Downhill 430' Hole 3 at Hiestand Park.

In the last few days, hundreds of the best amateur and junior disc golfers in the world have made the trek to Madison, Wisconsin to get ready for the five-day pursuit towards the coveted title of PDGA Amateur or PDGA Junior Disc Golf World Champion. In the days to come, even more will arrive, as the true competition itself doesn’t begin until Tuesday. Those that have come to practice the courses early may have a slight advantage, but that in no way means they are guaranteed to outplay their competitors on the five courses being used for the event.

Today marks the unofficial beginning of 2016 Am Worlds, with 34 teams playing in the Amateur Mixed Doubles competition and another 17 teams playing in the Junior Divisional Doubles competition. The Mixed Doubles teams will be taking on the 27-hole layout of Token Creek in the long positions while the Junior Divisional Doubles take on the very tricky 18-hole layout of Hiestand Park.

Coming off his sudden death playoff win at the 2016 United States Amateur Disc Golf Championship, Gavin Rathbun #60436 and his partner/teammate Kona Panis #27832 have to be considered one of the favorites in the Mixed Doubles event, both of which are Innova-sponsored youngsters looking for a big win to kick off the week.

Kona Panis teaching disc golf to children in Littleton, Colorado.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other dynamic duos in the mix. Mike Jewel #53915 and his wife Tiara Jewel #62354 have a combined PDGA Player Rating of 1811, making them the highest rated teammates in the field. Considering the Best Shot and Modified Alternate Shot formats being used, it could go any number of ways.

Regardless of what happens in doubles on Saturday, Sunday will open up a whole new can of worms as the Field Events come into play, meaning a whole new batch of world titles will be up for grabs, including Long Drive, Putting, SkillShot™, and Mini Disc Golf.

Sunday and Monday give the players a chance to regroup and focus on practicing the courses before heading out into a five-day marathon of disc golf chaos. By the time Tuesday comes around, everyone on site will be ready to fight for their honor, for their division, and for their chance to make the cut for Semis and Finals on Saturday.

Follow along as the best amateur players in the world take on the courses of Madison, Wisconsin each and every day via the PDGA on Facebook and Twitter, along with hole-by-hole scoring on pdgalive.com.