A 34-hour round-trip car ride. That’s what many members of the Wichita State Disc Golf Club’s competitive teams have been preparing for all year long.
And though nearly a full day of travel doesn’t sound appealing to most, members of the disc golf team were ecstatic when they heard they got to make the journey.
“I was so pleased to be able to go,” Disc Golf Club Vice President Micah Williams said. “… It’s a spring break of disc golf.”
Two weeks ago, two of the club’s competitive teams made the lengthy journey to Rock Hill, South Carolina, to compete in the College Disc Golf National Championship after the A team secured a DII, the second-highest division of disc golf in college, bid and the B team claimed a DIII bid.
The club brought two teams to the tournament and both ranked top-15, as the A team placed 14th out of 92 teams, and the B team placed ninth out of 47 teams.
Williams said he hadn’t thought he would make it to the four-day tournament this year. He said he had a feeling that only two of the three competitive teams from WSU would go. And up until this year, Williams had been a part of the C team, the team that would’ve been left out.
“I played the best I’ve played in the tryouts, made it to the second team, and then right there, I pretty much knew I was going to go to nationals,” Williams said. “But I didn’t know for sure until a couple of weeks before.”
Williams said it was “pretty exciting” to hear he and his team had made it to the national tournament, especially as he personally had been playing the sport for a long time after he fell in love with it during COVID, when he was struggling to socialize in the daunting quarantine.
“I wasn’t good at it at first, but right away, I fell in love with the sport,” Williams said. “… I haven’t stopped playing since. I think the longest time I’ve ever gone without playing since then, it’s probably like a week max.”
With all the experience under his belt, Williams still said nationals “was one the greatest weeks of disc golf that I’ve been able to have in my life,” and found the long car ride “perfect.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Williams said. “It was super fun. We were laughing the whole time, making jokes, listening to some great music … The car trip added to the fun because of the great fellowship we had as a group.”
Other than the car ride, Williams found joy during an evening after they had finished their three hours of competing for the day.
“We were feeling pretty good, and we only had a little bit of time of daylight left and so we went over to this fun little course in the city,” Williams said. “We just went out there, and we were just trying to hit a bunch of holes-in-one. It was really fun because a couple of guys ended up getting a hole-in-one.
“So super fun to cheer them on again, just encourage the team and see us playing well and to be able to just enjoy it. And it was kind of a fun way to end off the night, and I remember that one because that was the most enjoyable evening for fun the whole trip.”
Remington Putter, coach and player on the WSU team, also fell in love with the sport during the COVID era.
“Me and my roommates just playing disc golf … that’s kind of how I really started to pay attention to the sport, learn about the sport,” Putter said. “I’ve always been in athletics, and so I like to find a skill and really perfect it. And disc golf has been one that I don’t feel like I’ve perfected yet. I’m still working on it.”
Putter was the best singles performer at nationals for the WSU team, solidifying 18th place out of 181 players in the DIII side of the tournament.
Putter said it was “amazing” to compete with big names in one of the most competitive collegiate level disc golf tournaments. He said he also enjoyed the friendship the team had on and off the course.
“It was really exciting to see, exciting to be a part of,” Putter said. “… The team rounds were a lot of fun. Our team chemistry was great and our camaraderie on the course always brings a lot of joy to our rounds. Whether we’re playing well or not, we enjoy it.”
Williams said the team chemistry improved on the trip due to them spending nearly a whole week, constantly near each other.
“Not only did our scores improve, but I think just as teams, we are a lot closer between the two teams … I think it was a really good bonding experience,” Williams said.
Along with the normal bonding he experienced with the team, Williams also had an elevated kind of fellowship. After he suffered an infection to his finger on his throwing hand, he said he had to rely on the team to help and support him.
“I wasn’t able to throw as far … (I had) this panic of, ‘Oh my goodness; it’s the biggest week for disc golf. I need to be on my A-game,’” Williams said. “My coach and my teammates were all there to support me and also help try to find different ways I could still play… It was super nice to have the team there to support and encourage through that because if it would have been a different group of people, it would have been the worst week of my life.”
Each of the players still said they had an enjoyable time at the tournament and are already planning for next year.
“I think next year, when we start making preparations for the season and trying to get ourselves back to nationals again, I think we will remember what the experiences were like this year,” Putter said. “Which were positive experiences and want that for the entire team. So I think there’ll be a push there to try to get all three teams, if possible.”
