What a trip to the World Championships has taught me.
Last week the Professional Disc Golf Association held its 44th World Championship. This year it was held just outside Detroit, Michigan on two fantastic courses called ‘Black Locus’ and ‘Toboggan’. Despite the event being held in the USA I decided for my own professional growth it was worth my while to make the trip and volunteer. My primary interest was to get to know the courses and see how spectators interacted with them as I really began to understand the logistics involved with something so massive. An estimated 7,500 people watched the final day live and despite some controversy this world championship will go down as one of the most professionally run events in our games history.
I was fortunate enough to caddy for a long time friend and 5 time world champion, Paige Pierce. While I was on the bag my primary goal was to help her play her best golf possible. When I was outside of those duties I did my best to walk every inch of both courses and ask as many questions as I could. So that is what I did,
The first thing I noticed was that the USA really knows how to do parks. Both of these courses were located in the Kensington Metropark which covers a wide area around Kent Lake. The trees here are so majestic and the park is incredibly well kept. Black Locus is filled with mixed hardwood trees, all over 100 years old, and the course there plays like a true ‘woods golf’ course. It is tight, shaded in most places, and has that feeling of forest bathing you usually only get in the deep wilderness. The Toboggan course is built around some public sledding hills. It feels much more like a public park and the terrain was much more similar to what you get in Wentworth. There are several uphill climbs that really test your stamina, and a bunch of down hill shots that test your throwing skills. It was a lovely combination of fun to watch, and fun to play.
The local team there brought in tonnes of spectating structures to give more fans better views of the action. Their overall budget had to be near or slightly over $2,000,000. The event had all the bells and whistles you would expect from a festival like atmosphere to a large vendor village and built in outdoor restaurant. There were massive outdoor screens where you could watch the action live and for the most part the fan experience was high.
It has always been my dream to hold a world championship on a course I designed, both to see if I can test my own limits, and because I truly believe the Maritimes region of Canada is a gem that should be shared with as many people as possible. Part of the goal for this trip was to decide if it was actually attainable. For now, let’s just say time will tell. The next 2-3 years will be crucial on the mountain. Can we get enough interested people to try disc golf? Can we soften some of the walks, both up and down the mountain to allow for people a bit easier access? I was fortunate enough to stay with, and converse with some of the best people in our game. Nothing that I have learned so far tells me we can’t achieve something amazing here. To keep it simple, we are on the right path and now is the time to keep going.