The 2024 Discraft Ledgestone Open is Thursday through Sunday at disc golf courses around central Illinois, under the direction of tournament founder Nate Heinold.
The 14th annual event will be the largest disc golf tournament in the world for the fourth straight year, as the expected field grows to 2,300 with a purse of $145,000 for the pro players.
“It never gets old,” Heinold said. “Always exciting, a record number of players and thousands of spectators. It’s a great challenge to organize and tremendous fun to watch.”
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Here is everything you need to know about the four-day tournament, from concerts to ice cream socials, meet-and-greets with pro players and more:
When is the Ledgestone Open disc golf tournament?
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Thursday — First Round, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.: Men’s Pro Open tees at Lake Eureka Temp Disc Golf Course. Women’s Pro Open tees at Sunset Hills (Pekin).
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Friday — Second Round, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.: Men’s Pro Open tees at Lake Eureka Temp Disc Golf Course. Women’s Pro Open tees at Sunset Hills (Pekin).
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Saturday — Third Round, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.: Men’s Pro Open tees at Lake Eureka Temp Disc Golf Course. Women’s Pro Open tees at Sunset Hills (Pekin).
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Sunday — Final Round, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.: Men’s Pro Open tees at Lake Eureka Disc Golf Course. Women’s Pro Open tees at Sunset Hills (Pekin).
Divisions below the pros will play throughout the week at various courses. There is a complete schedule here.And you can also see tee times in a separate area.
Heinold also is creating fun twist for the professional men. He created alternate pin placements on some holes and layout tweaks on others at Eureka Temp course, where all four rounds of the men’s pro tournament will be played. The holes involved are 7, 9, 13, 16 and 17. There is a $10,000 prize up for grabs for a hole-in-one.
Where is the Ledgestone Open disc golf tournament? How can I watch?
The tournament, with professional and amateur divisions, the latter reaching down as young as age 10, will play out on 12 disc golf courses around the area. Those include Lake Eureka Park (Eureka), Wildlife Prairie Park (Hanna City), Northwood Park (Morton), Meggido at Westwood Park (Morton), Washington Park (Washington), Sunset Hills Country Club (Pekin), McNaughton Park (Pekin), Kennel Lake Sportsmen’s Club (Morton), Three Sisters Park (Chillicothe), Illinois Central College (East Peoria) and Maxwell Park (Normal), Brady Park (East Peoria).
You can find directions here to each course here.
The 2024 Ledgestone can be seen via live stream at Disc Golf Network. It’s a pay service.
Ledgestone Open 2024 tickets
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Tickets: $20 per day on Thursday and Friday; $25 on Saturday, Sunday. Ages 10 and under are free. A weekly pass is $75 and includes a Ledgestone disc and shirt. VIP badge is $115 and includes a weekly pass, parking and a spectator pack. The badge will get you special access to the VIP tent at the event, which includes snacks and food. Tickets can be purchased online. Go to the Ledgestone tournament website for information on how to purchase.
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Parking note: At Eureka Lake, parking is located at the lower (East) entrance to the park. Parking staff will guide you to the appropriate parking area. At Sunset Hills spectator parking is available in the main lot at the club and with street parking.
Ledgestone Open special events
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6-8 p.m. Thursday: Paul McBeth, Anthony Barela, Paige Pierce and Missy Gannon meet-and-greet at Lake Eureka Disc Golf Course.
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6-9 p.m. Thursday: The band Jonny Quest performs at Lake Eureka. Ice cream sundae/root beer floats free from Gramma Nanas Kitchen.
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9-11 p.m. Thursday: Glo Disc golf at Washington Park.
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6-8 p.m. Saturday: The band Jonny Quest performs at Comfort Inn in Morton.
Ledgestone Open 2024: Women’s players to watch
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Ohn Scoggins: The L.A. native is ranked No. 2 in the world by PDGA and finished fourth earlier this season at the U.S. Women’s Disc Golf Championship. She has 97 career wins and $246,000 in earnings.
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Missy Gannon: The defending Ledgestone champion is ranked No. 4 in the world by PDGA and won the U.S. Women’s Disc Golf Championship earlier this season and was third in the European Open earlier this month. She has 44 career wins and $287,000 in career earnings.
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Holyn Handley: The Grapevine, Texas native is ranked No. 5 in the world by PDGA and has 26 career wins with $128,000 in earnings.
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Paige Pierce: The veteran touring pro is ranked No. 12 in the world by PDGA. She has 153 career wins and $401,000 in earnings. The Pensacola, Fla., native won the Ledgestone in 2019 and 2021.
Top men’s players in the Ledgestone Open 2024
Three-time Ledgestone champion Richard Wysocki is not here this year, out with a rib injury suffered in a tournament earlier this summer. But there are plenty of elite challengers.
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Gannon Buhr: Ranked No. 1 in the world by PDGA, the Urbandale, Iowa native brings 37 wins and $284,000 in earnings with him. He has four first-place finishes on the tour this season, including the European Open championship 10 days ago.
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Calvin Heimburg: Ranked No. 3 in the world by PDGA, the Safety Harbor, Fla., native has 58 career wins and $410,000 in earnings. He played in the Swedish and European open championships this summer, and has 12 top-7 finishes on the tour in 2024.
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