Virginia Tech announces Richard Linton as university’s 17th president<\/a><\/p>\nHandley says the Ivy Hill course will put even the most experienced players to the test.<\/p>\n
“This course is long, and there’s a lot of elevation. So it’s a lot of downhill, uphill shots. A lot of out-of-bounds. A lot of big shots,” Handley said.<\/p>\n
The tournament marks the end of a long season for professional disc golfers, many of whom have spent months traveling and competing to qualify.<\/p>\n
2026 PDGA Pro World Champion Silas Schultz says making it to the final competition is an accomplishment in itself.<\/p>\n
“This is kind of like the cherry on top of the season. If you made it here, you make money for just showing up. You just have one last dance before heading home,” Schultz said.<\/p>\n
But the financial stakes go well beyond the championship trophy.<\/p>\n
“Some of these players they don’t have, you know, million-dollar contracts. So if they win this kind of event, it’s life-changing,” Heinold said.<\/p>\n
While players are competing for thousands of dollars, the Lynchburg region is also preparing for a significant financial payoff.<\/p>\n
The championship is projected to generate roughly $2 million in direct spending, bringing visitors to local hotels, restaurants and businesses throughout Lynchburg and Bedford County.<\/p>\n
Andrew Marks, assistant director of Lynchburg Tourism, says the sport has become a major part of the region’s identity.<\/p>\n
“Disc golf has become the identity of Lynchburg, Virginia,” Marks said.<\/p>\n
Lynchburg began building its reputation as a destination for professional disc golf in 2022. Since then, the area has hosted several major competitions, including the 2024 Professional Disc Golf World Championships.<\/p>\n
Tourism officials say those events provide opportunities to introduce visitors to the region beyond its disc golf courses.<\/p>\n
“The types of events mean everything for us. When they’re not on the course. They’re out there exploring what Lynchburg and Bedford County have to offer,” Marks said.<\/p>\n
Local leaders hope that exposure will encourage spectators and competitors to return long after the championship ends, supporting businesses and strengthening the region’s growing sports tourism industry.<\/p>\n
The Powerball Cup runs Thursday, October 15, through Sunday, October 18, at Ivy Hill Golf Club in Forest, where two champions will be crowned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. (WSET) \u2014 The world’s best disc golfers are taking aim at Central Virginia this weekend,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":882967,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-882966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}