10/31/2023 – As we transition into November this week we will begin to ramp up our preparations for 2024. The biggest change for this upcoming year will be our membership tiers. For our normal everyday member there will be no changes, but as you go up in tier the bigger the perks. Below are these levels and as always please let me know if there are any questions!
Basic – $5
- Discounts at PDGA Leagues and Random Doubles
- RCDGG Bag Tag
- $1 Entry Fee to the Four RCDGG Tag Challenges
Enhanced – $10
- Discounts at PDGA Leagues, Random Doubles, and Tournaments
- RCDGG Bag Tag
- FREE Entry to the Four RCDGG Tag Challenges
Ultimate – $25
- ALL the same perks as Enhanced
- RCDGG 2024 Member Shirt
10/23/2023 – It’s been a full year of disc golf for the Richmond County Disc Golf Group
Saturday morning Random Double will continue throughout the remainder of the year.
In addition to the 2023 PDGA Singles League – Sessions I & II we hosted several tournaments and tag challenges.
Completed tournaments
3rd Annual Hinson Lake ClassicSaturday, October 21, 2023Hinson Lake Park (Rockingham, NC)
RCDGG Fall Tag ChallengeSaturday, October 7, 2023Hinson Lake Park (Rockingham, NC)
A Robbin and a Bear at the Creek IISaturday, September 16, 2023Bear Creek Trail System (Robbins, NC)
Hinson Lake BYOP Doubles ShowdownSaturday, August 12, 2023Hinson Lake Park (Rockingham, NC)
Hinson Lake 2023 Trilogy ChallengeSaturday, July 29, 2023Hinson Lake Park (Rockingham, NC)
RCDGG “Alt-Star” Bag Tag Challenge! Monday , July 29, 2023Hinson Lake Park (Rockingham, NC)
RCDGG Summer Tag ChallengeSaturday, July 15, 2023Piedmont Pines (Rockingham, NC)
Meltdown in the PinesSaturday, June 17, 2023Village of Pinehurst DGC (Pinehurst, NC)
Scotland County Spring ChallengeSaturday, May 20, 2023Scotland County DGC (Laurinburg, NC)
Disc Golf for Good (CEP Charity – Rated)Saturday, April 22, 2023Hinson Lake Park (Rockingham, NC)
The Week Zero FlexMonday, April 3, 2023Hinson Lake Park (Rockingham, NC)
RCDGG Spring Tag ChallengeSaturday, March 25, 2023Hinson Lake Park (Rockingham, NC)
Snow or Shine ShowdownSaturday, January 28, 2023Hinson Lake Park (Rockingham, NC)
2023 RCDGG Tag Challenge Opener, January 1, 2023 Hinson Lake Park (Rockingham, NC)
10/22/2023 – I want to say thank you to every single person that made the 3rd Annual Hinson Lake Classic such an amazing event yesterday! A massive shout out to our Assistant TD Jimmy McDonald, Cameron Mcdonald, Mary Burgess McDonald, and Mariah Massey for running the show and getting players packs out to our amazing players! Also, to the RCDGG members that showed up early to help set up the course and players area THANK YOU so much for supporting my family and our group yesterday! A tremendous showing of support that will never go unnoticed!
The 4th Annual Hinson Lake Classic is already on the books for October 26th, 2024!! Mark those calendars!!
Stay tuned for the next set of RCDGG updates!! Enjoy yalls weekend! – Chris
10/21/2023 – 3rd Annual Hinson Lake Classic sign up period is underway. Hoping for a great two round tournament today
10/20/2023 – Jeff’s Trophies and T’s knocked it out of the park again with our tournament shirts for the 3rd Annual Hinson Lake Classic
10/20/2023 – Baskets have been cleaned and OB painting completed for tomorrows 3rd Annual Hinson Lake Classic tournament. Unloading and setup begins at 7:00am.
10/19/2023 – The players email has been sent out to players and also posted on Disc Golf Scene for the 3rd Annual Hinson Lake Classic on Saturday. Please let Jimmy McDonald or myself know if there are any questions or concerns!
10/18/2023 – Just a reminder everyone, our Fall Random Doubles starts this afternoon at Scotland County Disc Golf Course! $5 per club member, or $6 for non members! 
Sign in from 4:20-4:50
Tee off around 5:00.
Top teams will get payout at the end of the round! We are also starting a new ace pool specifically for doubles and that currently sits at $0. I hope to see many new and familiar faces today! 
https://facebook.com/events/s/fall-random-doubles/711083163716689/
10/17/2023 – Results of Public Comment on Proposed Rule Changes for 2024
10/12/2023 – CBS SPORTS AND DGPT ANNOUNCE DEAL
10/10/2023 – Falling Putt never disappoints
10/6/2023 – Oh my the players pack discs are in and they are gorgeous 
Get signed up today to secure snagging one of these beauties!!
https://www.discgolfscene.com/…/3rd_Annual_Hinson_Lake…
10/7/2023 – Thank you to the 18 players that came out this morning for our RCDGG Fall Tag Challenge and last group tag challenge of the 2023 year! $50+ of cash CTPs, 5 disc CTPs, phenomenal weather, and a phenomenal group of players!!
I will be working over the next month or so to get everything squared away for our 2024 Tags/Memberships schedule, and I will let the group know those plans once they are finalized!
Again, thank you so much to our members for continuing to grow and making our group better! We surely wouldn’t have all of this without y’all.
10/5/2023 – Per member requests, we have new RCDGG hats!! Fitted ($25) and Trucker ($20)styles will be available Saturday morning prior to our fall tag challenge.
Get signed up for Saturdays tag challenge. Registration is free to tag holders. The course is in great condition and weather is going to be perfect. https://www.discgolfscene.com/…/RCDGG_Fall_Tag…
10/6/2023 – Just a friendly Friday reminder that we will be having our RCDGG Fall Tag Challenge tomorrow morning at Hinson Lake and there will be NO DOUBLES. This will be a 1-Round tag challenge event for our tag holders, and last one of the 2023 calendar year!
We will be doing signups until 8:50, and then teeing off promptly at 9:00 in the morning! See y’all then.
10/3/2023 – Get signed up for Saturdays tag challenge. Registration is free to tag holders. The course is in great condition and weather is going to be perfect. https://www.discgolfscene.com/…/RCDGG_Fall_Tag…
10/1/2023 –
We have entered the month of October, and it is officially Hinson Lake Classic month for the Richmond County Disc Golf Group! I’m happy to announce several of our amazing sponsors for our event!
A HUGE shoutout goes to Convenience Corner, INC who has hopped on board to become a Tournament sponsor for our event this year! Out of Hamlet, NC they provide phenomenal service, and phenomenal food to our community. A must stop location for locals, and those coming back into town!
Also, a massive thank you to Jimmy McDonald Photography for becoming an Ace sponsor, and Quality Oil and Gas (www.qualityoilandgas.com) for becoming an Eagle sponsor! Amazing community businesses helping to support our signature event!!
As always we are still accepting sponsorships for our event to help our players have the best experience possible on October 21st! Please visit https://rcdgg.com/?page_id=3086 to learn more about how you can support this event!!
Thank y’all!
9/29/2023 – Hey y’all! This is a friendly reminder that we have random doubles tomorrow morning, and we will be playing at PIEDMONT PINES!! One round of Shorts and One Round of Longs. We are here due to the Ultra Marathon taking place at Hinson.
Address: 185 Enterprise Dr, Rockingham, NC 28379
Sign-ins until 8:50 and then teeing off at 9:00! Thanks and see y’all there.
9/26/2023 – Just wanted to throw out some notes and reminders over the next several weeks
– September 30th: We had previously scheduled a tournament at Piedmont Pines, BUT I cancelled this event a month or so ago as my schedule filled up, and there was no time to properly plan for it. Tried to schedule too much on my end!
– Also, for September 30th, we will have doubles but it WILL NOT be at Hinson Lake as they are having the 24-hour Ultra Marathon there this weekend. I’ll post an update with location later this week.
– October 7th, next weekend we will be having our RCDGG Fall Tag Challenge. I know several folks plan to go to USDGC, but we will still plan to move forward as planned. Please go to Disc Golf Scene to note whether or not you plan to be there. For those that can come please do, and for those that plan to go to USGDC for sure take that chance to go watch the real pros do their thing.
If there are any questions then please let me know. Thanks!
9/24/2023 – Local Shyann Byrd looking to take down FA3 today! Good luck today!!
9/20/2023 – The 3rd Annual Hinson Lake Classic is just around the corner and it’s time to begin confirming sponsors for the tournament. The link below will direct you to a printable file on our website. Tournament information can be found at www.hinsonlakeclassic.com
https://rcdgg.com/…/2023hinsonlakeclassicsponsorform-3.pdf
8/3/2023 – 2023 RCDGG Annual Meeting 5:30 m – 6:30 pm.
We will be meeting at Axe to Grind for beer, pizza, and good times to recap the 2023 year, and to talk about what is in store for 2024. All RCDGG members are invited!
Below is our current agenda for the meeting! A lot of important points that we will be covering.
Thank you and I will see y’all there.
7/29/2023 –
A huge shoutout to our 45 players, family, and friends that came out this morning for the Hinson Lake 2023 Trilogy Challenge! It’s always a great event that offers some amazing discs and a good time. Very thank ful that the weather held off, and that I had Jimmy McDonald once again to help run point!
Congrats to our division winners today:
MENA: Chris McDonald
MENB: TIE – Jordan Gonzaga (Overall winner after random draw at -5), Dexter Mabe, Josh Nelson
MENC: Jon Pemberton
MEND: Riley Heard
WOM: Lexia Honeycutt
With no ace hit today our $85 ace pot will roll over to the 3rd Annual Hinson Lake Classic in October as will any ace pot for an event for the remainder of the year! We are back at it for the Hinson Lake BYOP doubles on August 12th. Get signed up today!
Thanks again y’all and I’ll see y’all out on the course soon!
7/18/2023 –
Just a reminder that every event except for the Hinson Lake Classic are open for registrations on Disc Golf Scene! Still plenty of spots for them all as we push into a busy next four months for the group!
Hinson Lake 2023 Trilogy Challenge (July 29, 2023): https://www.discgolfscene.com/…/Hinson_Lake_2023…
Hinson Lake BYOP Doubles Showdown (August 12, 2023): https://www.discgolfscene.com/…/Hinson_Lake_BYOP…
A Robbin and a Bear at the Creek II (September 16, 2023): https://www.discgolfscene.com/…/A_Robbin_and_a_Bear_at…
Piedmont Pines Fal Challenge (September 30, 2023): https://www.discgolfscene.com/…/Piedmont_Pines_Summer…
RCDGG Fall Tag Challenge (October 7th, 2023): https://www.discgolfscene.com/…/RCDGG_Fall_Tag…
7/15/2023 –
Thank you to the 21 players that we had out today for our Summer Tag Challenge at Piedmont Pines! Always great to have such a large group and to have some high tags involved.
Congrats Gene Joiner, Ben DeAguilar, Jimmy McDonald, Glenndell Snipes, Greg Stone, Tj Smith for grabbing the cash CTPs for todays round.
We are back on Monday to play our Copperhead Layout! I’ll post the specific on that later today. Thanks and see y’all then!
Scores: https://udisc.com/leagues/rcdgc-tags/2Rq5?tab=scores
7/10/2023 –
Thank you to the 27 players that we had out for our first week of our second PDGA League session of the year. Two new RCDGG members into the fold to bring our total to 74 for the year. Some hot rounds out there today! Next week we change up the layout to our Copperhead Layout which uses some combined holes, new holes, and alternate tee pad locations.
Also, CONGRATS to Trey Caulder for snagging the huge ace pot ace today to wipe us out! We are back to $0 for next weeks round, but with our crowds it’ll be back over $100 before you know it. Thank y’all again for being a tremendous Disc Golf community!
7/3/2023 –
Thank you to the 23 players we had out today for our Alt-Star Tag Challenge to test out the 16 alternate tee pads we had for the course. Also, a huge shoutout to Derrick Tyson for providing an extra CTP per group for the round! And congrats to Darren Stewart, Lee Leviner, Greg Stone, Elijah Pruitte, and Derrick for grabbing the Cash CTPs at the end of our round as well.
We will be back for the 1st Week of our 2nd PDGA League Session next Monday July 10th. If I don’t see y’all before then then I will see y’all out there!
6/21/2023 –
Current Layout ideas for our next league session! It will feature our normal Tournament Layout, Copperhead Layout (Longer), Hognose Layout (Shorter), Rattlesnake Layout (Mix or Copperhead and Hognose Layouts), and potentially a 4th Layout for the last week unless there is interest to use one of the already used Alternate Layouts. This is not set in stone and up for discussion with concerns or questions and comes from our poll from earlier in the week! Note, NOT EVERY hole in any of the potential alternate layouts will be changed!
6/18/2023 –
Good morning and Happy Fathers Day!
I woke up this morning and reflected on our event yesterday, and it led me to know that I will be transitioning things for my game and the club moving forward.
I will be transitioning to a more predominant role in being TD, finishing course design/expansion, and furthering the experience for RCDGG members. I will also be stepping back to a mixed bag to refill the gaps left in my bag due to the switch to Lone Star. Disc Golf is my outlet from work, and taking the next step to “sponsored” player squandered some of that love and passion for the game itself especially over the past couple of months. Rather than trying to push myself to focusing on bettering my game with one brand on my back, I will be switching back to the discs I trust (some Lonestar will stay in the bag) and focusing solely on several things that I had hoped to focus on at the start of the year and couldn’t due to myself trying to focus too much on Lone Star and not the expansion of RCDGG:
1. Finishing City Lake Course Design and cut course
2. Working on alternate basket locations and tee pad locations at Hinson Lake
3. Further development and revamp of Piedmont Pines
4. Focusing development and expansion of use of our local private courses of Smith Acres and the Gauntlet
5. Expanding youth and female disc golfer numbers
6. Making RCDGG double the size and expanding the enjoyment of events form the group!
I will still be playing a lot, but for the foreseeable future the RCDGG will hopefully be my main focus on the course. There is great enjoyment from seeing smiling faces at events, getting positive vibes from players, and getting thank yous from players for great events! Back to the basics I go to help myself and the local community reach new heights! Thanks again y’all for being such a great community. – Chris McDonald
6/14/2023 –
Sneak peek at our trophies for our PDGA Singles leagues! I have two for each division coming, so this sessions winners will get the same trophies as our winners for the next session.
Falling Putt with the great work as always to help the RCDGG give back to our players for their accomplishments!
6/12/2023 –
A HUGE shoutout to the 26 players that we had out for our final week of our first 10-Week PDGA League session! We had 60 unique individual players, 199 total played rounds, NO RAIN, and an average of almost exactly 20 players per week. With vacations, work, and life I’m thrilled with those numbers.
Also, congratulations to our division winners! Points were decided by the following (results can be found on disc golf scene leagues)
– 3 Points for each person in your division you beat each week
– 1 Point for each round played
– 0.25 Points for each person you beat in ANY division (helps with divisions where there may be a low attendance of players playing weekly)
MPO: Chris McDonald (45.5 Points)
MA1: Heydon Ward (22.25 Points)
FA1: Katie Lighthall (3.5 Points)
MA40: 1st – John Lowery (131 Points)
2nd – Jimmy McDonald (71.5 Points)
3rd – Darren Stewart (69 Points)
MA2: 1st – Nick Pruitte (109 Points)
2nd – Glenndell Snipes (85.75 Points)
3rd – Matthew Sasser (70.5 Points)
MA3:
1st – Chad Holden (237.75 Points)
2nd – Dexter Mabe (189 Points)
3rd – Elijah Pruitte (163.75 Points)
Again, thank you to everyone that came and played in our first 10-Week session! We are back on July 10th to start our 2nd Session up! Thanks.
6/8/2023 –
Over the coming month or two I hope to begin work on getting things setup for how 2024 will look for the group! Obviously, there will need to be some changes and additional support from the group as I will not have as much free time this upcoming year to start. With that said, what are changes or additions group members would like to see for next year? I will plan to put together a document with things I know I would like to see, and also the additions of items other players bring to the table.
The more input we have then the better we can prepare for this upcoming season! Thanks y’all.
6/2/2023 –
Year #3 of the Trilogy Challenge is happening at Hinson Lake Disc Golf Course on July 29th, 2023!!
1-Round, Flex Start, THREE Discs Only, Raffles and CTP chances for ALL players and a phenomenal time as always! Get signed-up today to secure your spot and get some amazing discs for super cheap.
6/1/2023 –
I believe I have everything settled for the RCDGG remaining of the year schedule! There is a lot going on for the rest of the year, and that is so I can set out the vision I had for the remainder of the year knowing that I can not run anything in November and December as I await my amazing blessing of a first child at the end of October! I was able to highlight 5 different courses with this schedule to add some variety to our events! With that said below is where we stand for June – October.:
June 17th: Meltdown in the Pines (C-Tier)
July 15th: RCDGG Summer Tag Challenge at RCC (Non-Sanctioned)
July 29th: Hinson Lake 2023 Trilogy Challenge (Non-Sanctioned)
August 12th: Hinson Lake BYOP Doubles Showdown (Non-Sanctioned)
September 16th: A Robbin and a Bear at the Creek II (C-Tier) (slight schedule adjustment due to conflict)
September 30th: Piedmont Pines Fall Challenge (C-Tier)
October 7th: RCDGG Fall Tag Challenge (Non-Sanctioned)
October 21st: 3rd Annual Hinson Lake Classic (C-Tier, AM Only)
Registration is open for the first four events, and the final four events will open up on Disc Golf Scene late June and early July!! Thanks and lets finish the year strong!
5/31/2023 –
Hey y’all!
After the positive feedback about the potential of doing an event at Piedmont Pines, I have gotten the thumbs up to run an event out there!! Another option for us to have an event at.
I have not finalized anything as of yet with regards to a date, but as of now sometime in August/September is probably going to be the plan. There is currently only one event each in those months while July and October already have two. I hope to set up some more workdays as we push closer to cut back limbs, brush, level/adjust tee pads, etc. We will do a little bit of work, but its all worth it for a new tournament venue.
Below is my idea for format:
– Player Max: 36 (4 per hole). May increase to 45 (5 per hole) with enough interest.
– Fees: $5 to Play OR $15 to play and receive players pack disc (combination of past tournament discs and a small selection of new ordered discs). PDGA Sanctioned so $10 non-PDGA fee will be in place.
– Rounds: 4 Rounds (Rounds 1 and 2 will be combined for a Rated 18-Hole Round, and Rounds 3 and 4 will be combined for a Rated 18-Hole Round)
- Round 1: Shorts on Odds, Longs on Evens
- Round 2: Alternate Pines Layout (mix of existing short/long pads, existing baskets, temp baskets, and temp tee pads)
- Round 3: Longs on Odds, Shorts on Evens
- Round 4: Alternating Pines Layout
Please let me know if there any questions or concerns! Thanks.
5/23/2023 –
The Meltdown in the Pines event is now officially full!
All players that sign up from this point on will be placed on the waitlist! You will pay the entire normal fee to be on the waitlist, and all RCDGG members have $5 off of the registration fee (as did all members that signed up prior to now). If you do not make the tournament field then of course you’ll receive a full refund.
If there are any questions or concerns please let me know! It’s going to be a phenomenal event.
5/22/2023 –
Here are the tentative plans for the next three weekend Random Doubles. Piedmont Pines, Hinson Lake, and then Village of Pinehurst (Chicken Plant) the week before our Meltdown in the Pines event!
Let me know if there are any questions! Thanks.
5/24/2023 –
That is a wrap on the Scotland County Spring Challenge down in Laurinburg!! An amazing event that we managed to only be just 1 player short of a full field. A big shout out to the community for the support and getting this bad boy filled!
First, massive shoutout to the RCDGG members that showed up early to help get things set up for the day! That was a tremendous help. Also, to Cory Austin Driggers, Heydon Ward, and Paul Jackson for sticking around after to help Jimmy McDonaldand I get things put up (and to those that asked and at I first I said no thank you and changed my mind, thank y’all as well).
Congrats to our division winners:
MPO: Aaron Stevens
MA1: Heydon Ward
MA2: Samuel Trogden
MA3: Jeb Britt
MA40: Kevin Shelton
MA50: Dan Elliot
MA60: Jim Steel
FA2: Lani Kazmark
FA3: Shyann Byrd
MJ15: Elijah Pruitt
It’s always a pleasure to run an event for the area, and we will be back on June 17th at VOP for the Meltdown in the Pines event! I’ll see y’all then.
1/1/2023 –
I wanted to give a big shout out and thank you to the 31 players that we had play in our 2023 Tag Challenge Opener this afternoon! Just for reference of where we stood last year as a group. We had 20 players and 24 total paid in members on January 1, 2022, and this year we had 31 players and 44 total paid in members on January 1, 2023. An amazing increase to start the year!!
Congrats to our top-3 tag holders, which funny enough, are the same top-3 from last year, but in a different order: 1. Mitchell Massey, 2. Brian Smith, 3. Chris McDonald.
Click HERE to view remaining results with tiebreakers, and the random draw for Tags 32-44 for those that are paid in members but could not attend. Please let me know if there are any questions or concerns! Thank y’all again for bringing in a damn good start to the year for the group!
12/28/2022 – City Lake DGC Group Meeting has been scheduled for January 1st at 3:30 – This meeting will take place behind the American Legion building in Hamlet by the baseball field. We will meet at the shelter behind the building to discuss next steps for the future Disc golf course at City Lake in Hamlet. Please bring all your ideas and be open to discussion!
12/23/2022 – 2023 RCDGG Tag Challenge Opener
2023 RCDGG Tag Challenge Opener
Hinson Lake
This event will be used to distribute the new 2023 tags out to our members. For those who can not make this date and have paid in as a member, the tags will be distributed by random after the event to those members.
This will be a 1-Round event on a 20+ Hole Hinson Lake layout with alternate baskets and tee pad locations for variability. These alternate locations are TBD and will be announced closer to our start date.
RCDGG memberships are $5 with include discounted entry to events throughout the 2023 year, $5 off PDGA renewal code, and a RCDGG member tag.
12/23/2022 -The CTP box is overflowing! Officially at 50+ discs added for upcoming events and the 2023 season and one more order is on the way. Thank you again to those that have supported the RCDGG! Everyone continually playing helped with every disc purchased. I’m also hoping to get more temp baskets ordered soon as well! Always looking to give back to our players for their support.
12/18/2022 – Snow or Shine Showdown Tournament
Get signed up for the Richmond County Disc Golf Groups first PDGA event of 2023 on January 28th! This will be a 1-Round Flex start event at Hinson Lake in Rockingham.
This tournament will serve as a fundraiser for the local Richmond County Hospital. $5 from each player will go towards providing funds for the hospital to buy toys, books, games, etc for adolescents that have to come to the hospital for themselves or due to an illness of a loved one. These items provide these kids with ways to keep them occupied and smiling as well as supporting the amazing staff of the hospital during the time these kids spend at the hospital! There is always a way to give back to the community!
REGISTRATION information is available HERE.
12/15/2022 – Our 2023 Tags have been designed and ordered!
12/3/2022 – I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for playing in Bear Creeks first PDGA event today! 80+ players for our flex start, and even with off and on rain all day it still turned out to be an amazing event.
Another massive shout out to our sponsors for the event:
Flowland Counter-Culture Outlet
Albemarle Disc Golf Association
McVerry Drones
The Rucksack Military Surplus
A Guy Wearing Pit Vipers
Josh Leviner, Farm Bureau
Town of Robbins
Also, a big shoutout to Jason Thomas who snagged the ace on Hole 10 today to snag the $225 Ace Pot for the event! First ace at a RCDGG PDGA Sanctioned Tournament.
Always amazing to run these events and hear from all of the please players. The Town of Robbins has told us they plan to double the parking which should help to lead the way to a 2-Round event out there very soon!
Thanks y’all and I’m ready for the next one already! CM.
11/26/2022 – Hey y’all! I have some exciting news as we push into 2023. Lee Leviner has been awesome enough to contact local businesses to help us set up a winter putting league. So, starting after the new year Strikers Bowling Alley in Rockingham has been awesome enough to allow us to have our putting league there!! I still need to iron out some details and get formatting and all figured out. I’ll be sure to share those details as we get those situated!!
Another awesome series coming to the Richmond County Disc Golf Group! Stay tuned
10/25/2022 – Hey y’all!
As we move in close to the 2023 calendar year I have laid down some ideas and projected events for the upcoming year in addition to our normal events that the RCDGG holds. As a club we are growing extremely fast, but we still lack a large pool of youth and women’s players and I hope this to be the main focus of 2023.
- As for the youth players I hope to contact the Richmond County School Board and I want to work with them to see if we can get disc golf baskets at the 7 local elementary schools. Easy, cheap, activity for PE classes and recess.
- For our women’s divisions I hope to host a clinic/women’s only tournament in conjunction with the “PDGA Women’s Global Event” that runs usually during the later part of summer.
- I want to push the group to be more eager to volunteer for club events. We have 80 paid in members with RCDGG and other than Jimmy McDonald, my family, and I we only had two members show up early to help setup the course for Saturdays tournament even after I put out a post for help days prior. I love running these events, but having even one or two more people there to help cuts down on the running around that I have to do to get things ready to go.
- Course Improvements: Hoping to push for permanent alternate pin sleeve locations on several holes at Hinson, as well as future alternate tee pad locations where applicable. Also, I hope to contact local artists to possibly assist in sprucing up the cement bridges on Holes 5 and 8 with disc golf/nature related artwork if allowed by the city. Tj Smith I believe brought this idea up previously.
- City Lake Course: The final draft (at least in my computer program) is done for the projected layout and I hope to start diving deeper into the area late December 2022/early January 2023. Once this process begins then I hope to make it a quick transition to next steps which include funding, finalized layout, city support, etc.
If there is anything that anyone would like to add or has comments on then please let me know. Thanks! CM
10/24/2022 – With the 2nd Annual Hinson Lake Classic over it is time to shift our focus to our flex start 1-Round event at Bear Creek in Robbins, NC! The Robbin and a Bear at the Creek will be the first sanctioned event at one of my favorite courses to play in the area.
The Richmond County Disc Golf Group will be offering up $25 Hole Sponsorships for the tournament which will go towards raffles and added cash for the Pro Divisions. If you or your company are interested then please let me know!
As for registration there is only 23 spots left so go snag a spot while you can! Please let me know if there are any questions. Thanks!
10/23/2022 – The 2nd Annual Hinson Lake Classic was a huge success thanks to Chris McDonald, our sponsors, volunteers and the full slate of participants. It was a beautiful day for the game.
8/01/2022 –
7/31/2022 –
Thank you to the 75 players that came out and battled the heat for our 2nd Annual Trilogy Challenge! Also, congrats to our division winners:
MENA: Chris McDonald (Overall Winner)
MENB: Gene Joiner
WOM: Madeline Joiner
JU18: Alston Johnston (won randomized tiebreaker)
For all payers that places high enough in their respective division then I will be sending out individual emails with the codes to your Dynamic Disc gift card winnings. Stay tuned for those in the near future!
Next on the docket for the Richmond County Disc Golf Group is our BYOP Doubles event on August 13th, and then our Hinson Lake 2022 Circuit Challenge (MVP version of the Trilogy Challenge) on September 10th. Get signed up today folks!
Thank y’all again for another amazing event!
7/12/2022 –
I’ve got some super exciting news that I can finally share fully with the group!
Over the past year I have had the urge and desire to expand the disc golf community in Richmond County by pursuing a new 18-Hole course locally! Today I had the opportunity to present to the City of Hamlet City Council a proposal that included the building of a disc golf course at City Lake in Hamlet, and the feedback was extremely positive from the group!! Thank you so much to them for allowing me the opportunity to voice this idea!
So, now we push forward into the meat of the project…the planning phase. Time to see what we are working with land wise with the 25+ acres we have to play with! Have to mess with elevation, how wet it is by the lake, and the whole nine yards to make sure my projected layout is fully feasible. This project to be clear does not have funding yet, and may still be a ways out but this is the first MASSIVE step in the right direction! Time to get to work and bring the next amazing disc golf course to the area. Let’s keep this journey rolling folks!
7/10/2022-
Get signed up today and join the fun! Reminder to all players that we have a $25 discount on sign up for returning Trilogy Challenge and Circuit Challenge players! This allows players to use their already purchased players packs while still joining the fun and having the potential to earn some amazing raffle prizes!
20 days until the Hinson Lake 2022 Trilogy Challenge: https://www.discgolfscene.com/…/Hinson_Lake_2022…
34 days until the Hinson Lake BYOP Doubles Showdown: https://www.discgolfscene.com/…/Hinson_Lake_BYOP…
62 days until the Hinson Lake 2022 Circuit Challenge (An additional $8 to get a Watermelon Paradox 
): https://www.discgolfscene.com/…/Hinson_Lake_2022…
7/2/2022 –
Thank you to the 19 players we had come out this morning for doubles! No ace was hit today so we are up to $63 for next weekends round.
Taking 1st after a playoff at -14 was myself and Darren, 2nd at -14 was Tj Smith and John Lowery, and taking 3rd at -11 was Dexter Mabe (Cali).
I will be on vacation next weekend, July 9th, so I shall get someone else to run doubles, and then on July 16th we will head down to Smith Acres to play doubles at Brian and TJ’s course. Further details about that in the coming week or so. Thanks and y’all enjoy your holiday weekend!
6/30/2022 –
30 days until the Hinson Lake 2022 Trilogy Challenge: https://www.discgolfscene.com/…/Hinson_Lake_2022…
44 days until the Hinson Lake BYOP Doubles Showdown: https://www.discgolfscene.com/…/Hinson_Lake_BYOP…
72 days until the Hinson Lake 2022 Circuit Challenge (An additional $8 to get a Watermelon Paradox 
): https://www.discgolfscene.com/…/Hinson_Lake_2022…
Get signed up today and join the fun! All players will walk away with plenty of goodies and a phenomenal time. I look forward to seeing a pack crowd for all of these events!
6/28/2022 –
Just a quick update about next Mondays league round for July 4th. We will be moving our main league to 10:00 AM Monday morning. This will have a normal format with players checking in with me, turning in tags, and we will send groups off by random to play.
With that said, I will also be providing the option of allowing those that have to work or can’t make 10:00 for any reason to come at 5:45 at our normal round time to play. Those players that chose this time frame just won’t have their tags in play for the day like the morning group.
Also, to avoid any confusion ratings and points for league will be based on BOTH rounds for the day. So, if we have 25 players at 10:00, and 10 players at 5:45 then ratings and points will be based on the total of 35 players for the day. Just keep in mind that with this time of the year the weather may be an issue for the evening group so plan accordingly!
5/2/2022 –
Tonight was out last league night on Mondays until May 23rd. We will be starting up a new 10-Week session on this date. During our off weeks please support the Pinehurst Brewing Putting Leagues on Monday nights or the Scotland County league on Wednesday nights. Our support for them would be amazing!
Another key item from tonight’s league is that we were able to scramble together 81 discs tonight to support Disc Golf Kenya and the Paul McBeth Foundation! Thank you Pasture Pines for bringing this to our attention. This was a phenomenal number of discs. We may be able to add several more before I hope to ship it off Friday afternoon. Thank you everyone again for being one hell of a group!
4/24/2022 – The Richmond County Disc Golf Group, Inc. was able to raise over $1,500 for our local chapter of the Autism Society of North Carolina. Over 80 participants signed up to play in a one round tournament at Hinson Lake. https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/features/106293/disc-golf-tourney-raises-money-for-autism-society
4/23/2022 –
What an amazing day out at Hinson Lake for the inaugural Disc Golf for Good event that helped to raise funds for the Richmond County Chapter of the Autism Society of NC. There were 80 players from around the state that came together for this amazing cause! On top of the great play from everyone, we as a group were able to raise around $1,500 for this amazing group and cause! I do not believe I could have predicted that we would be able to reach this mark, and I could not be more excited about this!
Below are the amazing sponsors/donors who helped us reach this goal in addition to the amazing group of players!
Tournament Sponsors:
Family Pharmacy
Emmy & Frank
City of Rockingham
Ace Sponsors:
Quality Oil and Gas
Jimmy McDonald Photography
Ignited Heart Ministries
Shellie Swinnie – Premier Real Estate
Erika Elliot
Eagle Sponsors:
Coldwell Banker
Honorary Shoutouts:
City of Rockingham
Gene Joiner and the Camp Monroe group
4/20/2022 –
April is National Autism Awareness Month and 76 people have signed up for the Disc Golf for Good event on April 23rd at Hinson Lake in Rockingham, NC! This event will raise money for the Autism Society of North Carolina. www.discgolfforgood.com
Special thanks to our sponsors:
Family Pharmacy
Em & Frank
Jimmy McDonald Photography
Coldwell Bankers
Quality Oil and Gas
Ignited Heart Ministries
Additional sponsors are welcome.
4/18/2022 –
We are back this afternoon for Week 6 of our first PDGA singles league of 2022!! I look forward to seeing everyone out there this afternoon. Reminder to RCDGG members that tags ARE IN PLAY for all tag holders tonight. You will turn your tag in prior to playing, and will receive a new tag at the end of the round.
PDGA Sanctioned 8-Week League
– Members: $3 ($1 Club Fee, $1 PDGA Fee, $1 Ace Pool)
– Non-Members: $5 ($3 Club Fee, $1 PDGA Fee, $1 Ace Pool)
Divisions:
MPO
MA40+
MA1
MA2
MA3
FA1
Check-In: 5:00 – 5:30 (Adjacent to Hole 18’s tee pad)
Players Meeting and Cards (determined by random): 5:30Tee Off: 5:4519
-Hole Tournament Layout
Ace Pool: $127
Out of Bounds:
Hole 1: Left of fairway, and beyond open space where basket is located. Marked by orange whisker markers.
Hole 4: On or Beyond Pathway. Marked by orange whisker markers. Mando marked on tree within the fairway. Proceed to drop zone.
Hole 11: Beyond basket. Marked by orange whisker markers.
Hole 13: OB in the tall grass on the right side of the fairway.
Hole 14: OB in the tall grass on the right side of the fairway.
Hole 16: On or beyond pathway
Hole 17: Short and in the creek. Go to Drop Zone.
Hole 18: Beyond the pathway into the lake. With a stroke penalty, play from location where disc crossed the pathway. Also, the rocks are designated as hazard area marked by yellow paint. If you enter this area you will play from your lie with a one-stroke penalty.
Hole 19: Island green marked by white paint. Proceed to drop zone with 1-stroke penalty if OB.
4/4/2022 – Another phenomenal crowd tonight with 26 players joining us for Week 4 of league. That puts our average attendance at almost 22 players each week. We are now up to 49 bag tag holders with severa4/23/2022 – l more that plan to buy Saturday morning. No ace was hit again today, so we are at $106+ for next weeks league night! Thank you to everyone that has made this current league year great so far!
3/29/2022 – – NO doubles for the remainder of the month until April 30th. We will take this time as our “club break” with our tournament and Easter coming up.
2/18/2022
I wanted to share some news for our Disc Golf for Good event. I submitted an application through the PDGA Competition Endowment Program (CEP) which is used mainly for events that normally would not be sanctioned such as charity events like this one. What’s amazing is that we were APPROVED for this program!!—The benefits of this program are: – The $2 PDGA fee per player is donated to the charity of choice, and is matched by the PDGA. – The BIGGEST thing is that the $10 non-current member fee will be waived!! HUGE. This should allow for more and newer players to participate in this amazing event without paying the extra fees. – A total of $8 per player will be donated to the Autism Society of NC thanks to this program. It allows for there to be modified payouts, so that we can still meet the regulations of a C-Tier.—Also, just a note on the designation of the tournament. PDGA lists our event as an XC-Tier, due to the altered payout with our charitable aspect, but the tournament will still follow all of the same rules and regulations of a normal C-Tier. I just wanted to clarify thus to avoid any confusion! If anyone has any questions or concerns then please let me know! Thanks – Chris McDonald
2/4/2022
Sanctioning is complete for the Disc Golf for Good event! Registration opens on February 22nd, 2022 and proceeds go to the Richmond County Chapter of the Autism Society of North Carolina. Visit the EVENTS page for additional information.
1/31/2022
Just wanted to give a heads up that we are doing our Spring Club Tag Challenge on April 9th, and our spring Flex C-Tier we will almost 100% be having on April 23rd! I hope to get those events up on the group, and get our tourney sanctioned sometime this week!As for the Club Challenge this will be a 1-Round event that is going to incorporate some interesting design for the layout. May try to squeeze in 21 holes with some various tee locations, new holes?, combinations of holes?, etc. Since it will be one round I really want it to be different so that scores have variability! The tournament will feature our 19-Hole layout that incorporates the practice basket. This layout will be used mostly during our Doubles and Monday night league nights moving forward.If there are any questions or concerns then please let me know! Thanks – Chris
1/8/2022
A 19-Hole layout is now on UDisc to incorporate the practice basket in as Hole 19 for future events. This can be used for Tag Challenges, doubles, and other items moving forward. I hope to get the Hole 19 added to the GPS map over the next week or so. – Chris McDonald
1/4/2022 – Thank you to the City of Rockingham for installing a new practice basket (A.K.A. Hole 19) along the walking trail between Holes #18 and #1. This will be a great addition to our tournaments and challenge tie breakers.
1/1/2022
It was a phenomenal start to the 2022 year for the Richmond County Disc Golf Group this morning. We had 24 players that played two rounds, one on the 20-Hole Challenge layout and one on the 9-Hole Safari Layout, to determine the first order of Bag Tags for 2022. Attached is the new order for bag tags and the results from todays challenge. I hope to have the new set of tag rules out sometime this afternoon. For anyone that would like to buy-in to the RCDGG membership to receive a tag then please let me know and we will set up something over the next couple of weekends to get this tag to you. Thank you to everyone that came out and continues to support the RCDGG. Its been amazing to see the growth of the sport in our area, and there are plenty of big things on the horizon for 2022!
12/31/2021 –
Just wanted to let everyone know that we are full go for tomorrow morning for our “End of the Year” Bag Tag Challenge at 9:00 AM. Our first round will utilize the 20-Hole Club Challenge Layout, and then our second round, which will happen shortly after the first, will be played on our 9-Hole Safari layout. Both layouts can be found in UDisc for reference.
- We will meet in the parking lot adjacent to Hole-18’s tee pad as usual. Here folks that have not paid in for the 2022 year will have the opportunity to pay-in their $5 yearly membership fee. I will have a list of the folks that have already paid in with me tomorrow morning.
- We will play in groups of 3 players (4 players if needed) which will be decided by random for the 1st round, and then separated by score for the 2nd round. The draw for the first round will be at 8:50. Please let me know prior to this time if you will be late.
- CTP’s: Hole 3 for Round 1, Hole 1 for Round 2
- Tag position will be based on the COMBINED scores of Rounds 1 and 2 as usual. If a player does not complete both rounds then they will be considered a DNF and receive the lowest tag based on the number of players who play. For example, if 20 players play then the player who does not complete both rounds will automatically receive Tag 20 to begin the 2022 year.
- I hope to have new Tag Challenge rules for the 2022 Year up by tomorrow afternoon. There will be several key changes to the rules moving forward to ensure our top tags don’t get held.
If there are any questions please let me know! Looking forward to seeing y’all at the course tomorrow morning. Thanks! Chris.
11/9/2021 –
Thank you to our 16 players that came out this morning to play! No ace was hit today so we are up to $141 for next weekends doubles round.Taking 1st after a playoff at -9 was Brian Smith and Papa, 2nd at -9 was myself and Jimmy McDonald, 3rd at -7 was Lee Leviner and Zach Hardham and taking 4th at -6 was Mike Leviner and Matthew Sasser.Good luck to our RCDGG members in Oakboro today, and will see y’all next weekend!
10/25/2021 –
I just wanted to say thank you again to everyone that has helped support the Richmond County Disc Golf Group, and for those that helped in recent weeks and yesterday get things ready for the tournament. It was a tremendous help!
I hope everyone had a hell of a time and that it lived up to everyone’s expectations. I strive to make each one after this weekend bigger and better! We already have some ideas for next years event, and I’m already excited to start getting that one planned. Be on the lookout for phenomenal stuff in the near future! Chris McDonald, TD
10/8/2021 –
Hey y’all!I’ve come to the decision that we shall be ordering a new set of bag tags for the 2022 season. This is just going to be 1,000,000 time easier than trying to collect current tags, finding which ones are missing, and so on and so forth. Pay-in is still the normal $5, so no change there, and we will have full first pass out of these new tags at our end of the year bag tag challenge in December!If anyone has any questions then please let me know! Thanks.PS: We’ve been told that the new practice basket should be here any day, so be on the look out for that! – Chris
10/7/2021 – There are a few more players’ positions available for the Hinson Lake Classic on October 24th. Thank you to all of our sponsors of this event. The Hinson Lake course provided and maintained by City of Rockingham, NC- “A City Looking Forward”and Tournament sponsor Flowland Counter-Culture Outlet have been integral partners to help make this tournament possible. www.hinsonlakeclassic.com
9/23/2021-
Hey y’all!Update from my post earlier about the Fall Tag Challenge this weekend. Unfortunately, we are going to have to cancel this weekend and push the event back to possibly October 16th. Lee Leviner thankfully brought to my attention that they are doing 24-Hour Ultra Marathon event this weekend, and I did not catch that prior to today. This means they will basically have the area closed and its best we stay out of their way.I will update the event information, and apologies for this popping up last second. If folks could pass along this info that would be appreciated.
Thanks! Chris.
9/15/2021 – Hinson Lake Classic Update…I’m extremely excited to announce that Flowland has been amazing enough to jump on board and be our tournament sponsor for the event!!! This is huge in many ways for our first PDGA event, and for being able to provide the best experience for our players. We’re 1/3 of the way full, and I can’t wait for the spots to fill up quickly. I couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity! Thank you again to William Dean and Flowland for this perfect partnership. Please check them out and provide your support folks! – Chris McDonald, TD
9/7/2021 – We continue to have a solid group of people playing in the Monday singles league and scores continue to improve by the week. You do not have to be a member to participate. Visit the Events page for updated information.
8/31/2021 – Hey y’all! Wanted to share some news for some items moving forward.
- *The biggest news* I was informed by the city today that they are in the works of ordering a practice basket for Hinson Lake!!! I was told they plan to order in the next week or so, but I’m unsure of what the turn around time is for shipment and installation. I’m hoping it is in by the end of September. Should secure our 19-hole layout for the Hinson Lake Classic!
- The decision has been made that Hole-18 is a Par 3 for the tournament (and every other event), and the rocks will be considered OB for this event ONLY. The only exceptions will be that for the last several weeks of league play we will be playing the tournament layout and these couple of league nights will be the only time outside of the tournament that this OB is in play. I will not be playing, and will be the official spotter for this hole.
- If you would like to go ahead and renew your RCDGG membership for 2022 then you can do so whenever you would like. We already have 5 members paid in for this upcoming year. To participate in the end of year Bag Tag Challenge (which resets all tags. Winner of this event gets Tag 1) then you must be paid in by the start of play. We are reusing this years tags and it is once again just a $5 entry fee. After 2022 new yearly tags will be ordered.
- New permanent course in the county?? Some big behind the scenes stuff is materializing, but I can not provide any more information yet. There is A LOT of items in the process to go, but there is work being done for a future course location. I hope that it may move forward fast enough to be able to share soon. Stay tuned.
If anyone has any exciting stuff they would like to share then place it down in the comments. Lots of exciting things for the future!
–Chris McDonald
August 24, 2021 – The Hinson Lake Classic Sponsorship Form is available HERE. Please share the info with potential sponsors. Tournament Sponsors are essential to the event and its success.
Tournament Sponsorship – $600.00.
Contact the Richmond County Disc Golf Group, Inc at info@rcdgg.com or the Tournament Director, Chris Mcdonald at 910-331-5507 with questions.
August 23/2021 – Thank you to the 16 folks that came out for our first week of our second session. Just a heads up some folks that have tags in the 20’s and beyond today that those may change. I’ll update the spreadsheet to show where everyone is, so it’s for sure that a big deal at all.
Also, from this point on once we send out for holes at 5:30ish there will be no additions to cards. If you let me know you’ll be late then I will have already added you to a card and that’s the only exception. This helps us with not having to last second shuffle cards prior to playing. I hope everyone understands, but this keeps things running smooth.
Ace pool is up to $74 for next week! See y’all then. – Chris McDonald
August 18, 2021 – REGISTRATION IS OPEN!!!!!
This will be a one day, two round event that will cater to the amateur players in our community. All players will receive a generous players pack that will include a t-shirt, custom stamp disc, and more. As we push closer to this event more information will be provided about the entire contents of the players pack.
There will be a players meeting prior to the first tee times to ensure there is full clarification of OB’s/mandos along the course.
Location:
Hinson Lake DGC in Rockingham, NC
Event Format:
AM Only, 2-Round, C-Tier
Click HERE fore more information and registration link.
Click HERE for sponsorship opportunities.
August 10, 2021 – I’ve gone ahead and added players to our next PDGA Singles League session which starts next Monday August 16th. I basically just took all players that played at least 3-rounds, or sent me their PDGA number/info during our last session and added them in.
As always remember that anyone can play whether you have a PDGA membership or not.
Also, don’t forget that our next session will include tags. Meaning if you show up to play then you will turn your tag in prior to the round, and at the end they will be past out based on overall finish. This will overall help with the spread of tags over time, and provide more competition to our league setting.
If anyone would like to be added to for next week or beyond then message me with your info and division. It will make it much easier during our first week if we already have almost everyone in the system. Thanks y’all!
July 31, 2021 – The Hinson Lake 2021 Trilogy Challenge is set and ready to go. Good Luck to everyone.
July 24, 2021 – Just a quick update about our Trilogy Challenge set for next weekend.
We added four more players today to bring our total players to 72 for next weekend! A huge accomplishment and makes my goal of 100 much easier to reach next year in my opinion.
With the ordering of the players packs Dynamic Discs has provided gift cards as payout and below is how it will pan out:MENA: 1st and 2ndMENB: 1st to 9thJU18/WOM: 1st and 2ndThe amazing turnout has also led to their being some amazing raffle prizes that will be given to some lucky players
Saturday:MENA: 2 raffles, 1 CTPMENB: 15 raffles, 1 CTPJU18/WOM: 3 raffles, 1 CTPAlso, a courtesy reminder to help me out next weekend.
If you are playing, players packs will be first come first serve (pretty much all the same weights, but some variation in color) so you may arrive as early as you would like (8:00 is when I plan to be there). If color is not important for your packs then please arrive 30-minutes early to get signed-in and prepared for your designated tee time. Everything will be kept using UDisc Live so all players should have this pop up in their UDisc.
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone next week, and this is a tremendous step up for the Richmond County DGC!
July 21, 2021 – Went out today and put new OB markers on Holes 1, 4, and 11 today!! Thank you to Jimmy McDonald for donating the new beautiful orange whisker markers for the course. We still have plenty left and we will be piecing the rest of the OB together soon enough. Also, we will soon have new drop zone markers for Holes 4 and 17. These new larger yellow-painted pavers will be perfect and add some nice character to the course! Can’t wait to get these small projects completed. We’re gradually making our home even better!
July 13, 2021 – LAST day to get signed up for the Hinson Lake Trilogy Challenge on July 31st. There are currently 4 individual time slots left open for registration at the times of 9:00, 9:15, 12:30, and 1:15. These will be the only times left for sign-up unless a full group of 4 comes to me and asks to sign-up this afternoon. Registration closes at 8:00 PM tonight, and I will be placing the order for our players packs shortly there after. Also, once registration is closed I will be finalizing our raffle prize list (MENA – 1 prize, MENB – 15 prizes, JU18/WOM – 3 prizes) and players will be given their raffle winnings when they arrive for check-in prior to their tee time. If anyone has any questions then please let me know. Thanks!
June 30, 2021 – Just wanted to give a snapshot of planned club events for the next couple of months leading into the end of the year. Some dates will be subject to change, but any dates will not stray away greatly from what is noted here. If there are any questions then please let me know!*Note: We will maintain our normal Random Doubles on Saturdays as we push through the remainder of the year resuming after the July 4th Holiday weekend.*
– July 5th
– July 26th: Week 7-10 of PDGA Singles League
– July 31st: Hinson Lake 2021 Trilogy Challenge (Registration closes on July 13th).
– August 1st
– August 15th: Club Summer Break
– August 16th – October 18th: 2nd 10-Week PDGA Singles League (Mondays)
– September 18th: RCDGC Fall Tag Challenge. Window opens to renew RCDGC Club Membership ($5).
– October 24th: Hinson Lake Classic (Registration opens on August 18th, 2021)
– November TBD: Thanksgiving Event?
– December 18th: RCDGC End of the Year Tag Challenge
More events could be added or this will remain our potential schedule moving forward. As we progress throughout the year we will also be experimenting with different hole layouts (Ex: Hole 15 tee pad to Hole 16 basket as a Par 4, Hole 13 tee pad to Hole 14 basket as a Par 5, etc.).
May 16, 2021 – Hinson Lake 2021 Trilogy Challenge. Players will be notified roughly a month prior to July 31st to determine tee times during the flex-start event. Cards will be mixed divisions, and there will be no set times for particular division play. The player has the option to determine the best time for them.
April 16, 2021 – registration for our Hinson Lake 2021 Trilogy Challenge will begin on May 2nd and will be through Disc Golf Scene. Each player gets three unreleased discs, a towel, and a mini marker for their $35 entry fee. The club will also receive a Custom Trilogy Champion disc for the overall champion, and depending on the amount of players per division we will also be able to have a Dynamic Discs gift card payout to 1st-3rd ($25, $20, $15). So, this provides the possibility for the winner of each division to double the value of their entry fee!! There is no limit on the amount of players we can have participate, but for this event we will need at least 25 players in order to place an order with Dynamic Discs. Hopefully we can double this amount!If anyone has any questions or concerns then please let me know! I’m always open to any suggestions. Thanks y’all and enjoy the weather!
April 1, 2021 – Official disc golf tournament coming to Hinson Lake
ROCKINGHAM — Hinson Lake will play host to its first ever Professional Disc Golf Association-sanctioned disc golf tournament this October.
The inaugural Hinson Lake Classic was born out of the Richmond County Disc Golf Club as a way to take local competition to the next level following a successful disc golf tournament put on with help from the Richmond County Young Professionals in 2019, according to Chris McDonald, an avid disc golfer and admin for the Facebook group “Richmond County Disc Golf Group.”
McDonald announced last week that the club had received approval from the City of Rockingham, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, and state PDGA officials to hold the tournament. This follows the completion of the city’s most recent round of improvements to the Hinson Lake disc golf course, which added hard-surface tee boxes and new signage.
“The City is very pleased that our disc golf course will serve as a venue for an officially sanctioned event by the PDGA,” said Assistant City Manager John Massey. “We’re hopeful the event will draw more visitors to Rockingham.”
The tournament will be held on Oct. 24, 2021. Registration will open on Aug. 25. The event will allow up to 72 players who will be in groups of four as they progress through the course. For more information about the tournament, visit https://www.discgolfscene.com/tournaments/Hinson_Lake_Classic_2021.
The disc golf community in Richmond County is small, now breaching 100 people by McDonald’s estimation — and includes the likes of Rockingham Mayor Steve Morris — but it’s growing. The Richmond County Disc Golf Club formed in fall 2020 and is up to 49 members who are active and competitive in the sport.
“I’d say its a fairly ‘new’ sport for the area in terms of players consistently playing everyday, and going to tournaments around the region,” McDonald said in an email. “Whether it’s new players or seasoned players that have been playing for years there is a wide variety of playing levels and it’s amazing to see.”
He added that COVID helped the sport grow because the lack of indoor events and mass gatherings pushed people to reconnect with the outdoors with smaller groups of friends or family. It helps that disc golf is accessible both in terms of cost of equipment and in simplicity of concept.
“It was just the perfect storm for the boom of players,” McDonald said. “These effects were seen all over the country.”
The difference between a PDGA tournament and an unofficial tournament is that players’ scores and final placement go towards their PDGA rating, McDonald explained. The event will allow up to 72 players who will be in groups of four as they progress through the course.
McDonald, who first played disc golf at the top of Beech Mountain five years ago, but didn’t pick it up again until the pandemic, has high hopes for the local disc golf community. With the help of sponsors and donations, the club would fund course improvements and bring training clinics to the area to help new players get started. Eventually, he wants to see it included in the school curriculum with baskets and discs available at elementary schools.
“Any way to give back to the community as a whole is what I want to see, and to potentially help provide a new path and activity for someone who has no idea what this sport is!” he said.
For those new players, McDonald said not to let the sport scare you.
“You won’t go out day one and be the best player in the world. It will take practice, patience, and a phenomenal community like ours to help make you better,” he said. “This tournament would not be a reality without our current disc golf community. No matter how good you are you will be supported and rooted for when you play and I hope the tournament embodies this mindset that our locals have. Its new to most people, but I promise you’ll want to play once you experience it for the first time.”
November 14, 2020 – The first batch of tags, 1 through 30 have arrived. Tags are $5.00 each. Contact Chris McDonald to reserve your tags. Tags will be distributed prior to this weeks random doubles.
September 30, 2020 – Random Doubles will continue through the fall months. We play every Saturday at Hinson Lake at 9:00am. Stay tuned to our Facebook page for updates.
September 20, 2020 – The City of Rockingham continues to make improvements to the Hinson Lake Disc Golf course with the addition of bricked tee boxes.
