Professional Association a t the International Disc Golf Center Wildwood Park , 3828 Dogwood Lane Appling, GA 30802 706- 261- 6342 o r 2 1 5 - 913- 0569 http://www.DiscGolfPlanet.tvpdga. c o m [email protected] Partners

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dr. John G. Duesler, Jr. Media Relations (215)913-0569 [email protected]

Europe’s Best to Challenge ’ Best for Presidents Cup October 5th at Winthrop University in Rock Hill,

“Ryder Cup of Disc Golf” to Land on American Soil for First Time in Sport’s Most Prestigious Team Competition Emphasizing “Honor Above All”

Appling, Georgia (September 21, 2010)--The emerging sport of disc golf is preparing to celebrate its global success at the Presidents Cup team competition on October 5, 2010 at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Teams will be comprised of the top six male and top two female European qualifiers, who will face-off against their United States counterparts. The format is similar to traditional golf’s Ryder Cup, and each team will be playing for the honor of representing their nations. This event will kick-off a week-long schedule of competition, as the United States Disc Golf Championship will follow at Winthrop University October 6-9, 2010.

“We are very excited about finally bringing this world-class event to America for the first time,” explained Jussi Meresmaa, the Presidents Cup tournament director from Tampere, Finland. “Though our European teams have been competitive in the first three years of the event, the disc golfers from the US have simply been better. We believed that it was time to showcase this unique event on American soil to convey what an honor it is for players to represent their nation, and to demonstrate just how much our sport has matured in the most recent past,” Meresmaa said.

Both the European and United States teams are now assembled after USA Team Captain David Greenwell and European Team Captain Hans Tegeback selected Eric McCabe and Jesse Heinonen, respectively to complete their rosters. The United States team is talent- laden and, along with the reigning PDGA World Champion McCabe, includes the World’s number one ranked (Portland, ), 12-time PDGA World Champion (Clearwater, ), the 2009 PDGA Player of the Year Nikko Locastro (St. Louis, ), two-time PDGA World Champion (Santa Cruz, ), and the number four ranked player in the world Josh Anthon (Rio Linde, California). The women’s complement to the US team will be the three-time PDGA World Champion and number-one ranked (Santa Cruz, California), and her top rival and three- time World Champion herself, Desiree Reading (Wimberley, ).

With the Presidents Cup changing venues to the Winthrop University Gold Course, the European Team is encountering challenges getting their top qualifiers to the United States to compete. Unfortunately, both top qualifiers, Jesper Lundmark and Markus Kallstrom from Sweden are unable to travel to the United States to compete due to personal commitments. Additionally, the incredibly talented Oscar Stenfelt and Simon Lizotte are also unable to

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travel, since they are still school-age and cannot miss their mandatory schooling obligations. Regardless, the European talent pool is still deep enough to field a highly competitive team that includes the well-traveled Karl Johann Nybo, Emil Dalhgren, Juho Rantalaiho, Espen Mökkelgjerd, Johannes Högberg, along with captain’s choice Heinonen. The European players are renowned for their distance off the tee, which will fit nicely with the challenges they will face at the Winthrop Gold course. Perhaps an underestimated aspect of this year’s President Cup will be the strong challenge that Europe’s female qualifiers will present to the United States’ Jenkins and Reading. Past PDGA World Champion Birgitta Lagerholm (Sweden) and this year’s top European performer Camilla Jernberg (Sweden) are extremely capable and are poised to represent their team with the honor that Meresmaa is so looking for.

A press conference will be held at the Winthrop University Coliseum on Monday, October 4 at 1:15pm in the Presidents Room. Here, media will be able to meet the event organizers, European and United States team captains, as well as the top players from each team. After brief introductory statements by the dignitaries, representatives will field questions regarding the significance of this event, both from a disc golf perspective, as well as from a Rock Hill and Winthrop University perspective. The public is also invited to attend.

Tuesday’s competitive format will begin with stroke play by each group during the first round. This will set up for an exciting conclusion, when team captains will have to couple their players to their opponents the best they can during a final match play round. Here is where strategic positioning of players will be crucial, as each team tries to forge enough points for their team to win the 2010 Presidents Cup and bring honor to their team and nations. Once a winner is determined, players will drink champagne from the ornate Presidents Cup to celebrate their victory.

For more information about the 2010 Presidents Cup or the United States Disc Golf Championship at Winthrop University or any of the pre-event programming, please visit http://www.DiscGolfPresidentsCup.com, http://www.usdgc.com, or contact John Duesler at 215-913-0569.

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