The Disc Golf Monkey Finale in Harrison, AR on the North Ark campus, was truly a memorable disc golf tournament. From the players pack, to the course, to the incredible pay out, the Finale will be a tough act to follow. Each year this event has been in a different location. The third time was definitely a charm! In the DGM's first Finale we had pretty good financial support from sponsors, but not the best course/venue. The second Finale we had a piece of land that was second to none on beauty, but little financial backing. This year both aspects were present, and it was made relatively easy to make a successful tournament.

Despite only being a PDGA sanctioned C Tier event, players were treated to an incredible players pack that included custom long sleeve t shirt (designed by Keith Douglas and printed by Creator Designs), an upper end Innova disc, a tripod stool sticker, a free sandwich card from McDonald's, and a free lunch provided by John Paul's Gathering Place...wait this is a C Tier?! The major reason for the over the top players pack was because the Harrison Convention and Visitors Bureau or the CVB supported in a huge way! Matt Bell the Director of Sports made funding this possible opening the door for a great course venue. Local restaurant owner Jamie Akers eagerly offered to supply lunch from John Pauls Gathering Place, and host a sight of the after party (this contact was also provided by Matt).

On top of the players pack, the course was a super challenging par 58 with many different types of holes: wooded, open, flat, elevated, flat, but must of all beautiful! This was the Finale and the land lent itself to a challenging and difficult course, so that is what I chose to design. Rarely does an opportunity arise like this, and I wanted to showcase the North Ark College land. I think the mission was accomplished! Although not an easy course, all who played finished and enjoyed the day of golf.

As always, the pay out was much higher than the average C tier events. With the Monkey's mobile store present, it allowed players to pick their prizes. This continued trend has been very popular by the players over the years. With the help from Dynamic Discs, Discs Unlimited, and Innova, there were a lot of several “hard to get plastic” available along with a wide variety of normal stock discs by many different manufacturers! DD and DU also sponsored CTP holes on the course for added prizes. Adding an exciting part to the pay out was a custom Monkey Trap that was raffled to one of the Amateur winners. The winner was local Female Recreational Champion Christine West! Open champion Doug Wiegand pocketed near $200. Pretty nice pay out for only 7 pros in attendance. Although it was posted $500 added, there was more than that added!

The always fun “Must Be Present to Win” EDGE raffle was held at John Paul's Gathering Place. Doug and Teresa Duff were the winners of the big ticket item, the Innova Discatcher Sport. Also raffled was the year long raffle for a Monkey Trap. This raffle was done all year offering tickets for sale and for the purchase of Tour T Shirts/Polos. This year's winner was Joplin's own Zack Jones. He has chosen to get a custom color basket, and when it is finished I will post a picture of the basket and him. I hope that Harrison, AR can be a tour stop for years to come!

Winners included: Doug Wiegand, Jake Whitehead, Bruce Heidebrecht, Shayn Woltz, Brian Lansford, Teresa Duff, and Christine West.

You can see the full results at http://www.pdga.com/tournament_results/75462
Also check out the right up on Yahoo Sports: http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ycn-10425085
Thanks for sharing Steve Kastner!!

I am working on events for the 2012 season and am excited! Now is the time to contact me if you/city is interested to be a part. Until next time Aces to you all!