The best of 2006
Season has came to an end and disc golfers are preparing for holidays. It´s good time to list the best of 2006.
Disc Golf “World Tour 2006″. Now we can really say that professional disc golf is world wide! Three amazing Majors in three contingents were held this year. These events have been awarded with a PDGA Major status this year. It all started from Japan and Japan Open (The first ever PDGA Major outside North America). Kozo Shimbo (Disc Golf Hall of Famer) put together a awesome tournament in a place extraordinary. The atmosphere in Japan was something unexpected. There were record field of international players (75+) and we all stayed in the same resort for that week. Some decided to stay longer to learn more about that magnificent country. The tournament was held at Nasu High land Golf Club and we played in world-class ball golf course. It was Steve Rico who clinched the title from playoff against Avery Jenkins.
The European Open was the first ever PDGA Major in Europe. It was held in Tampere, Finland and there were 65+ international players. Well manicured Epilä Disc Golf Park and beautiful weather ensured a pleasant week for top level Disc Golf. David Feldberg played insane golf to grab a title.
USDGC - the mother of all modern Disc Golf Majors was held at Rock Hill, SC. This time Barry Schultz beat all contenders at the infamous Winthrop Golf Course. USDGC has shown the way to many big disc golf tournaments. One successful feature is one-round-a-day format. That leaves more time to players to prepare for the tournament and spend time together. This trend will grow among Disc Golf tournaments and will lead to a better run happenings. One round a day -format helps also TD and staff to execute tournament better.
The uniqueness of these majors is international field and atmosphere. For example the European Open had 14 nationalities reresented.
Hot players. Ken Climo claimed his 12th Worlds title. Barry Schultz had a great year all-round. Steve Rico got his first major in Japan. Dave Feldberg played bogie-free tournament to win European Open title. Avery Jenkins nabbed his first major at Players Cup after finishing top-4 in all other majors. Des Reading took her 3rd Worlds title. Some of the new rising stars were Manabu Kajiyama from Japan and Cale Leiviska (yes, he has finnish roots).
New PDGA EuroTour. PDGA International committee elected Paul Francz to PDGA Europe manager in late 2005 and new PDGA EuroTour was born. In it´s first year the tour collected a lot of new players and nationalities. Competition level was higher than even in European Disc Golf. Jesper Lundmark was the man to win tour title.
All in all the year 2006 will be restored soon into the books. It will be remembered with strong international flavor. Two new European disc golf brands were introduced as Latitude64° and Discmania were stepped up in the scene. International Disc Golf will continue to grow and hopefully we´ll meet in many major tournaments in 2007!