The world’s best disc golfers have arrived in Southeast Michigan.
The 2026 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships run Wednesday, August 26, through Sunday, August 30, at Kensington Metropark in Milford.
This is not an ordinary professional tournament. It is disc golf’s premier championship, bringing approximately 300 invited athletes from more than 30 countries to Michigan to compete for the sport’s men’s and women’s world titles.
Fans can track the competition through the official PDGA live leaderboard.
What Is the PDGA World Championship?
The Professional Disc Golf Association, or PDGA, is the international governing organization for disc golf.
The sport follows many of the principles of traditional golf, but competitors throw specialized flying discs toward elevated metal baskets instead of hitting balls into holes. The objective is to complete each course using the fewest throws.
The championship includes two principal professional divisions:
- MPO: Mixed Professional Open, generally the top men’s division
- FPO: Female Professional Open, the top women’s division
The World Championship is the most prestigious title in professional disc golf. Winning it permanently places a player among the sport’s recognized world champions.
When and Where Is It Happening?
The five-day championship takes place August 26–30 on two courses inside Kensington Metropark:
- Toboggan
- Black Locust
Kensington Metropark is located at 4570 Huron River Parkway in Milford, approximately 35 miles northwest of Downtown Detroit. Although the event uses the “Detroit26” identity, the actual competition takes place in Milford.
Players complete one round each day. The field is initially divided into pools that rotate between the two courses. Following Saturday’s fourth round, the top 40 percent advances to Sunday’s final round at Toboggan, where the new world champions will be crowned.
Why Is This Significant for Michigan?
This is the first PDGA Professional World Championship held in Michigan since 2008. It is also the championship’s first appearance at Kensington Metropark and the renowned Toboggan Course in 26 years.
Kensington previously hosted the championship in 2000. Discraft founder Jim Kenner originally created the Toboggan Course specifically for that event, which Ken Climo and Juliana Korver won.
Toboggan subsequently became one of the world’s most famous disc golf courses. It has hosted the Discraft Great Lakes Open since 2013 and is known for its dramatic elevation changes, long fairways and physically demanding terrain.
Bringing the World Championship back to Kensington places one of Southeast Michigan’s premier recreational destinations on an international stage.
Two Very Different Championship Courses
The two courses are designed to test different skills.
Toboggan
Measuring nearly 11,000 feet from the championship tees, Toboggan challenges players with dramatic elevation changes, tremendous distance and difficult landing areas. It is the more open and visually spectacular of the two courses.
Players who make the final cut will complete three rounds at Toboggan, including Sunday’s championship round.
Black Locust
Black Locust is the more technical, heavily wooded course. Its tight fairways and punishing rough place a premium on accuracy, control and strategic decision-making.
For the World Championship, Black Locust South was transformed from an approximately 7,300-foot course into a championship layout exceeding 10,000 feet. The expanded course incorporates restored portions of Kensington’s original disc golf property near Martindale Beach.
The finished layout includes two par-five holes measuring more than 1,000 feet, seven par fours and nine par threes.
The Biggest Names in Disc Golf
The championship field includes many of the world’s highest-rated players and former champions.
Defending MPO world champion Gannon Buhr enters the tournament as the world’s highest-rated male player.
Other prominent competitors include: two-time world champion Ricky Wysocki, six-time champion Paul McBeth, Isaac Robinson, Calvin Heimburg and Simon Lizotte.
The women’s field includes defending champion Ohn Scoggins, five-time world champion Paige Pierce, Eveliina Salonen, Henna Blomroos, Missy Gannon and Ella Hansen.
For Metro Detroit fans, the tournament offers a rare opportunity to watch nearly the entire upper tier of professional disc golf compete in one location.
A Potentially Record-Setting Spectator Event
Organizers expect more than 20,000 spectators during championship week, with projected weekend attendance reaching approximately 10,000 people per day at Toboggan.
Advance ticket sales were reportedly running 126 percent ahead of the comparable point for the 2024 World Championship. Organizers believe the 2026 tournament could become one of the largest spectator events in disc golf history.
Kensington has expanded its viewing areas and created stadium-style seating near Toboggan’s third hole and 18th green. The championship experience also includes food, merchandise vendors, autograph opportunities, fan activities and premium viewing areas.
A Friday-night concert and drone show will add a festival atmosphere to championship weekend.
How to Watch and Follow the Tournament
Live coverage is available through the Disc Golf Network, with women’s competition generally scheduled for the morning and men’s coverage during the afternoon.
Fans can also follow scores and statistics throughout every round using the PDGA live scoring system.
Tickets, schedules, course information and venue maps are available through the official Detroit26 website.
What Spectators Should Know
Kensington Metropark is a large outdoor property, and following professional disc golf requires considerably more walking than attending an arena or stadium event.
Organizers recommend bringing:
- Comfortable walking shoes
- Water
- Sunscreen
- Bug spray
- Weather-appropriate clothing
Professional cameras are prohibited, although spectators may take photographs and videos with their phones.
Fans must remain quiet and still while players prepare and execute their throws. Spectators should stay within designated viewing areas and refrain from requesting photographs or autographs before or during a player’s round.
Players are frequently available for photographs and autographs after completing their rounds. Designated signing events and an autograph tent are also available during championship week.
Pets are not permitted at the tournament.
Why This Event Matters
The 2026 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships represent a major moment for Metro Detroit sports.
The tournament brings hundreds of international athletes and potentially tens of thousands of spectators to Southeast Michigan. It showcases Kensington Metropark, reinforces Michigan’s reputation as one of America’s strongest disc golf regions and introduces new audiences to a rapidly growing professional sport.
It also returns disc golf’s most important championship to the course created for Worlds more than a quarter-century ago.
For longtime players, this is the homecoming of a major championship to one of the sport’s historic venues. For newcomers, it is an opportunity to experience professional disc golf at its highest level without leaving Metro Detroit.
The 2026 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships take place August 26–30 at Kensington Metropark in Milford.
Official event website: Detroit26.com
Live scores: PDGA World Championship leaderboard
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