The first PDGA Major event of the year is right around the corner as this weekend kicks off the 2014 PDGA Amateur Doubles World Championships! The tournament itself doesn’t start until Saturday but there are plenty of activities in the days leading up to it that make the Amateur Doubles World Championships one of the most unique and entertaining disc golf events of the year.

Texas native and 2x PDGA World Champion Paige Pierce (#29190) will lead a disc golf clinic on Friday which will be followed by a players welcome reception in downtown Mt. Vernon that includes dinner, music, and free prizes. Paige will be leading another pro clinic on Saturday that’s open to the general public as well, so if you’re in the area and want some tips from one of the best disc golfers in the game today, stop by! Throw in a pro shop, beautiful scenery, even more free meals and parties, and amazing courses all designed by arguably the best disc golf course designer in the world, John Houck (#1688), and it’s hard to find a reason not to attend.

From the moment the course at Selah Ranch was installed, it’s been known by many as one of the best, if not the best, disc golf course in the world. Selah Ranch now features two different championship courses; Selah Lakeside and Selah Creekside. What makes this event even more special is the addition of two more Houck championship courses at Trey Texas Ranch; Trey Deuce and Texas Twist. The photos and videos alone that will come from this event will be unprecedented. To describe them as photogenic would be a serious understatement.

If you’ve played a doubles format before, you’ve very likely played the standard Best Shot format. The Amateur World Doubles Championships has several formats over the days of play including Best Shot, Best Disc, Alternate Shot, and the dreaded Worst Shot. In Best Shot, both players throw and they choose which of the two to throw from next. They repeat this until they’ve completed the hole.

Best Disc is where both players play the hole as if they were playing singles, and the best score on the hole out of the two players is the only one that gets recorded. Alternating Shot is exactly as it sounds. One player throws, then his/her partner plays from where it lays. Worst Shot is the exact opposite of Best Shot, in that the players both throw and then have to throw from the worst lay.

More information about the event can be found on the PDGA Amateur World Doubles Championship website or on their Facebook page. We’ll have lots of media coverage for the event including throw-by-throw coverage and live scoring for several of the rounds on PDGAlive.com and on Twitter via @PDGAlive. Of course, don't forget to check the scores after each round and look for photos on Flickr.

If you have any questions, please contact the co-tournament directors, John and Dee Houck. Stay tuned and cheer on your favorite teams for the first PDGA Major event of 2014!