Augusta-area juniors earn spots at Disc Golf Junior Worlds

Henry Tabor, 12, and Caleb Collins, a junior at Harlem High School, earned spots in the 2026 PDGA Junior Disc Golf World Championships, giving Augusta-area disc golf two more players headed from local competition to a global stage.

Their berths point to more than two individual success stories. They show a youth scene that is becoming organized enough to produce repeat qualifiers, first-time breakthroughs and players ready for the sport’s biggest junior event. Tabor will make his fourth Junior Worlds appearance, while Collins is headed there for the first time, a contrast that captures both continuity and expansion in the region’s pipeline.

The PDGA’s invitation rules help explain why that jump matters. Junior Worlds invitees must be Amateur-class members ages 8 to 18 in 2026, must have been current Amateur-class members by December 15, 2025, and must have completed at least three PDGA-sanctioned events during the 2025 tour year. The system also rewards elite results from the previous season, with automatic invites available to 2025 Junior World Champions and 2025 NADGT Junior North American Champions if they remain eligible.

That structure makes the Augusta-area qualifiers part of a broader development ladder rather than isolated standouts. The PDGA says junior competition runs from local C-tier events all the way to World Championships, and that progression is exactly what Tabor and Collins have tapped into. Collins, as a Harlem High School junior, adds another sign of how the sport is reaching deeper into school-age athletics, while Tabor’s fourth trip suggests the region can produce juniors who stay in the pipeline long enough to keep advancing.

The 2026 Junior Worlds are set for July 7-11 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with PDGA materials also describing the event week as running July 3-11 for practice and related activities. The championship is presented by UPMC and will use five area venues: Moraine Lakeview DGC, Deer Lakes DGC, Knob Hill Park DGC, Brush Creek Park DGC and North Boundary DGC. Mark Fedorenko is listed as tournament director.

The field is built around multiple junior divisions, including MJ18, MJ15, FJ18, FJ15, MJ12, FJ12, MJ10, FJ10, MJ8 and FJ8, underscoring how much the junior game has matured into a full competitive ladder. That breadth gives Augusta-area players a clear target: local results can now lead all the way to a world title stage. The PDGA, founded in 1976, first held its professional world championships in Los Angeles in 1982, and the junior side now has a stage of its own.