Statue of Steady" Ed Headrick; the Father of Disc Golf; one of many historical disc golf items in the Headrick Memorial Museum at the International Disc Golf Center (IDGC) in Appling, Georgia, USA.

Welcome to the 2017 Ed Headrick Disc Golf Hall of Fame Classic presented by ProActive Sports Disc Golf (HOFC), the only event that brings the top touring pros together with many of the most prominent and most important historical figures of the sport. With all the PDGA Majors completed for the year, this event, the finale of the PDGA National Tour, serves as one of the last top-tier tournaments of 2017.

McBeth, Pierce Leading NT Series Points

The 2017 National Tour consists of six total events and uses a points system based on finishing rank at each event to determine each player’s total points for the series. The top four finishes from the first five events plus the points earned at the HOFC will determine the series champions.

Having won the first four NT events and finishing in 2nd place at the fifth, Paige Pierce #29190 has built up quite a lead in the series. Coming in with a perfect score of 400 (only the top four finishes from the first five events are used), Paige has all but locked up the title. Catrina Allen #44184 holds the 2nd place position in the NT series, 26 points back, meaning if she were to win here at the HOFC this weekend (a very realistic possibility), Paige would need to finish in 11th or lower (a very unrealistic possibility) to give up the top spot in the NT series.

The story on the men’s side is quite different. Only 12 points separate points leader Paul McBeth from the recently crowned 2017 Disc Golf World Tour Champion Ricky Wysocki. 12 points isn’t much based on the way points are earned, but it just might be enough to allow McBeth to hold on for yet another title of NT Champion.

Current Standings - Top 10

Points System

The Open and Open Women’s divisions will be taking on the HOFC layout of the “Steady” Ed Headrick Memorial Course for their first round on Friday, followed by back-to-back rounds on the infamous W.R. Jackson Memorial Course on Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the divisions will be playing one round on each of the aforementioned courses, plus one on the Jim Warner Memorial Course to round out their weekend.

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The back porch of the IDGC is looking better than ever for the 2017 HOFC.

The Disc Golf Hall of Fame Division

“All the PDGA numbers in our division doesn’t even add up to a 5-digit number”, said 2006 Disc Golf Hall of Fame (DGHOF) inductee and PDGA Ratings wizard Chuck Kennedy #4949. That was true, for a while anyway, until 1995 DGHOF inductee David L Greenwell #962 snuck into the division and broke Chuck’s equation, bringing the sum of PDGA numbers for the Senior Grandmasters division to 10,591.

It should be noted that two of the nine are Dan “Stork” Roddick and Jim Palmeri, two of the seven men and women selected for the DGHOF at its inaugural inductee ceremony in 1993. Their PDGA numbers of #3 and #23, respectively, certainly helped Chuck’s cause. Not to mention 1996 inductee Mike Conger #60.

Come to think of it, of the nine competitors in the Senior Grandmasters division, all nine of which are DGHOF members by the way, Chuck’s PDGA number is by far the highest at #4949. That’s more than 2000 higher than the next highest PDGA number of #2632 held by 1995 inductee Dr. Rick Voakes. Just sayin…

The Senior Grandmasters will be playing in two fivesomes on Friday. Five Senior Grandmasters on one card plus four Senior Grandmasters on the other card, joined by the one Senior Grandmasters Women competitor, 2005 DGHOF inductee Sylvia Voakes #3360.

Reading, Graham, Bird to be Inducted on Saturday

The DGHOF will be introducing and inducting it’s new members at the HOFC for the first time this year, as it has historically taken place during the week of the PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships. It’s a move that makes sense, as the DGHOF inductee plaques are already housed at the IDGC, and what better way to bring in the new than by uniting them with the old for a weekend of disc golf on some of the best courses in the world?

Each year, inductees are nominated and selected by the DGHOF members themselves. The selection process is confidential and new inductees must be approved by the DGHOF Board of Directors as well.  Disc Golf Hall of Fame inductees are judged to fit the following DGHOF Charter standards:

• Favorable standing and an honorable reputation within the disc golf community.
• Made significant contributions to the sport of disc golf through development, promotion, leadership, and/or sportsmanship that merits our recognition, remembrance, and respect.
• Gave back to the sport with a passion that transcends personal gain.
• Dedicated at least 15 years of service to the disc golf community.

This year, for the the reasons listed above and many more, the DGHOF has selected Des Reading #15863, Brian Graham #5861, and John Bird #387. It will be a special moment for each of the three, but perhaps a bit more surreal for Brian Graham, who will be inducted on the grounds of the IDGC that he helped develop prior to and during his 12-*year tenure as PDGA Executive Director.

The accomplishments of these amazing individuals simply won’t fit into this already lengthy article, but we have plenty of information about each in the “Introducing the 2017 Disc Golf Hall of Fame Inductees” article published in late September.