Which Elite Series events have the most prestige?

[Shallows]

With the merger with the National Tour and Jeff Spring discussing a desire to rotate Elite Series events in the years to come I'm curious to hear what folks think are the most prestigious non-major Elite Series events. Particularly eager to hear about histories behind some of these events that COVID boomers like myself might be ignorant of.

If I had to rank the events by like "what tournament would my favorite pro want to win, purses being equal?", I'd guess something like this:

Maple Hill
Ledgestone
Green Mountain Championship
DDO

Idlewild
DGLO
Preserve
Jonesboro
Waco

Texas States
OTB Open
Portland Open
Des Moines Challenge
Las Vegas Challenge

 

[@CD-]

1 Course Tournaments
MVP Open at Maple Hill
Great Lakes Open - Discraft
Jonesboro Open - Prodigy
The Preserve Championship - Prodigy
Waco Annual Charity Open - Prodigy
Idlewild Open - Dynamic Discs
Des Moines Challenge - Discraft
OTB Open - MVP
Texas State DG Championship - Lat64

2+ Course Tournaments
Green Mountain Championship - Discraft
Portland Open - Dynamic Discs
Dynamic Discs Open
Ledgestone Open - Discraft
Las Vegas Challenge - Innova

Purses being equal means it comes down to player's experience (atmosphere driven by how many locals volunteer, spectate, & attend), course balance/difficulty/player preferences, and tournament organization/presenting sponsor.

Some of these have a history as long running tour stop A-tier/NT/DGPT Elite series - MVP (Maple hill/Vibram), DDO (GBO), LVC (GCC), DGLO, Des Moines, Texas States. MVP having stuck to the same course with slight tweaking is most recognizable. MVP > DGLO > DDO > LVC > DMC > Texas States.

Idlewild/MVP/Waco are all proving ground courses for players. Balanced disc golf courses with technical & distance shots. Winning any of these is a sign of a solid all around game for the player.

GMC/MVP Open have both been at the end of the DGPT touring schedule (more pressure and interest in results) plus are run on great courses and organized well. DDO/DGLO both are very close to their sponsor's HQ and get additional support.

DDO/Ledgestone both host the non-DGPT A-tier tournament at the same time so their smaller cities have bigger fields + out of towners for the weekend. Closer to large population cities like Portland/LVC/Waco/MVP/OTB/Idlewild has an effect (ease of travel/access). Fan attendance likely skewed by time of year each tournament is held as well.

Beaver State Fling & Master's Cup would probably get equal or greater player recognition as a good number of these based on history & field strength.