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Precision and focus are key as this player delivers a powerful toss, with fans locked in on every move during this high-stakes cornhole match.
Photo by Mic Smith
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Players and fans alike feel the excitement at this intense cornhole tournament, where every toss counts and the competition is fierce!
Photo by Mic Smith
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The pressure is on! A fan’s nervous anticipation captures the intensity of the game as the tournament heats up.
Photo by Mic Smith
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Competitors line up to showcase their cornhole skills in a packed arena of fans and players.
Photo by Mic Smith
Deep in the rounds of the American Cornhole League’s World Championships, defending Pro Singles champion Jamie Graham is on edge. In the cavernous Rock Hill Sports & Event Center, he’s trying to drown out the sounds of a thousand other cornhole bags plopping down on the boards and focus on his next shot. But that’s not easy. As the crowd grows, so does the pressure.
The score is tied at 19-19, and if Graham doesn’t win the next two points, he’ll be out of the tournament. His opponent, Daymon “Double D” Dennis, has blocked the hole with the last toss. Graham inspects the board the way a golfer sizes up a putt. He needs to “airmail” it and avoid bumping in Double D’s bag, a toss that lands directly in the cornhole.
Graham squeezes the bag, flips it in his hand, steps forward, and releases. He watches it fly toward the cornhole.
For most people, cornhole is a tailgate or backyard game. It’s in the same family as ladder golf, horseshoes, bocce ball, and washers—portable, beginner-friendly, and casually competitive. The rules are simple: players alternate throwing four bags toward an angled board with a hole. One point for a bag on the board, three for one in the hole.
But for the pros in Rock Hill for a weeklong tournament, cornhole is serious business.
“Cornhole is a sport where we come to have fun,” says Graham, from Hamlet, North Carolina. “But it’s a serious thing. It’s just like any other sport. We put the work in. It’s a strategic game.”
As the sport has grown from a tailgate hobby into a serious competition, Rock Hill has become a heavyweight in the cornhole scene, hosting the best players each year at the ACL’s world-class facility.
“Carolina is probably the biggest spot in the country for cornhole,” says Dusty Thompson, the Carolina Conference Director of the ACL and head coach of Winthrop University’s cornhole team. “There’s a lot of cornhole in Texas, but Rock Hill and the surroundings have more cornhole in a small area than anywhere else.”
Professional cornholers wear jerseys with their names and sponsors, and many matches air on ESPN+ or CBS. Commentators call out foot faults and shot selection, like a tennis match. Like golfers, cornholers wince at near misses and fist pump at holes-in-one. It’s rare to see a bag tumble off the board like at a tailgate.
“A lot of people think they can play with anybody,” says Graham. “But the difference between a pro and backyard players is consistency. Backyard players might throw a few four-baggers, but most pros can put four bags in the hole 20 times in a row.”
Cornhole’s accessibility is part of its appeal. The 2024 World Championships coincided with the Paris Olympics, but no one watching Olympic diving imagines they could do a reverse three-and-a-half somersault tuck.
“It’s extremely relatable,” says Stacey Moore, ACL founder and CEO. “If you’ve been to a tailgate, you’ve probably thrown a cornhole bag. And people think, ‘I can do that.’”
Moore realized how seriously people take cornhole at a North Carolina State football tailgate. He saw an opportunity and started the ACL. After securing a broadcast deal with ESPN3, the sport gained traction. “People initially tuned in as a joke, but then they couldn’t stop watching.”
Rock Hill took notice. Known for hosting niche sports events, the city built a new sports arena, and Moore decided to move the ACL headquarters from Charlotte to Rock Hill. The facility has offices and public cornhole lanes that can be rented like a bowling alley.
Moore’s goals include getting cornhole into the 2032 Summer Olympics and growing the sport at the college level.
Angel Camarena, a 22-year-old Lexington native and recent University of South Carolina graduate, won two national college cornhole titles for the Gamecocks in 2022. Today, he’s competing in his first World Championships as a pro. His start in the sport was typical: after losing to his girlfriend’s family at a barbecue, he practiced until he got better, joined the Lexington Cornhole League, and honed his skills.
“Practice makes perfect,” says Camarena, who, like all pros, is constantly working on his technique. “Once you figure out the fundamentals, you can start experimenting with fancy shots. But first, you have to strengthen the basics.”
As Jamie Graham’s bag flies through the air, he knows the result before it lands. It goes in the hole but carries Double D’s bag with it. The score remains tied. The crowd cheers: “That’s my boy!” “The best ever!”
In the next inning, the two players trade perfect four-baggers and fist bump. Despite the tension, good sportsmanship prevails. “There’s amazing camaraderie in the cornhole community,” says Camarena.
Still, when Graham hits the shot to win and move on to the next round, he speaks with the swagger of any pro athlete: “You’ve got to hit those clutch shots to win, and I hit them. No doubt about my abilities. Never.”
Get there
The American Cornhole League Headquarters are located at 300 Technology Center Way, Suite 205, Rock Hill, SC 29730. The facility is open for court rentals Monday through Friday from 5 p.m. until closing. It costs $25 per hour to rent a court, and each court can include up to four players. Call 803-526-5187 or email aclhq@iplaycornhole.com to reserve. Visit www.iplaycornhole.com for more information about getting started with cornhole, joining a local league, and dates for the 2025 World Championships in Rock Hill.