My Life in Disc Golf

Disc golf enters our lives in many ways. It does strange things to us. It pokes and prods and requests us to show up. We all have our own stories and I am here to share mine. While my story is certainly unique, it is not experienced alone. I have had countless conversations with fellow disc golfers in which our stories synchronize across many platforms of the sport. Whether it is through videos on YouTube, struggles with technique, or how we got hooked or our favorite course, we all share a common love for this wonderful sport.

My Introduction to Disc Golf

I was always an athlete and played many different sports throughout my childhood. I then played three sports through high school; soccer, baseball, and basketball. I have always had a competitive itch. While in high school in 1999 I had a class entitled “Life Sports” in which our teacher showed us different fringe sports throughout the semester and one happened to be disc golf. It stuck. Our teacher took us out to Watson Trail Park in St. Louis to a short 9 hole course. I was horrible! But my frustration led to intrigue and I was hooked.

My friends and I began to play outside of school and we loved the independent nature of the game. As I played many other sports that filled my competitive needs, disc golf became a sport that got me into the woods with friends for a good time. In the early days, it was more of a social outing than a competitive endeavor.

Who knows where my life would be if my gym class instructor had not taken us out to Watson Trail Park on that fateful afternoon. I am forever grateful for him opening the door to disc golf and wonder how many people miss out on this opportunity due to a lack of introduction to the sport. This is why I am on board for programs such as EDGE and UniversalPlayDiscGolf. Their sole intention is to introduce the sport to youth in a fun and creative way.

My Early Days

After my introduction in high school, I played disc golf a few times a month in the warmer months as a hobby. It was always with friends and we had loads of fun, though progressing in the sport was not our goal. All of my friends played many sports as a competitive outlet so disc golf was a place to gather and be in the community. There was a similar intention through college and then I moved out to Fort Collins, CO. While there I had lots of time on my hands due to inconsistent work and played Edora Park as much as I could, sometimes playing as many as 72 holes per day.

Edora Park became my second home as my friends and I spent hours a day out there throughout my early 20’s. This was a time of transition as the sport began to take up more of my time and hold a place of distinction in my life. I began to know more and more people on the course and it became a sanctuary for positivity in my life. At this point, I was fairly lost in my life but disc golf was always a rock. While on the course, I knew who I was. Then, in 2013, I moved to Santa Cruz, CA.

Competitive Side

Disc golf had always been a hobby that I played with friends. This all changed when I tore my achilles in March of 2017 and was bed-ridden for 9 weeks with many months of physical therapy ahead. As I lay in bed, I began perusing YouTube and stumbled upon a channel named JomezPro. “What is this?! How can these players be so good?!” I was appalled at the skills I was digesting. I went on to explore hours and hours of content as I had nothing to do and all day to do it. I was left with one sentiment; I am going to get better at disc golf.

During this time of sloth and torpor, I purchased my PDGA membership. I then popped over to Discgolfscene.com and found a local tournament. This was the summer of 2017 and there was a non-PDGA sanctioned tournament a few months out. My first tournament!! This gave me a goal and laid the groundwork for physical therapy. It was increasingly important for my technique to improve as I did not want to further injure myself. The walking and lateral quick movements of disc golf proved to be ideal for physical therapy.

Around this time I also made a friend (let’s call him Isaac) who was waaaaaaay into disc golf. Isaac knew all about all of these players I’d been watching on YouTube and also had many more recommendations for technique videos. We were hooked. We started doing field work together and framing our schedules around disc golf much to the chagrin of our significant others. We both accelerated our games and became much more consistent. Our home course was DeLaveaga so we had a proper proving ground to test our newly acquired skills. And, I could walk!

I look back on these days fondly as the sport became fresh again, I was gaining strength and we were having a blast digesting the intricacies of the sport. The main channel of growth was through field work. We put in countless hours and critiqued each other’s form as we added consistency to our games. We worked on timing, throwing our hips first, grips, putting, elbow position, push back, pull through, tempo, hyzer flips, touch forehands, and a million other idiosyncrasies of the game. How tedious and how fun!! We were seeing results.

Then all of a sudden the day arrived. The tournament was the Boulder Creek Blizzard in February of 2018 and I showed up as a complete greenhorn. I met many wonderful people and experienced the “frisbee family” for the first time. Then one of the competitors played the national anthem on a trumpet and we were off. What an opening! Off to the course and I broke multiple rules that day. My cardmates were incredibly supportive and simply let me know what I was doing wrong and I didn’t do it again. I threw some bad shots but luckily I threw a lot more good shots and ended up finishing second in the amateur advanced (MA1) division. I had a great sense of pride as the difficult journey to that tournament had paid off.

Mental Side

I came out of this tournament with a hunger for more disc golf. All of the efforts continued and I entered many more tournaments. As my skills increased, I became keenly aware of the mental side of the sport. This led me to an appreciation of the sport that will be with me until I can no longer play. The appreciation is allowing disc golf to be a mirror. Allowing disc golf to show my true colors no matter how ugly or beautiful. With this intention, I am able to leave the course feeling better and more connected than when I arrived. My relationship with the sport forever changed when I stopped being hard on myself and allowed myself to simply BE. This spilled over into the rest of my life as I was able to gain perspective on how I treat myself in difficult situations. I also saw my game improve as mistakes in tournaments didn’t lead to a complete unraveling.

During the winter of 2019, I traveled to Thailand to play in the Samui Swine Classic. It was an experience of a lifetime and also when I decided to play my first Open (MPO) event. I ended up cashing and was officially a professional! On the flight home, I remember David Byrne’s lyrics floating through my head, “How did I get here?” It was a wonderful experience that kick-started my “professional” career.

Lifelong Sport

I am now a certain age and appreciating the sport for its low impact on the body and nature-infused essence. My disc golf career has been a windy road and I wouldn’t change a thing. I do not play 72 holes in a day anymore but rather pick and choose a couple days a week. I now savor the time I am able to be on the course, whether solo or with friends. This sport has given me so much and I am now in a position to give back. Thank you disc golf.