Rainers Balodis a 21 year old college student came to the US from Talsi, Latvia (his first ever trip to the US)— the trip was funded by people in his small town— ranked nowhere near the favorites, and played the best golf of the week. Going against the best of the very best— super stars earning a million plus a year—despite all odds this college kid from Latvia led the 2026 PDGA Professional World Championships going into Sunday and was up two strokes with two holes to play.

It didn’t end the way it should have. A violation called on 17 changed the arithmetic of the tournament, and Rainers finished second. Rainers not only missed out on the world championship title, but also the first-place prize money that would have made a real difference for travel, training, and the next steps in a very promising professional career.

This fund exists to close the gap between second and first and to say plainly: Rainers played like a world champion, Rainers is welcome here, and this community is sorry for how the week ended. Whatever is raised will go directly to Rainers for travel, next season, joining the Disc Golf pro tour, or whatever else is needed most. Most of all we want to say Rainers: we see you, you are not alone and we support you. Yes it would be wonderful to raise a lot of money for Rainers (and I hope we do!) to support his life and career, but I am just as enthusiastic about the number of people who donate and being able to tell him how many Americans support him. So even if you can only give a dollar please give whatever you can. I am certain it will mean a lot to him.

How the funds reach Rainers: GoFundMe doesn’t support payouts directly to Latvia, so I will receive the funds personally and transfer them to Rainers. I will post the transfer receipt publicly once it’s complete, along with the exact amount sent. Every dollar raised goes to Rainers, minus GoFundMe’s processing fees and the international transfer fee. Please consider giving if you can, and just as importantly, helping show Rainers that people saw what happened and want to support what comes next.

Full disclosure: I felt compelled after watching the tournament and the way it ended that somebody needed to do something. Though he did not know I was planning this and did not ask me to do this, I am in touch with Rainers and he does now know I am doing this.