In 1980 the group decided to put on a major darts tournament, the first Houston Open. Concern over legal liability and need to look more official for corporate sponsors led the group to incorporate & regularize bookkeeping.
To facilitate the change to corporate status the organization changed its name from Houston Area Darting Association to Houston Darts Association, Inc.
H.D.A. remained the organization’s name for about 30 years.
The tournament venue was the upstairs ballroom at Dunfey Houston Hotel, 7000 SW Freeway, Houston, TX 77036, near Houston’s popular Sharpstown Mall.
40 bristle dartboards were setup on stands made of 1/2″ plywood & 2x4s, scoring was done manually on paper with grease pencils.
Note that the 1st major tournament did not include the darts game of Cricket, as it was not widely accepted as a “serious” tournament game at that time.
