Jason Savio
The biggest weekend of the year for pro disc golf in Massachusetts is nearly here.
Some of the best disc golfers in the world will converge on the Maple Hill Disc Golf Course in Leicester on Sept. 24-27 for the MVP Open. The MVP Open is the final playoff event of the Disc Golf Pro Tour, with the winners moving on to the tour championship in Virginia this October.
“For me, Maple Hill is a magical place where everyone is family, and I don’t mean that in a fluffy way,” says Steve Dodge, general manager and co-owner of the Maple Hill course.
If you are unaware of what disc golf is, or wondering why it is not called ultimate frisbee, that is because they are two different sports.
“Ultimate frisbee is almost like frisbee soccer, and disc golf back in the day used to be called frisbee golf,” explains Dodge. “Frisbee golf and ultimate are different in that frisbee golf is basically golf, and ultimate is basically soccer, both done with frisbees.”
You need to get the frisbee in the basket for disc golf, and that is done by hitting the chains attached to the basket, creating what Dodge calls “one of the most distinctive and enjoyable sounds in the sport.”
Maple Hill has hosted the MVP Open in different iterations for over two decades, and during that time has become recognized by UDisc.com as one of the best disc golf courses in the world. It currently ranks No. 1 in the United States and No. 5 globally.
For this year’s MVP Open, top professional men and women disc golfers will compete, including Massachusetts’ own Simon Lizotte and former Disc Golf Pro Tour champion Missy Gannon. The winner will also walk away with what Dodge estimates to be a $125,000 cash prize.
“The plan was to make Maple Hill the best disc golf course in the world and to build one of the best disc golf tournaments in the world, and it’s very odd to me that we’ve gotten to the point where that’s been recognized,” says Dodge, crediting his cousin Tom Southwick, who helped design the original course and is the owner of the property. “You could put a pin in it and say, ‘mission accomplished.’ It’s one of those things where you shoot for the moon and you accidentally hit it.”
The weekend of the MVP Open is full of fan events, starting with a kickoff party at Treehouse Brewing Company on Wednesday night with the players in attendance. On Thursday night fans can game with the players via a video game trailer that will be brought on site. There will even be a pie eating contest on Friday night that includes a $15,000 giveaway and, Dodge says, they will “hand out $100 bills to people in the audience kind of randomly.”
Sure, Maple Hill is a championship-level course and hosts the MVP Open, but it is not just for the pros. It is also beginner-friendly and welcoming to all, offering lessons, a beginner-level course, memberships, and more.
“I’m really happy that so many people have come on this journey and recognized how much fun it is to play disc golf, how great the people that play disc golf are,” says Dodge. “The culture of the disc is unlike anything I’ve seen in any other sport. It’s self-officiated and you play with honor and you root for the other people to hit the putt. You’re not playing against people, you’re playing with people.”
Tickets for the MVP Open are available at themvpopen.com and come in various price ranges and VIP options.
