760 amateur disc golfers from 11 different countries have descended on Kalamazoo, MI for the 2015 PDGA Amateur & Junior Disc Golf World Championships, and we couldn’t be more excited. Am Worlds is an enormous event, bringing together players ranging in ages from 9 to 90. For the hundreds of players that have made their way to Michigan, Am Worlds means a chance at turning the dream of a World title into a reality.   

Despite being played in different cities and on different courses this year, Am Worlds and Pro Worlds will always have one thing in common; they are both endurance contests. No one wins a world title based on a single day of good luck. Every drive, approach, and putt have to be part of a plan that encompasses several days of disc golf on several different courses. Strategy wins world championships, not luck.

Tournament Director Larry LaBond #6903 and his enormous crew of staff and volunteers have been prepping for the 2015 Am Worlds for months, bringing in mega-sponsors the likes of Bell’s Brewery and working to prepare nine different courses for world-class competition. Serious stuff aside, the Kalamazoo crew never passes up a chance to have a little fun. As seen in this story’s cover photo, LaBond’s crew brought out a picnic table to the stage so he could make announcements in a way he is much more accustomed to during the Players Meeting at the Miller Auditorium of Western Michigan University. The crowd erupted in applause and laughter as Larry stepped up to his personal "stage" to address the players.

Competition

The Advanced Men's division is easily the largest field with 285 players split into four different pools (A, B, C, and D) for the week. Coming off his win at the 2015 United States Amateur Disc Golf Championships, 15 year old phenom and 977-rated Anthony Barela #44382 might be considered a “favorite” if Las Vegas oddsmakers were involved. However, Barela is not the highest rated player at Am Worlds and it should also be considered that many talented golfers don’t get the opportunity to compete at the USADGC. Mark Huether #41561 comes into Am Worlds with the highest rating at 987, but with only a handful of PDGA sanctioned events under his belt in the last two years.

Crazy headwind here on hole 17's tee. AB tries a 360 drive right into it?! What?! #USADGC pic.twitter.com/C0BxD3lTkP

— PDGA Live Scoring (@pdgalive) June 7, 2015

Knowing he had nothing to lose, Barela throws a 360 backhand drive off the tee of Hole 17 at the 2015 USADGC.

Jessica Hill #64874, Ania Knapinska #33679, and Samantha Socia #55347 are the highest rated in the Advanced Women’s division, all with the same rating of 870. Jessica Hill already has one Am Worlds victory under her belt, as she and her partner Chip Thomas won the Mixed Doubles competition on Saturday by just a single throw. Ania already has a victory as well, becoming the newest champion of the EDGE SkillShot Challenge with a score 369.

Even if Jessica and Ania don’t end up duking it out on the lead card, they still have to battle for the title of Amateur Putting Champion in the putting competition finals on Wednesday night during the FlyMart at Timber Ridge Ski Area.

Andrew Coggin with a crush! 778'! Almost hits the red truck at the bottom! #2015AmWorlds pic.twitter.com/TmLSkjA5aF

— PDGA (@PDGA) July 19, 2015

Andrew Coggin #27745 with a 778' crush at the Long Drive Competition down the ski slope at Timber Ridge. Bryan Freese #62044 had the longest of the day at 834'!

Courses

There are more courses than we have time to describe in this article, so be sure to check out all the details about each of them on the 2015 Am Worlds Courses page. Timber Ridge Ski Area is the headquarters for Am Worlds, serving as a world-class course and home to player check-in, all of the field events, the finals, and more. Timber Ridge serves a ski resort during the winter so the course contains several extremely fun but difficult holes where knowing how to play elevation is a huge advantage.

As we continue to follow different groups throughout the week, we will bring you more details about each and every course. Michigan is a hotbed for disc golf and with the vast landscapes available in the Midwest, each course chosen for Am Worlds will bring a different type of challenge for the players. 

Live scoring, pictures, videos, wrap-up shows and more are on the way for this year’s PDGA Disc Golf Amateur & Junior World Championships, so be sure to follow the PDGA on Facebook and Twitter for up-to-the-minute information.

We’ll be out and about during Round 1 tomorrow morning at Vicksburg Recreation Area snapping pics and sending updates of the Advanced Men's division (A and B pool), followed by live scoring on pdgalive.com for Round 2 and every round to follow until the end of the week. Good luck to everyone competing at the #2015AmWorlds and we hope to see you out there playing, or cheering for your friends and family!