Fellow disc golfers,
After much thought, careful consideration, planning and re-planning, brainstorming, coordinating with outside entities, and waiting on up-to-date covid guidelines…we have an ...
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Fellow disc golfers,
After much thought, careful consideration, planning and re-planning, brainstorming, coordinating with outside entities, and waiting on up-to-date covid guidelines…we have an answer to the question so many have been asking.
The AM and age protected pro divisions of the WACO will be held on another weekend either in the spring or fall for this year. We will of course update with the DG community as soon as we have a solid date.
We mulled over different ways to have both sides play the same weekend quite a bit. We have always taken a great sense of pride in our tournament’s format, as we believe it offers a unique way for the AM players to interact with the pro side of the event as fans…and then get the pro treatment on Sunday themselves. Several AMs even having their tee times announced by touring pros was a particularly special part of the event.
This year however, has presented some new and unusual challenges. But, our goal to provide the best event we can for the DGPT pros, age protected pros, local/regional pros, and AM players has not changed.
Here are some challenges :
- We have agreed to move the DGPT side of the event to Fri-Sun. In the past our event famously runs Thur-Sat giving the AMs a chance to play the same layout at the bEast with the big pro feeling on Sunday.
- This year the WACO has been classified as a DGPT Phase 1 event. This means there will be no spectators. This was a big factor, in our eyes, for the AM experience.
- Many Texas events are flocking to the March weekend dates in order to catch the pros while they are here. This is great, but it does make it very challenging to have two weekends for an Am event and a pro event that are reasonably close to each other.
The upside (these are good problems to have!) :
- This means that our event is growing immensely in popularity. Pro registration filled within an hour of opening to non-tour pass players. CRAZY! It means that disc golf itself is growing and there are lots more AM players than ever all excited to play the WACO.
- Fri – Sun for pros means there are more eyes watching the game and more opportunity to grow the event through participation and sponsorship.
- We have a couple of fixes for this going in to 2022 that, barring more bad news on the covid front, will allow us to host a WACO that is bigger than ever and MAY include a new championship level course!
As for this year :
- This decision makes it possible for us to allow lots of AMs who are excited to watch the event in person be able to participate by being a volunteer. Being a DGPT Phase 1 event, this is the only way to “spectate” in person
