History of Waco Annual Charity Open
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The Waco Annual Charity Open is an Elite Series tour stop on the Disc Golf Pro Tour. The second stop of the season takes place in mid March. This tournament is a 3 day event that runs 1 course known as the beast. This course contains a good portion of wooded play and shot shaping to get to the Pin.
WACO started back in 1996. The tour started at a B tier level with 24 players attending for the MPO Open division and 3 players for the FPO division.
WACO has had several tournament directors, Brian McGree, Joey Harrell, Channon Quillen, and Ryan Draper. Ryan Draper is the current tournament director and has been since 2017 with Joey Harrell as the assistant director.
In it’s 3rd year WACO was promoted up to an A tier event. 61 MPO players attended for the MPO Open division and 5 players for FPO.
The tournament would go on to be run annually and was invited to the National Tour run by the PDGA in 2004. It stayed on the National tour for a 2005 appearance.
The tour did shrink after this downgrading to a B tier event from 2006, until 2015 where the tournament for a single year once again was an A tier event. This still did not last however as it was downgraded again to a B tier in 2016.
This still did not last however as the WACO returned to it’s A tier status in 2017 and then exploded by being invited to the Disc Golf Pro Tour as a stop in 2018. The tour has consistently been a stop on the Disc Golf Pro Tour since invitation to the tour.
In 2019 history was made during the second round of the tournament in the MPO division as Paul McBeth would go on to shoot -18 under par for a perfect round. This was the second time Paul McBeth would score -18 in a round the first being at the Great Lakes Open in 2018.
In 2020, WACO was cut short as the Covid-19 pandemic blew up in the United States. During this time, the event proceeded without spectators to finish enough of the tournament to register it as an official tournament for the PDGA. By then end of the required round that was needed to classify the event as complete. Colton Montgomery sat at the top and took home the win.
The Current Defending Waco Annual Charity Open Players
Kyle Kline
Kyle Kline takes the 2023 title after coming back to win it from the chase card at WACO.
Kristin Tarttar
Kristin Tarttar takes home her first win at WACO after a fall off from Ella Hansen.
WACO Winners in the MPO Division
| Winner | Year | Prize | Total Event Purse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Judah Moser | 1996 | $503 | $2,870 |
| Scott Stokely | 1997 | $691 | $3,680 |
| Chris Mx Voigt | 1998 | $1,200 | $8,876 |
| Ron Russell | 1999 | $1,375 | $10,001 |
| Cameron Todd | 2000 | $1,300 | $8,872 |
| Mike Young | 2001 | $1,100 | $8,226 |
| Todd Branch | 2002 | $1,200 | $8,725 |
| Ron Russell | 2003 | $1,300 | $9,480 |
| Ron Russell | 2004 | $2,200 | $17,241 |
| David Feldberg | 2005 | $1,400 | $10,986 |
| Nolan Grider | 2006 | $540 | $3,240 |
| J.D. Ramirez | 2007 | $315 | $2,110 |
| Michael Olse | 2008 | $335 | $1,710 |
| No Event Data | 2009 | No Event Data | No Event Data |
| Vinnie Miller | 2010 | $561 | $2,275 |
| Jay 'yeti' Reading | 2011 | $625 | $3,933 |
| Dixon Jowers | 2012 | $590 | $3,249 |
| George Castillo | 2013 | $405 | $2,608 |
| George Castillo | 2014 | $885 | $6,650 |
| Keith Russom | 2015 | $1,125 | $11,200 |
| Landon Knight | 2016 | $575 | $2,190 |
| Jeremy Koling | 2017 | $2,810 | $32,390 |
| Jeremy Koling | 2018 | $3,000 | $35,912 |
| Paul McBeth | 2019 | $3,060 | $40,211 |
| Colten Montgomery | 2020 | $3,625 | $47,920 |
| Nikko Locastro | 2021 | $5,000 | $55,525 |
| Paul McBeth | 2022 | $7,500 | $67,798 |
| Kyle Klein | 2023 | $7,500 | $80,360 |
Ron Russell
Ron Russell has won the most Waco Annual Charity Open tournaments with 3. His first win of the event was in 1999.
Ron Russell holds the title for the most wins in the event with 3 wins, 2 of which were back to back wins. The only other players with multiple wins at WACO in the MPO division are George Castillo and Jeremy Koling who also both won the event in back to back years.
WACO Winners in the FPO Division
| Winner | Year | Prize | Total Event Purse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beckie Forsyth | 1996 | $175 | $2,870 |
| Tracy Nations | 1997 | $165 | $3,680 |
| Avan Eddy | 1998 | $260 | $8,876 |
| Juliana Korver | 1999 | $350 | $10,001 |
| Juliana Korver | 2000 | $350 | $8,872 |
| Nadine Larkin | 2001 | $250 | $8,226 |
| Juliana Korver | 2002 | $350 | $8,725 |
| Des Reading | 2003 | $350 | $9,480 |
| Juliana Korver | 2004 | $530 | $17,241 |
| Des Reading | 2005 | $500 | $10,986 |
| Ana Hernandez | 2006 | $180 | $3,240 |
| No Event Data | 2007 | No Event Data | No Event Data |
| No Event Data | 2008 | No Event Data | No Event Data |
| No Event Data | 2009 | No Event Data | No Event Data |
| No Event Data | 2010 | No Event Data | No Event Data |
| Desiree Reading | 2011 | $210 | $3,933 |
| Lisa Fajkus | 2012 | $320 | $3,249 |
| Lisa Fajkus | 2013 | $415 | $2,608 |
| Lisa Fajkus | 2014 | $315 | $6,650 |
| Lisa Fajkus | 2015 | $500 | $11,200 |
| No Event Data | 2016 | No Event Data | Not Event Data |
| Paige Pierce | 2017 | $1,635 | $32,390 |
| Paige Pierce | 2018 | $1,200 | $35,912 |
| Catrina Allen | 2019 | $1,620 | $40,211 |
| Eveliina Salonen | 2020 | $2,125 | $47,920 |
| Kona Star Panis | 2021 | $2,500 | $55,525 |
| Eveliina Salonen | 2022 | $4,000 | $67,798 |
| Kristin Tattar | 2023 | $4,350 | $80,360 |
Juliana Korver
Juliana Korver won her first WACO in 1999 and followed it up with a defense of the time in 2000. She would win the event 2 more times.
Lisa Fajkus
Lisa Fajkus is currently tied for the most WACO wins but holds the most consecutive wins from 2012 to 2015.
About the Course at Waco Annual Charity Open
The WACO course is Brazos East Course but is more affectionately known as “The Beast”. The course plays in the open, but also contains several holes that go into the woods and is a great course to see some shot shaping and scrambling with natural out of bounds.
