Devon Harbaugh got his 2024/2025 campaign off to a hot start after taking down Pro/Elite Singles at the Duluth Rock Hill Open on October 4. This was the first ever Pro/Elite only tournament held at an Open event, and games, which started late Friday night, lasted until early Saturday morning.
Harbaugh, a 25-year-old from Suffolk, Virginia, said one of the biggest challenges he faced the entire tournament was the timing and how late the brackets ran.
“It was definitely challenging, playing that late at night and trying to stay focused, even at two in the morning,” Harbaugh said. “We’re ready for bed, we’re not throwing bags [that late] typically.”
Harbaugh was ecstatic when he found out they were moving the rest of the tournament to day two of the Open, and said he was drained from playing all day.
“I was actually thrilled when they told us that we were going to be moving it to the next morning, because I was exhausted,” Harbaugh said. “My body was kind of like shutting down on me against Phil [Lopez], so, like I said, I was very fortunate for that.
The final four began right on time at 9:30 am Saturday morning, and began with Harbaugh facing fellow bracket winner Bryce Forbes. Harbaugh threw 48 bags, missed just five of them, and finished the game with a 10.83 PPR. (check out the full stats here.)
In the overall finals, Harbaugh played 4th-year ACL Pro Jackson Gore, who came off a semi-final win over Tanner Halbert, where he threw a 10.33 PPR over 12 rounds.
Gore, a 15-year-old from Concord, North Carolina, gave credit to Harbaugh saying it's not easy to beat him.
“He was really good… you don’t walk up to the boards and think you’re gonna have a bad Devon Harbaugh,” Gore said. “He’s a tough opponent, so it's not easy to get by him.”
Early in the match, Gore found himself down 9-2, before scoring 10 points in two rounds to take the lead. Unfortunately for Gore, he would stay stuck on that score, as Harbaugh closed out the game on a 10-0 run of his own, clinching a 19-12 victory in the 12-round-limited format.
Though he lost the game, Gore mentioned that Harbaugh has always been one of the friendliest pros in the entire league.
“It's always fun playing with Devon, in my opinion. He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve met playing cornhole.”
Throughout the entire tournament, Harbaugh threw his red Ultra Viper X’s, which have won him countless tournaments over the span of his sponsorship with Ultra Cornhole.
Mark Pryor, the owner and president of Ultra Cornhole, and main sponsor of Devon Harbaugh, said that Harbaugh was a huge acquisition for Team Ultra, not only for his play on the board, but for his character off.
“He’s an all-star player, he's respected by his peers, and I like the way he goes about his business. He’s very professional,” Pryor said. “Even when he was negotiating with us, and talking with me, he was very polite, very professional, and that goes a long way when it comes to sponsoring a player.”
Since becoming an Ultra-sponsored player, Harbaugh has won four ACL titles, with this most recent win being his first-ever Pro Title.
Eric Tscherne, the Team Coordinator for Ultra Cornhole, was happy to see Harbaugh win his first ever pro title, and thinks he will only get better as the season progresses.
“I was really excited to see him get off on a good start. He had won three Opens last year, and as soon as he won the first it was like the floodgates opened,” Tscherne said. “I thought this season, getting off to a hot start was going to be good for him, and we’ll see him really blossom.”
Harbaugh continues to be one of the best cornhole players in the world, and says his wife and daughter not only motivate him, but are the reason he plays.
“I’m playing for my daughter. I’m doing the best I can, but regardless of what happens, she’s gonna smile at me, and it makes it that much better when she’s smiling after a win.”
Harbaugh married his fiance Shelby on September 7, and stated that she helps keep him in line and is another big aspect to his motivation.
“I don’t want to get sidetracked or lose focus, and Shelby helps keep me in line too.”
Harbaugh is playing doubles this season with reigning ACL Rookie Of The Year and MVP Jeremiah Ellis, and looks to make noise on that front as well. The next ACL Open – The ACL Overstock Des Moines Open – will be in Des Moines, Iowa on October 18-20, and the first Signature event will take place April 4-6 in Florida.
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