course and throughout the community, which made a big difference in the event’s turnout and overall success.

Brenda listed numerous local businesses and organizations who provided support, including:

• Hole Sponsors: Good Bird Disc Golf Apparel, Perks and Re-Creation NWA, Huck Buddies Disc Golf, Fayetteville Disc Golf Association, Arkansas Junior Disc Golf, and Grand Savings Bank.
• Apparel Donors: Good Bird Disc Golf Apparel, Huck Buddies Disc Golf, DGONWA (Disc Golf of Northwest Arkansas), WAFDA (Western Arkansas Flying Disc Association), and The Disc Golf Dojo.
• Special shoutouts go to Shari Benko for her endless help and donations, and Hunter Wright from Olde Tyme Donuts for consistently providing breakfast for our local tournaments. 

Louisville Ladies Disc Golf Club

Kristin and Cassie initially thought they’d see about 15 ladies based on the 8 local women that went last year (without the fundraising series). When they managed to walk away with $500 from their WGE fundraiser, they knew that the math could work (but that it would take a lot of work). Once they saw the response from the community, the confidence grew that they would be able to accomplish their new goal of paying for every woman that participated in any of the series tournaments.

The Drive to USWDGC tournament series travels to a new course/community every month and includes mixed divisions. Kristin and Cassie wanted to reach a different audience at each event, and by moving it around and leaving it open to everyone, it would be more sustainable for fundraising. Each player fee includes a $5 donation to the fundraiser, 50% of the CTP fund goes towards fundraising, and they put the ace pool toward fundraising the one time it wasn't hit. Additionally, they offer $20 for hole sponsorships per event or $150 hole sponsorship for the entire series. A local disc golf store, Disc Golf Mart, served as their amateur payouts vendor and has been donating a percentage back to their fundraiser (about ~$250 per tournament). They also had their series sponsored by Latitude 64, which allowed them to capture some additional dollars from the player pack fee without having to sacrifice the quality for players.

Photo from Indoor Putting League provided: Kristin Reeves

Beyond the tournament series, they had an indoor putting league for 18 weeks (collecting only $1 from each player – but with their supportive community, that single dollar turned into $850) at TEN20 Brewery in Louisville, KY. TEN20 provided two massive events spaces for free to be able to host the putting league. The organizers also had raffles. In addition to doing payouts, Disc Golf Mart also put together a nation-wide raffle to help raise an additional $500.

"Rounding out the support has been our sponsors – all of them are listed on our tournaments but so many folks have given us $150 donation (or exactly the cost for one AM entry fee to USWDGC). A very cool moment for us was one evening we received two donations from the ATD and other support staff for the 2025 USWDGC event, which was kind of like our we made it moment to receive not only their recognition but their personal money to support our fundraising efforts."

– Kristin Reeves

Reaching their incredible goal has been a group effort, Kristin says, "In particular, [Cassie] has really helped me think through every decision that we have had to make. It has been an absolute privilege to be doing this as women in partnership with other women for women." Working behind the scenes, Kristin named Tate Hatfield and Stevie Becker with Louisville Disc Golf, and Christie Hinkle as additional folks who have offered support, and of course, emphasizing again the support from Disc Golf Mart. 

Are We There Yet?

Through the USWDGC Triples fundraiser, the Northwest Arkansas Ladies League were able to cover entry fees for all 10 players. Thanks to several generous sponsors, the ladies league are also providing each player with two custom team jerseys from Good Bird Disc Golf Apparel, an online women’s disc golf clothing shop run by one of their own players, Shari Benko. Any extra funds will be equally divided among the ladies to assist with travel and lodging.

"We know our players will have to make sacrifices such as time off work and other costs associated with traveling to a major event, and we want to make sure our players can focus on the competition rather than worrying about gas or accommodations."

– Brenda Moose

Northwest Arkansas Ladies League announcing their USWDGC team provided: Brenda Moose

Louisville Ladies have officially signed up 19 ladies for the 2025 USWDGC. They are still committed to paying for all women participating in the future events, not just this initial wave from when registration opened. An evergrowing and ambitious moving target, their new goal is to register 25 women. They're also sponsoring a local A-Tier by paying the USWDGC entry fee for the top FPO finisher. While still figuring out what to do with the rest of the money they've raised, Kristin says they definitely plan to have an amazing WGE in 2026, and they are also tossing around the idea of creating a B/C-tier women’s only event, the Kentucky Women’s Disc Golf Championship.

Start Your Engines 

How do I do this in my community?

Women participating at the weekly at Otter Creek provided: Kristin Reeves

Kristin says her biggest piece of advice is not starting here. Kristin, along with fellow disc golfer Melanie Hale, have spent the last three years running a weekly meet-up for women to come play in a safe space that is meant just for them. That's where she suggests starting. She lists the keys to success being having the meetup be free, hosting it at a female-friendly course, and being consistent. Consistency, she says, is key as women often need to think through dinner, childcare, transportation for everyone, and everything else. So keeping it at the same time and place each week has allowed them to grow a women’s community of 40+ women.

"We wouldn’t be registering 19 women without first getting them addicted to disc golf."

– Kristin Reeves

Once you’re ready, Kristin encourages being realistic about your goals, being objective in who you are paying for, "It doesn’t benefit the community just to pay for our friends," and also, have a great team of people behind you. It is about creating a fundraiser that works for your community. "Any fundraiser is also not possible without collaboration – so work with your local clubs, communities, stores, etc. because they will support you but you do have to ask for help, it won’t come knocking on your door."

Brenda notes the most valuable part of the fundraising journey has been witnessing how the community comes together to support women in disc golf. "It's not just about the money—it’s about building connections and creating opportunities for women to thrive."

"If it’s something you truly want to do, go for it! You’re always going to feel uncertainty, anxiety, or be intimidated asking people for help or sponsorships, but you’ll be surprised by how willing people are to support you and your vision. The key is to be persistent and never give up.

Semper ad meliora—Always toward the better."

– Brenda Moose

Northwest Arkansas Open 2024 (provided: Brenda Moose)

Get involved and connected with these great groups:

• Louisville Ladies Disc Golf Club Facebook
• Louisville Ladies Disc Golf Club Disc Golf Scene Page
• Northwest Arkansas Ladies League Facebook
• Northwest Arkansas Ladies Disc Golf Scene Page