Some of the nation’s best disc golfers are arriving in Columbia this weekend for a tournament at Harmony Bends in Strawn Park.
Among those who enjoy the sport, the course in west Columbia is considered one of the top-rated places to play in the country.
The three-day competition is part of the Disc Golf Pro Tour’s Silver Events. The DGPT is the official tour of the Professional Disc Golf Association.
This will be the fifth time Columbia has hosted the Mid America Open. It is the fourth year that the event has been a part of the worldwide tour.
Full coverage of the event will be broadcast on the Disc Golf Network, with next-day coverage on YouTube.
Columbia natives and professional disc golfers Cynthia Ricciotti and Jake Hebenheimer will be competing in this weekend’s event, teeing off Friday morning and Friday afternoon, respectively.
Spectators are welcome to attend the event, and tickets can be purchased online on the group’s website. The event will feature Big Daddy’s BBQ and a Blue Note Beer Garden.
“A good amount of the players that are up and coming are really hungry, and you see them in the top five, top three of several of the last tournaments,” said Patrick Waibel, owner of Grow and Throw, a gardening and frisbee golf store in Columbia. “They are all in town, including Gannon Buhr. I think it’s going to be down to the wire, probably shot for shot. (The) course has never looked nicer either.”
The Mid America Open comes at a tumultuous time for the DGPT, which revamped its touring schedule after a federal lawsuit was filed by transgender athlete Natalie Ryan.
Ryan, who lives in Virginia, alleged in her lawsuit that the DGPT had been unfairly barring her from competing in the women’s division of the tournament. In response, the tour changed its rules for the women’s division at certain stops along the circuit, although the tour stop in Columbia was not among those where the rules changed, according to the news site Ultiworld Disc Golf.
“I don’t think anybody really wanted to see any of the events canceled. This is a middle-of-the-road compromise,” Waibel said. “I don’t think anybody is particularly over the moon about it, but I think that we’re all happy that there is a compromise happening and everybody is able to play.”
More information on the tournament is available on the DGPT website or on the Columbia Parks and Recreation Department’s Facebook page.
