Young Disc Golfer Wins Coveted PDGA Number #100000 in Bizarre Click-Race

The Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) is no stranger to hectic membership periods, but none have been as intense as this October's events. On Monday, October 2nd, the association witnessed its most dramatic moment in history - the click-race for PDGA member number #100000. This coveted spot has a special significance, assigned for life to each of the thousands of players competing in numerous events throughout the year.

As the latest membership numbers neared the milestone mark of #100000, the anticipation grew among enthusiasts. Almost every day, requests poured in to reserve this particular number, but unfortunately, it's not an option available to members. Instead, potential PDGA members must rely on a simple yet effective tactic: continuously refreshing the Player Search page on PDGA.com until the most recently assigned member number appears. This is exactly what hundreds of hopefuls did on October 2nd.

The morning of Monday, October 2nd saw people waiting, clicking, and refreshing their screens in anticipation. At 11:35 am, the latest assigned number was #99801, but by 4 pm, this had increased to #99905. Just under an hour later, at 4:50 pm, #99950 was assigned, marking the beginning of a frantic click-race.

Each time a new number was assigned, the hopefuls would refresh and try their luck once more. Within minutes, numbers were assigned in rapid succession - #99970 (17 minutes after #99950), #99980 (7 minutes later), and then just one minute later, #99993. At this point, everyone waiting had already submitted their membership forms, leaving them to anxiously wait for the page to load.

And then it happened; the latest membership number assigned was up to #100050. The PDGA's records for most new memberships processed in a single week were shattered with an incredible 1,066 registrations that October week, breaking the previous record set just one year prior by 592.

The winner of this thrilling click-race turned out to be Ryan Quinlan, a 10-year-old from Oxford, Pennsylvania. His father, Dave Quinlan #93244, had been trying to get his son an exciting birthday present - a PDGA membership with the special number #100000. With some help from disc golf companies, the surprise turned out to be one that Ryan would never forget.

Ryan's parents had initially considered signing up their entire family for memberships at once but decided on a last-minute plan to get him his dream PDGA number as a birthday gift. Dave even went so far as to fake telling Ryan they could try and sign him up for a cool number while shopping for new discs, all in the hopes of keeping the surprise under wraps until the big reveal.

As soon as the membership was processed with the assigned PDGA number #100000, Dave "flipped out" and rushed into his house, eager to share the news. However, he had to keep it a secret from Ryan for two more weeks, despite social media coverage where Ryan's name was listed next to the assigned number.

The big reveal came on Sunday, October 15th when Ryan visited CTP Disc Golf with his parents. Upon entering the store, he was met with a massive pile of PDGA merchandise featuring his new #100000. As he opened the boxes and bags, he finally realized what was happening - it was all for him.

Ryan's haul included numerous custom discs from top manufacturers like MVP Disc Sports, Axiom Discs, DGA, and more. His collection is now off to an incredible start at just 11 years old, making him one of the most talked-about young players in disc golf. Ryan will soon put his new PDGA membership to use when he competes in his first Junior event on October 31st.

The Quinlan family cannot thank all those who made this surprise possible enough. Thanks to the donations and support from numerous companies involved, a mountain of merchandise was donated to Ryan.

This article was compiled from disc golf coverage with AI assistance. Source: pdga.com — https://www.pdga.com/best-birthday-ever