I got into disc golf simply as a way to spend time with my brother and best friend. It was the summer of 2015 and the three of us were trying to find something new to do. My brother had played in the past and loved it so took us to the course one day and we were hooked. What started as something random we wanted to try quickly turned into the only thing on my mind both day and night. We played pretty much every day throughout the summer and as a result our games began to get better and better. I had no clue that this was just the beginning of something that would change my life.

In the fall, I began attending Liberty University. I found out they had a disc golf team and decided to try out. My brother was out of college and my best friend did not care about the sport like I did so it was just me at tryouts. I was crazy nervous, but luckily I made the team. I started the year as the worst player on the team. I am the type of person that hates to be bad at anything, so my position on the team quickly changed. About a month into practices, the best player on the team, Lance Brown, asked me if I wanted to go to a tournament in North Carolina with him. I was so stoked! I got my PDGA number and headed to play the tournament not knowing at all what to expect. I ended up averaging 843 rated golf and came in dead last in intermediate. Losing that tournament and seeing what it would take to win got my fired up and ready to start playing as often as I possibly could.

By the end of the collegiate season, I had become a completely different player. I won my first ever PDGA event in February of 2016 and moved up to the Advanced division after that. By the time that Collegiate Nationals came around, I was about the 6th best player on the team and competed on First Flight. It was an awesome tournament, but I knew that I wanted more. I looked at the players on our Champ Flight team and set my goal at taking one of their spots within the next year. I worked super hard all summer and began to see the fruits of my labor as I won my first advanced tournament in July of 2016. My play was becoming much more consistent and my confidence was through the roof.

Coming into the 2016-2017 collegiate season, my only focus was getting on Champ Flight. I came into the year as the 5th best player on the team, but there was a big gap between me and the players ahead of me. As we got into early 2017, I had accomplished my goal and became a part of Champ Flight. This boosted my confidence and made me set my eyes on a new goal. Now my number one focus was becoming an All-American at Nationals. This is a title only held by the top 20 individual finishers each year. I knew that I could do it, but I also knew that my game needed a ton of work in order for me to play at that level. As nationals approached, I put in a ton of work and felt ready to prove myself. My first singles round was at Old Glory and I put way too much pressure on myself. I shot a -4 only because I birdied the last 5 holes of my round. I felt defeated. The next round was at Hogback and I did not feel comfortable there. I knew there were a lot of birdies out there, but I felt like I needed them all in order to meet my goal. I ended up shooting a -12 1044 rated round which helped me finish in 16th and accomplish my goal.

This brings us to where I am now. It is the summer of 2017 and I have secured a few more wins as an amateur as well as cashed in my only 2 pro events so far. I have been playing as a “promateur” and picking my division based on the tournament up to this point in the year. Last weekend I won the Virginia Commonwealth Games in advanced and decided to make that my last tournament as an amateur. I am typing this at the Ledgestone Insurance Open where I am going to play Open and see how much improvement is needed before I can compete at the top level. I am currently 942 rated and have made $105 playing disc golf. My game has improved drastically, but still has a long way to go. I decided to start this blog so that people can see what it takes and what it is like to go from an average player to a player at the top level. I am very excited of what is ahead of me and also understand that this process is not something that is going to happen overnight. It is going to take hard work and dedication, but I know that I am capable of reaching the top of the sport and I do not plan on stopping until I get there.