Brian Graham new CEO of Augusta Sports Council

[puttlikeablowfly]

I was reading an article about the Packers' Titletown development and saw a giant picture of Brian Graham (former PDGA Executive Director for those that don't know). Anyway, it looks like he is back on the non-profit side of sports as the new CEO of the Augusta Sports Council:
https://www.connectsports.com/feature/brian-graham-augusta-sports-council/

As you might expect, there are numerous mentions of the PDGA and disc golf in the article. I assume this move ties in somehow with whatever happened at Hippodrome and their removal of disc golf, but maybe not.

 

[ToddL]

I have absolutely no idea of the relationship between Augusta and the Hippodrome, but the Hippodrome is a privately owned property. I doubt the sports council had much to do with it.

 

[puttlikeablowfly]

Brian left the PDGA to work as the director of corporate events for Morris Communications, who owns (owned?) the Hippodrome. An article from the same source at that time even mentioned how he would be running the college disc golf championships (NCDGC) at the Hippodrome:
https://www.connectsports.com/feature/brian-graham-shifts-pdga-morris/

Sorry for the confusion, but I was wondering about what happened with his previous employer (Morris) and the loss of disc golf at the Hippodrome, not his new employer (ASC). I'm not looking to start rumors ... Brian seems like a good guy (worked with him for Am Worlds a few years ago) and I hope he enjoys his new job. I never saw much info about why the Hippodrome dropped disc golf ... only news I recall was a vague one about the NCDGC moving to the IDGC because the Hippodrome owners didn't want to maintain the disc golf courses. Did Morris sell the Hippodrome, or are they just focusing on the horse stuff now?

 

[harr0140]

Interesting. I will wait for more information.

 

[Tripper]

I played the Hippodrome courses a few years back and the only course that I even consider decent was Hogback. Old Glory had been re-arranged such that none of the tee signs matched basket locations. Even if they did match, creating a course in an open field using ropes to create imaginary obstacles and OB was so lame. I am not a competitive disc golfer. I play for fun and the enjoyment of communing with nature. I could do fieldwork and get the same sense of Nature the Old Glory provided. Needless to say I was very disappointed in the Hippodrome complex after all the hype. The best thing about the complex (IMO) was the pro-shop which i believe closed a few months after my visit.

I (used to) tell all my buddies going to the Augusta area not to bother with the Hippo.

 

[skizzle34]

I agree that the Hippodrome was extremely lack luster disc golf. I played there in 2013 from the NCCDGC and we played every course on the property. Of all of them combined I believe there were 5-10 actual good disc golf holes. The event itself was amazing fun but I can only imagine it was made better by the move to the IDGC.