Edwards Park, Westside Park to host major disc golf tournament April 16, with concert afterward at Burr Park | Local News
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Dalton-area residents can see some of the best disc golfers in North America compete on Saturday, April 16, at the courses at the Whitfield County Parks and Recreation Department’s Edwards Park and Westside Park.
The tournament is the finale of the Prodigy Star Series, hosted by Prodigy Disc, a Dalton-based manufacturer of disc golf discs and other equipment.
“We have hosted an event each month for the past six months,” said Will Schusterick, co-owner of Prodigy Disc, a former No. 1 disc golf player in the world and three-time winner of the U.S. Open.
“The tournament round will start at 10 a.m.,” he said. “We are more than happy to have anyone come out and watch. There are separate divisions. Westside will have the amateurs, and Edwards will have the pro division.”
Matt Zollitsch, event coordinator for Prodigy Disc, said the series has had more than 700 competitors from the United States and Canada.
“The series has brought sponsors from all over the disc golf world,” he said.
The tournament will conclude at 2 p.m. with a concert at the Burr Performing Arts Park in downtown Dalton by The Whole Fam Damily, a Dalton-based band.
“We’ll have live music, disc golf vendors,” said Schusterick. “It will be a fun atmosphere, and we welcome everyone to come out and take part.”
According to Sports Illustrated, disc golf was one of the few sports that thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic, “likely partially due to its ability to be played outdoors and socially distanced. But it was also the continuation of a growth trend that occurred through the 2010s.”
The magazine reported that the Professional Disc Golf Association now has 150,000 members, “with 70,000 of those retaining active status for tournaments — a figure that’s doubled since 2016.”
The Whitfield County Parks and Recreation Department’s Westside Park Disc Golf Course was voted one of the top four courses in the United States in 2020 by the readers of Connect Magazine. It finished behind Maple Hill Disc Golf in Leicester, Massachusetts; Quaker’s Challenge at Gifford Pinchot State Park, Lewisberry, Pennsylvania; and Blue Ribbon Pines, East Bethel, Minnesota.
“We see people from out of town daily playing these courses,” said Whitfield County Parks and Recreation Department Director Brian Chastain.
In addition to the courses at Edwards Park and Westside Park, which were designed by Schusterick, there is a disc golf course at Heritage Point Park in Dalton and a nine-hole course at the Tunnel Hill Golf Club. There are also two practice baskets on the grassy area next to the train tracks at the old freight depot off Morris Street in Dalton.