Clayton Lewis steps to throw a putt at Ivy Hill Golf Club during the 2024 Professional Disc Golf World Championships on Wednesday.

MARK HAND The (Lynchburg) News & Advance

LYNCHBURG - The first round of the Professional Disc Golf World Championships kicked off Wednesday at the New London Tech Disc Golf Course and Ivy Hill Golf Club, with nearly 300 of the top players from around the world coming to the Lynchburg area to participate through the weekend in the biggest disc golf event of the year.

The men and women disc golfers who qualified for the world championships were placed into two pools. One pool played at New London, a disc golf-only course designed by six-time world champion Paul McBeth, and the other pool of disc golfers played at a tough course set up at the Ivy Hill Golf Club. Both courses are located in Bedford County.

All the players will play two rounds at each club, alternating back and forth. On Sunday, the players with the best scores from the first four days will come together to play the final round.

In their first time hosting the World Championships, Lynchburg and Bedford County worked with the Professional Disc Golf Association to recruit hundreds of volunteers and vendors to help put on the world-class event.

Among the players from the Lynchburg area who qualified for the world championships were Clayton Lewis and Nick Doan, both of whom played the Ivy Hill course on Wednesday and were competing in their first World Championships.

Lewis, a 2024 graduate of Liberty University, had only one bogey in his opening round to shoot a 3-under 64. Doan, who also graduated from Liberty, shot a 4-over 71.

Sponsored by Foundation Disc Golf in Forest, Lewis has been playing in professional disc golf tournaments for almost four years. "I've never played on the Disc Golf Pro Tour, just ones at the local level," he told The News & Advance after completing his first round. "This time the Pro Tour came to us, so I got to play in the World Championships this year."

The Ivy Hill course is known for its length and tight fairways, sending a slightly wayward throw of the disc out of bounds. The New London course, which is open year-round, is also long but favors the players with the shot-making skills.

Given the importance of the event, most of the players used caddies, although some players chose to carry their own discs in a bag, which sometimes number 30 to 40.

Ben Wolff, who was in Doan's foursome, carried his own discs, while the other players in the group had caddies.

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Doan said he chose Jon Price, a local disc golfer, as his caddie because he has a light-hearted attitude, which helps calm Doan's emotions. "I'm a very expressive golfer," he said.

Doan graduated from Liberty in 2020, where he ran cross country and track. He took up disc golf after graduation and shot a 28-over par his first time out. But he liked the sport and kept practicing and eventually started winning tournaments in the area.

The players use different weighted discs for tee shots and throws from the fairway. They switch to disc golf putters for their short-range shots.

Among the women disc golf participants was Sheliemae Lai, who traveled from San Diego to participate in her first World Championships.

A relative newcomer to the sport, playing less than three years, Lai said she only realized she had qualified for the top tournament of the year when she received an email from the organizers.

As for the Ivy Hill course, Lai said it's the most difficult disc golf course she's ever played.

"The most difficult course we have in San Diego is also a golf course. The elevation here is about three times as steep," she said.

Before Wednesday's first round of the tournament, Lai said she was able to fit in one-and-a-half practice rounds at Ivy Hill and New London, where she will be playing on Thursday.

"I love the more technical courses," she said about the New London course design. "That suits my strength a little bit more. At New London, they also have very narrow fairways, but they're not as long and don't have as much elevation."

Lai said she is enjoying the vibe at the World Championships, including getting to see the women she's been competing against at other tournaments since joining the Pro Tour in early 2024.

Spectator tickets remain available to watch the World Championships at both New London and Ivy Hill from Friday through Sunday. Visit the event's website at www.pdga.com/2024proworlds to see the various ticket packages and prices and to learn more about the event.

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