Come for the Pros, Stay for the Donuts
- Posted on September 14, 2026
The Disc Golf Pro Tour has descended upon Smuggs, bringing the best players in the world back to our top-10-ranked courses for another Green Mountain Championship. The action gets underway Thursday and rolls straight through the weekend, both on and off the courses, with live music Thursday and Friday before FallFest takes over the Village Green Saturday night, headlined by the Ryan Montbleau Band.
I can’t stress this enough: these are the best disc golfers in the world. Having professional athletes descend on our little corner of northern Vermont every year is pretty incredible, and even if you’ve never thrown a disc farther than the neighbor’s yard, you need to see what these players can do. Watching a disc disappear through a tiny gap in the woods and somehow land exactly where they intended will recalibrate your definition of this game.
Meanwhile, another annual show is starting its soundcheck.
Fall foliage isn’t quite ready for the main stage yet, but the band is plugging in. The greens are beginning to fade, with little hits of orange, red, and yellow appearing across the mountainsides and especially around the wetter areas near marshes and swamps. After a spring with plenty of rain and a summer that kept the canopy looking lush, conditions seem to be lining up nicely for this year’s color.
And with overnight temperatures flirting with frost this week, that soundcheck could get loud pretty quickly.
Everyone wants to know when “peak” will happen. Early October is usually the safest answer around here. October 8 gets tossed around quite a bit, while I’ve always thought October 4 deserves more consideration. But I’ll also make the argument that peak gets too much attention. Give me the days just before it, when there’s still enough green in the mountains to make every red maple and orange hillside look even brighter. The contrast is what really makes the colors jump.
Of course, the trees aren’t the only things changing color right now. September also means apple season in Vermont.
Pick-your-own orchards across the state are welcoming people back for apples straight from the branch, fresh cider, and those warm cider donuts with the slightly crisp edges buried under cinnamon and sugar. Buy a dozen. Realize that was a tactical error. Buy another dozen.
One of our local partners, Stony Grove Orchard, is only about five minutes down the road toward Jeffersonville and has all the ingredients for a proper Vermont apple-picking afternoon. Owner Anne can bake with the best of them, so don’t overlook the apple pies, and definitely investigate the fresh beignets coming out of the service window.
Disc golf, live music, the first hints of foliage, apples, cider donuts, and cool September nights. The big fall show hasn’t officially started yet, but from where we’re standing, the soundcheck already sounds pretty good.
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The Disc Golf Pro Tour has descended upon Smuggs, bringing the best players in the world back to our top-10-ranked courses for another Green Mountain Championship. The action gets underway Thursday and rolls straight through the weekend, both on and off the courses, with live music Thursday and Friday before FallFest takes over the Village…