LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — In 2026, two major disc golf tournaments are coming to the Central Virginia region.
The Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) Champions Cup is coming to the area April 9-12, 2026, followed by the Disc Golf Pro Tour (DGPT) Championships on October 15-18, 2026.
We’re building off of our successes from hosting the Professional Disc Golf Association Pro Worlds in 2024,” Andrew Marks, Lynchburg’s Assistant Director of Tourism, said.
The PDGA Champions Cup will be held at New London Tech Golf Course in Bedford County, and the DGPT Championships are set to tee off at the New London Tech course and the Ivy Hill Golf Club in Bedford County.
“It’s really great. When you think about return on investment and economic impact, both of these tournaments combined are expected to bring around five million dollars in direct visitor spending,” Marks said. “The great thing about our location and this sport as well is that all of the pros and a lot of the amateurs that will be coming in and competing, are not from Virginia or if they are, they still live around two hours away or so, so we are going to be able to build on that overnight lodging spend, restaurants, retail, etc.”
Thousands of spectators are expected to come to our region for each of the events, boosting tourism and economic impact for both Lynchburg and Bedford County.
The Champions Cup that’s going to happen in April brings about 600 athletes, plus all of their staff, media, etc. The Disc Golf Pro Tour Championships in October will bring around 100 professional players and their support staff. They’re looking at adding in the amateur challenge with it as well, that could bring in additional spectators, media and players,” Marks said.
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Marks said the city of Lynchburg and Bedford County are paying about $35,000 each to bring the tournaments to the area, but the return for our area will be worth it.
“With sports tourism, you really have to sometimes help pay to play in the space, not everything’s free. A lot of the time, we have to put forth some investment dollars to then have that larger return on investment. Five million dollars for $35,000 from each destination is a pretty big return on investment,” he said.
Marks noted that the major tournaments coming to our area, year after year, speak a lot to the strength of the Central Virginia region.
It’s truly a testament to where we have had the vision for sports tourism,” he said. “We work a lot with our colleges and universities to bring collegiate championships and other events to the area, but this is just something different that’s gonna help boost our local economy and really, honestly, put Lynchburg in the national spotlight once again. They will be streaming all of this live on the Disc Golf Network, and then hopefully from there it’ll move into other media presentations as well.”
Folks don’t have to wait until 2026 to enjoy some local disc golf! Just next month, October 16-19, the Disc Golf Pro Championship tour is being held at New London Tech and Ivy Hill.
“It’s just really exciting to be able to do this once again,” Marks said. “We’re really excited to be able to continue to build this momentum as the Lynchburg region, being a go-to disc golf area.”
