From Ice Bowl Founder & Instigator Rick Rothstein:
What a week it was at Winthrop University for the United States Disc Golf Championship, the Throw Pink Women’s Disc Golf Championship, and the 2025 World Disc Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
Spending most of my time in the incredible Vendor Village to promote the 40th year of Ice Bowl, I had literally hundreds of memory-inducing conversations with Ice Bowl TDs, fellow Hall of Fame members, people curious about Ice Bowl, other vendors, a host of old friends, and many new friends.
I can now confess that the pandemic exacted a heavy toll on my mental health, causing me to question and devalue what I had done within and for disc golf. While my recovery started prior to this trip, I cannot overstate the gratitude I feel for the love and affirmation of my disc golf legacy I received last week. I am back! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
• One result from the hours of conversations about Ice Bowl was distilling the essence of what Ice Bowl is about: 1. Fun. 2. Charity. 3. Building community. 4. Competition*
* It’s always been up to each event to decide its competitive-seriousness level. It can range from selling mulligans to enhance charity to PDGA sanctioning for points and ratings.
• Meeting long-time Ice Bowl organizers, Rebecca Burton, Phil Burton, and Pete Hoover was an absolute pleasure, as was reconnecting with Ice Bowl TDs Tim Barr, Adam Morrison, and Danny & Nicole Strine.
• It was so cool to be able to introduce the 2026 Ice Bowl logo on three different disc models on Sunday morning. That our Ice Bowl artist extraordinaire, John Dorn, was there in person for the unveiling makes it even cooler.
• The Ice Bowl Foundation Board hasn’t met yet to assess the trip, but after sleeping an amazing number of hours since returning to KC a little over 24 hours ago, I’m thinking this could be an annual trip going forward.
• Registration for Ice Bowl 2026 is now open at https://icebowl.org/event-registration-home.
We’ll be acknowledging these registrations soon. We will also be finalizing merchandising choices in the next few weeks. It’s hoped that bumping this up in the calendar will help TDs plan more effectively.