Circuit fills in West Coast gap left by Pro Tour
September 19, 2016 by Steve Hill in Livewire, News with 1 comments
The Professional Disc Golf Association released its 2017 National Tour schedule this morning, and it elevates a couple events to the big leagues and fills in the West Coast gap left by last week’s Disc Golf Pro Tour schedule announcement.
The National Tour kicks off February 23 at the Gentlemen’s Club Challenge in Las Vegas, Nevada. A yearly A-Tier stop on the way to The Memorial, this is the first time the GCC has received NT status. It also marks the first time since 2003 that The Memorial will not begin the NT season.
Coming back to the NT circuit for the first time since 2011 is the Pittsburgh Flying Disc Open, another long-running A-Tier, on August 25.
The middle dates are filled with a solid schedule of perennial favorites – including the Glass Blown Open, “Steady” Ed Masters Cup, and Beaver State Fling – while the Hall of Fame Classic returns to the NT schedule to close the season in October. That will be the second large scale event at the PDGA’s International Disc Golf Center in 2017, after Pro Worlds in June.
The NT schedule nicely complements that of the DGPT and, when the two are combined with the other Open majors also announced, makes for a relatively seamless journey for top touring professionals. The Beaver State Fling to Pro Worlds is the longest distance covered between two continental events:
- Aussie Open, Janurary 26-29, Perth, Australia*
- Gentlemen’s Club Challenge, February 23-26, Las Vegas, NV
- The Memorial, March 1-4, Scottsdale, AZ
- Waco Charity Open, March 17-19, Waco, TX
- Nick Hyde Memorial, March 31-April 2, Rockwall, TX
- Jonesboro Open, April 14-16, Jonesboro, AR
- Glass Blown Open, April 27-29, Emporia, KS
- “Steady” Ed Masters Cup, May 19-21, Santa Cruz, CA
- Utah Open, June 2-4, Ogden, UT
- Beaver State Fling, June 9-11, Estacada, OR
- Pro Worlds, June 20-24, Augusta, GA/North Augusta, SC*
- European Open, July 20-23, Nokia, Finland*
- Ledgestone Open, August 3-6, Peoria, IL
- Idlewild Open, August 17-20, Burlington, KY
- Pittsburgh Flying Disc Open, August 25-27, Pittsburgh, PA
- Vibram Open, August 31-September 3, Leicester, MA
- Green Mountain Championship, September 14-17, Jeffersonville, VT
- USWDGC, September 21-24, Johnson City, Tennessee*
- USDGC, October 4-7, Rock Hill, South Carolina*
- Hall of Fame Classic, October 13-15, Augusta, Georgia
Bold* = PDGA Major Bold = PDGA National Tour Italics = Disc Golf Pro Tour
Update: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Pittsburgh Flying Disc Open was a first-time NT event. It has been updated to reflect that it was on the tour in 2011, and we regret the error.
