History of the Las Vegas Challenge
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The Las Vegas Challenge, Formally known as the Gentlemen's Club Challenge Presented by Innova is a disc golf tournament sanctioned by the PDGA in 2000. Currently the tournament is a stop on the Disc Golf Pro Tour Elite series. Here are some interesting facts and history of the Las Vegas Challenge.
History of the Las Vegas Challenge
The Las Vegas Challenge started under a different name: "Gentlemen's Club Challenge" sanctioned by the PDGA in 2000 as a C Tier event. The tournament has directed by Jeffrey Jacquart. Who directed the tour up until 2023.
In 2001 the Gentlemen’s Club Challenge was raised to a B tier event. This was also the first year that an FPO division was played at this event. Though the field was small it would grow in size as the years progressed.
In 2004, the tournament was escalated to an A tier. With an increasing player base and cash payout on both MPO and FPO divisions.
In 2017, The Gentleman’s Challenge became a part of the National tour of the PDGA. This was the last year the tour was called the Gentleman’s Challenge.
The Tournament changed names in 2018 rebranding to the Las Vegas Challenge. It has been named the same event since.
The tournament continued its stay on the National tour in 2018 and 2019.
In 2020, the Las Vegas Challenge was neither a National Tour or a Disc Golf Pro Tour stop. It reverted to a A tier event. But this did not last long.
In 2021 the tournament became a stop on the Disc Golf Pro Tour and shared a National tour schedule.
2022 marked the end of the National tour as the Disc Golf Pro Tour took the place of the National tour for the official tour of the PDGA.
The Las Vegas Challenge remains as of 2023 on the Disc Golf Pro Tour circuit and is generally recognized as the start of the disc golf season.
The Current Defending Las Vegas Challenge Players
Calvin Heimburg
Calvin shot 31 down in a 3 stroke comeback. The first of his carrier to take down the title in 2023.
Catrina Allen
Catrina Allen wins a second consecutive Las Vegas Challenge after holding on to the lead from the start of the tournament.
Las Vegas Challenge Winners for MPO
The first ever winner of the tournament was Michael Cloyes. At this time the Pro purse was $625 dollars where first place took home $233. Following the first tournament the purse would continue to rise. in the later 2010’s the purse would start to rise substantially as the event became a regular tour stop either with the National Tour or the Disc Golf Pro Tour.
| Winner | Year | Prize | Total Event Purse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Cloyes | 2000 | $233 | $625 |
| Cameron Todd | 2001 | $590 | $2,701 |
| Steve Rico | 2002 | $590 | $3,840 |
| Brian Schweberger | 2003 | $905 | $5,267 |
| Barry Shultz | 2004 | $1,370 | $9,000 |
| Barry Shultz | 2005 | $1,200 | $8,542 |
| Barry Shultz | 2006 | $1,350 | $11,255 |
| Barry Shultz | 2007 | $1,280 | $15,045 |
| Barry Shultz | 2008 | $1,550 | $19,718 |
| Eric McCabe | 2009 | $1,200 | $18,013 |
| Barry Shultz | 2010 | $1,400 | $21,137 |
| Nate Doss | 2011 | $1,300 | $22,588 |
| Nikko Locastro | 2012 | $1400 | $22,770 |
| Dave Feldberg | 2013 | $1,300 | $23,411 |
| Nikko Locastro | 2014 | $1,700 | $28,410 |
| Paul McBeth | 2015 | $1,900 | $37,358 |
| Philo Brathwaite | 2016 | $2,000 | $37,225 |
| Ricky Wysocki | 2017 | $3,000 | $42,211 |
| Eagle McMahon | 2018 | $3,400 | $44,700 |
| Calvin Heimburg | 2019 | $3,500 | $47,430 |
| Nate Sexton | 2020 | $4,000 | $82,031 |
| Eagle McMahon | 2021 | $5,500 | $68,800 |
| Drew Gibson | 2022 | $6,000 | $71,006 |
| Calvin Heimburg | 2023 | $7,500 | $87,784 |
Barry Shultz
Barry Shultz has the most Las Vegas Challenge wins with 6. 5 of those wins occurred consecutively.
Las Vegas Challenge Winners for FPO
The Women’s open division was added to the tournament after the inaugural year With Leslie Todd taking down the first FPO event at the Gentlemans Challenge back in 2001.
| Winner | Year | Prize | Total Event Purse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leslie Todd | 2001 | $160 | $2,701 |
| Juliana Korver | 2002 | $250 | $3,840 |
| Leslie Herndon | 2003 | $200 | $5,267 |
| Juliana Korver | 2004 | $375 | $9,000 |
| Juliana Korver | 2005 | $380 | $8,542 |
| Juliana Korver | 2006 | $400 | $11,255 |
| Juliana Korver | 2007 | $600 | $15,045 |
| Valarie Jenkins | 2008 | $529 | $19,718 |
| Valarie Jenkins | 2009 | $525 | $18,013 |
| Liz Lopez | 2010 | $500 | $21,137 |
| Valarie Jenkins | 2011 | $520 | $22,588 |
| Valarie Jenkins | 2012 | $460 | $22,770 |
| Catrina Ulibarri | 2013 | $700 | $23,411 |
| Catrina Allen | 2014 | $550 | $28,410 |
| Paige Pierce | 2015 | $900 | $37,358 |
| Jessica Weese | 2016 | $875 | $37,225 |
| Paige Pierce | 2017 | $2,000 | $42,211 |
| Paige Pierce | 2018 | $2,500 | $44,700 |
| Paige Bjerkaas | 2019 | $2,500 | $47,430 |
| Catrina Allen | 2020 | $2,500 | $82,031 |
| Paige Pierce | 2021 | $4,000 | $68,800 |
| Catrina Allen | 2022 | $4,000 | $71,006 |
| Catrina Allen | 2023 | $5,200 | $87,784 |
Catrina Allen
Catrina Allen has the most wins at the Las Vegas Challenge with 5. Her most recent win at the event was in 2023.
Courses on the Las Vegas Challenge
The courses for the Las Vegas Challenge are a part of the Wild Horse Golf Club. According to the official Las Vegas Challenge website. 2 of these courses are up year round, and 1 is set up exclusively for the event. In years past the event would be played over the course of 4 days across 3 courses, however, in 2023, the event was reduced to 2 courses per popular sentiment that 3 courses over 4 days was to much to prepare for.
The first of these courses is the Innova Course this course tends to see the last round of the event. The final hole sets up for a great end to the round.
The second course is known as the Infinite course here is a course preview of this layout in 2023, this course is for the FPO division. In previous years each course was open to each division.
The final course is the Millenium Discs course. Here is the course preview from 2023 as well for this course.
Source: https://www.lvcdg.com/
Source: https://www.pdga.com/
