Cornhole players of all skill levels are invited to participate in an American Cornhole Organization (ACO)-sponsored event at the Fowling Warehouse at 3050 Washtenaw Ave. in Ypsilanti Township March 24-25.

Players competing to qualify for the ACO World Championships in July can earn points during the event and compete for a $5,000 prize. The general public is also invited for social play or to compete for cash prizes. 

The ACO first came to the Ypsilanti-Ann Arbor area in 2022 with a smaller tourney at Eastern Michigan University's Bowen Field House. Michael "Fin" Walter, media relations for the ACO, says that players showed up from at least 15 different states last year. He expects attendance to keep growing each year. 

Walter says the venue change was in part due to an expected overlap in fans of both fowling and cornhole. Fowling is a game that combines bowling pins and footballs, while cornhole started as a lawn game with players attempting to pitch bean bags through holes in a board. The ACO formalized the game as a competitive sport in 2005.

The Fowling Warehouse also allows the tournament to try out something brand new this year: having teams compete in both cornhole and fowling.

"The winners will be determined by having taken part in both, and that will be the first time we've done that," Walter says.

The event kicks off with a welcome party on the evening of March 23. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. and social play will begin at 6 p.m. The general public is welcome to attend. 

On March 24 and 25, ACO members competing for the world championships will take over the Fowling Warehouse. The general public can participate in social or competitive cornhole in the afternoons, starting at 3 p.m. each day.

More information and a full schedule are available here.

Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and editor in Ypsilanti Township and the project manager of On the Ground Ypsilanti. She joined Concentrate as a news writer in early 2017 and is an occasional contributor to other Issue Media Group publications. You may reach her at sarahrigg1@gmail.com.

Photo courtesy of American Cornhole Organization.