Woodland Park to welcome first disc golf tournament Oct. 6

Following the installation of new baskets at the Woodland Park disc golf course, competitors have a chance to test their skills on the tournament-ready grounds. Freak Disc Golf Co. is hosting the Woodland Open 2024 on Oct. 6 and will be providing cash payouts to pro division winners.

Disc golfers can sign up the morning of the event from 8 to 9 a.m. or register online before 2 p.m. Oct. 5 at www.discgolfscene.com/tournaments/FDGC_Woodland_Open_2024. Players will meet at 9:15 a.m. and then tee off at 9:30 a.m. The tournament is for two rounds of 18 holes.

Entry fees vary depending on the player divisions. Players without current PDGA memberships will have to pay an additional $10 onto their entry fee. Currently, there are 30 different divisions listed on tournament’s Disc Golf Scene web page.

Jim Knudson, a Newton disc golfer, was pivotal in pushing the city to install the extra baskets. The course at Woodland Park was initially a 12-hole course. Knudson proposed locations for the six additional baskets. With 18 holes now added to the course, he was enthusiastic for more tournament play.

When Knudson urged council to move forward with installing the new baskets at Woodland Park, he spoke about the financial impact disc golf tournaments can have on a community. The Iowa Masters Championship, a PDGA-sanctioned event, was hosted at Maytag Park for the 13th consecutive year on June 1.

Professional-class players and amateurs compete in the championships in different age divisions. The highest payout at this tournament was $200 for the Pro Masters 40+ division. The youngest age division was made up of 40-year-olds while the oldest age division included 80-year-olds.

“Most of them have a little change in their pocket,” Knudson said to city council at the June 3 meeting while handing them information about the tournament and his proposal. “If you’ll see here out of the 90 people that we had, we had three people from Newton play. We had 10 people from out of state.”

Knudson said the Iowa Masters tournament sold out within 17 hours.