08/31/2026
Reflecting back on this amazing past week at the Disc Golf world championship, hosted in our hometown of Detroit (well… “Detroit”),  I can say I finally experienced the club of Disc Golf super fandom in all of its glory.
As a long-term casual player, and despite being one of the key people to help establish Detroit Palmer Park Disc Golf Course, I can’t say that I’ve ever felt particularly connected to the “Disc Golf community”. this was my first event I’ve attended live and box score watched down to the wire.
Having experienced it all firsthand, all I can say is… Wow… This community really takes the cake! I’ve never seen so many adult men with s**t eating smiles in one place!
I’ve attended pro wrestling live on multiple occasions… I find myself in a comic bookstore from time to time… I have experienced the Superfan culture of Phish, the Dead… observed the philosophical heated debates of Tool fans arguing the esoteric and timeless nuance of Lateralus vs 10000 Days for the two decades since their release.
But of all super fan niche communities, I can officially pronounce the Disc Golf community as #1! As such I am proud to award to you all this “Necky” trophy commemorating the Disc Golf super fan community as the 2026 Neck Beard Super Fan Worlds Championship winner!!
Like most years, this year’s world championship went “neck and neck“ to the bitter end (pun NOT intended). With Star Wars limping by with another lackluster year, craft beer on decline, the Dead and Co sphere run having ended (RIP Bobby) and WWE falling out of favor after it’s sale to TKO, most of the typical heavy hitters have been in decline. Nevertheless, the Billy Strings Boys, Kalshi Krowd, and LooksMaxxers were formidable competition.
However with the final voting drawing near and the Disc golfers down two points to the surprising LooksMaxxers, a miraculous turn of events occurred. The Maxxers are called for a “chin tuck” fault by the Billy Strings Boys - the chin was 3 degrees of downward head angle, artificially inflating apparent canthal tilt - resulting in a one point penalty that draws the competition nearer… just enough grace for the Disc golfers to tie it up in the final frame and take the competition by one point in overtime!
Holy s**t!! Congrats Disc Golf community!!! You’re the 2026 Neck Beard World Champions!!!
Now this ending was not without its controversy… Many from the neck beard community did not feel that the Billy Strings Boys had the legal angle on the chin Tuck fault violation. Others argued that it was asinine for another finalist, the Billy Strings Boys, to be eligible to call the foul whatsoever, especially given the close ties between the Disc Golf super fan community and the Billy Strings Boys.
However, the predominant Takeaway amongst the neck beard online super fan community, after thousands of posts with hypothetical chin tuck geometry depictions was to ALWAYS FOLLOW THE DAMN RULES!!! Remember the old adage.. “dems da rulz!” … “Duh rulz r duh rulz!!”
So the moral of the story folks… Don’t ever let a good time get in the way of the rules. Please. Had it not been for the rules, then the odious LooksMaxxers would have prevailed… European ones at that!
Congratulations again Disc Golf super fan community! You’ve truly earned the 2026 Necky Award!


