VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) —You may have played cornhole at a cookout or family gathering, but this weekend at the Virginia Beach Field House, cornhole was on another level.
It was the first annual Beast of the Beach cornhole tournament put on by the Hampton Roads Sports Commission. There was a $17,000 guaranteed payout and a top prize of $4,500.
“A lot of the cookouts and a lot of the local bars have cash prizes. There’s a tv component to this, the American Cornhole League. A lot of players play there as pros for major cash winnings, so we wanted to recreate that here,” said Executive Director of the Hampton Roads Sports Commission, Claudell Clark.
One of the competitors, Frank Modlin is a world champion in doubles cornhole from North Carolina.
“We started playing when we were camping with the family down on the Outer Banks. I saw some guys playing they asked me to join in and I got hooked immediately,” smiled Modlin.
He says he started winning local and moved up from there.
However, not everyone had 10 years under their belt like Modlin. From new to experienced players, the competition was full of different ages.
Modlin’s next goal is to win worlds as a single competitor.
Clark says this tournament isn’t all about walking away with some cash because there’s also a charitable component.
“The 50/50 raffle, the celebrity challenge, a portion of those proceeds go to the boys and girls club and that’s something near and dear to us and something we’re very proud of,” said Clark.
Clark plans to make the tournament bigger and better in the future.