championship

“Jones Gold — it’s a course, that has definitely had some history, dating back in Emporia as to when I’d been there, I think first time in mid 2000s, 2008, 2009,” said five-time world champion Paul McBeth in a video about the redesign. “But now 2021, I think it is small. I think that’s the biggest thing is where the talent level is now, a lot of the players can throw up and over the trees, not use the course the way that it was originally designed.”

Course designer Eric McCabe heard that concern and met it head on. He agreed with the need to improve and redesign the course after the 2021 DDO.

“We started after the tournament last year and looked at the course,” McCabe said. “We looked at the scores from everybody and decided, you know, if we want to do something next year big, and we’re hosting the world championships, we gotta get a course that’s a little bit more aggressive.”

The gears started turning and McCabe went to work laying out a few different designs. He presented them to Doug Bjerkaas and they discussed which one might work best for Jones Park.

“We ended up going with the one that we have now,” he said. “We started construction and putting in the new baskets around November.”

Supreme 18 brings a number of new challenges for some of the world’s best players, and McCabe said it was a collaborative effort with a number of different parties.

“This couldn’t have been done without a team here in Emporia,” he said. “Our DD crew, Doug Bjerkaas. Keith Krause, and a couple of others that have really helped out with the process. Obviously the city of Emporia, too, for helping out with some of the funding to put some benches in there.”

McCabe said benches may not seem like a big deal, but in the disc golfing world? They are almost a necessity.

“I’ve been playing golf here since the late 90s and I’ve always thought, ‘Why don’t we have benches at our courses?’” he said. “You know, every other course you travel to, that’s a good quality, high-rank course, has benches.”

McCabe said the city’s willingness to assist with the project shows how much it values what disc golf brings to the community.

The course itself is both aesthetically pleasing and a lot more challenging. A limestone island at Hole No. 1 was designed and built by Scott Tjachman. McCabe said Tjachman was able to build the island is a matter of days.

“It was pretty amazing how quickly he got that turned around and we absolutely love it,” he said.

Supreme 18 will again be the featured course during the PDGA World Championships in August, giving players at the DDO a chance to preview what they will be facing. So far, the new course has delivered on its promise to be a challenge.

“A hole one, for the FPO — the female pro open — there was only one birdie on hole one, and it’s pretty crazy. It’s a challenging island hole, which is kinda cool, but scores were all over the place for the women and and the men.”

Another challenge is Hole 16 which has a “pretty big par” for the men. Hole 10 only had one birdie. That honor went to Corey Ellis, a pro from West Virginia.

“A lot of that is the elements,” McCabe said. “A lot of that was the direction of the wind and how strong it was blowing, so that makes things a little bit more challenging when you’re out there trying to score.”

He said that can make it challenging when it comes to design, too, knowing that it can be windy one day and completely still the next.

“There’s a fine line between those two,” he said.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the course is that it’s actually two courses in one. Other than the Supreme 18, there is also the Supreme Short. That course is designed for the casual players who make use of the park most of the year.

“It starts at the same hole and the only difference is you don’t play that as an island,” McCabe said. “You can play the Supreme Short course and there will be a course map and tee signs out following the Dynamic Discs Open. You can go out there and kind of get an appreciation for the big, championship-level course, but not have to play it.”

Of course, you can play it if you want to.

“It’s a pretty good challenge,” he added.