When it comes to sports viewing I have always been of the opinion fans do tend to gravitate to those sports which they themselves have been involved.
That of course does not preclude us from enjoying other sports. I have for example never played a minute of rugby, but love it.
That said people look at me oddly when I note I enjoy watching darts on television. The reason though is simple enough. As a player of very limited skill tossing darts I am in awe of the skill the top pros show week, after week, after week.
And so it is with disc golf.
I can’t watch ball golf on television at all. The hushed whispers of announcers on-course and the panoramic shots of the sky with the white ball all but lost to those without a bionically implanted eye from a sci-fi book, bores me.
Of course the game did too. I tried it a bit a lifetime ago, but the length of time to play 18, and the costs, pretty quickly had me doing other things of greater joy to me. That is not to say the game should not be embraced by others, but it never was a fit for me.
Then about a half decade ago the disc golf course was installed at Patrick Park in Yorkton. It took about 10-minutes to be hooked for life.
The quick time for a round, the low cost of discs, the free course play, the easy to learn basics, all grabbed me as ideal.
And once I learned there were professional disc golf events, many ‘televised’ live online on YouTube.com and similar sites, I became a fan of watching the best make shots on courses I can only drool over.
To begin with I have to tip my hat to the quality some of the broadcasts achieve. These are not ‘big network’ productions, but they follow top flights, do interviews on-course, and generally take viewers inside the major events very well. An example is the 2016 Memorial Championships being held this week; the first major of the year.
With plans formulating to hunker down this weekend to watch some of the Memorial online, it was a perfect opportunity to take a flier as a sports columnist. I emailed Will Schusterick and asked him if he would be up for an interview.
Let me first bring into context who Schusterick is in terms of disc golf.
Schusterick, 23, is a native of Nashville, TN., and has been a pro since 2008. He won the US championship in 2010, 2012 and 2014, and was second at the Worlds in 2011, and third in 2012. He has tossed 35 Aces and has a longest measured throw of 707-feet.
At present the Professional Disc Golf Association has Schusterick rated number three in the world.
So when Schusterick replied to my email with a yes to my interview request, I was duly in awe.
The first thing I needed to know was how he became a disc golfer?
Asked if he was introduced to the game by buds and fell in love with the sport, Schusterick said that was close to his story.
“Ultimately that was kind of how it was, but it was my dad,” he said.
Schusterick was introduced to the sport back in 2005, and while he played basketball and baseball, soon focused his attention on disc golf.
“I grew up playing a lot of basketball and baseball with the end goal to college,” he said. “But, I really wasn’t built for those sports. I didn’t see myself dedicating my life to either one of them.”
But disc golf was different for the young Schusterick.
“I was always going to the course. My mom would drop me off when I was 14 or 15 and I’d play all day until dark,” he said, adding the next day he would be back at the course again.
There was a natural draw to disc golf for Schusterick who said he was, and remains an avid fisherman, hiker and mountain biker.
“A big part of it for me was enjoying time outdoors,” he said. “There are so many different courses to see around the world. You see areas in a way you don’t typically get to see driving around.”
When Schusterick first picked up a disc instruction on how to throw one was not readily available, so he ended up experimenting on his own to refine his style.
“No one specifically taught me how to play disc golf,” he said, adding he turned to video as a substitute for live instruction.
“I tried to mimic what I saw them doing.”
The video was of the 2003 US Championship.
“I watched it three times a day,” said Schusterick, adding that was repeated for weeks, as he gleaned as much as he could from every shot.
Thanks to access today through online sites such as YouTube “there are so many more kids doing that type of thing,” he added.
Having the videos also made Schusterick aware there was a professional aspect to disc golf, something he could aspire to.
“That was one thing that really motivated me … It was an ultimate goal.”
Schusterick said he believes having a professional level in a sport in important as it provides youth taking it up something to work toward.
“It’s something to look up too,” he said, adding he himself realized early on that he wanted to be a professional disc golf player.
Since Schusterick first took up a disc the sport has certainly made huge strides in terms of becoming more recognized as a professional sport, with many major events now covered on YouTube and some even finding their way to ESPN coverage.
“It’s a really big deal to showcase the sport,” he said, adding what is being shown is that “there is a following for disc golf.”
As the number of disc golf courses grow, and more players take up the sport at the local course level, they become an audience for televised events.
“It is one of the fastest growing sports,” noted Schusterick.
And having pro events viewable also attracts non-players.
“Watch it one time and you can see what it is all about,” he said, adding he has had the experience of having non-players attend his events. “As soon as they see it, they said ‘we totally understand it now’,” he said.
What’s not to be impressed with, added Schusterick, who said the top professional courses are dramatic. It’s not unusual; to have a 900-foot par five, where you tee-off up a hill, then dog leg right through trees to the basket.
And players are now birdieing such lengthy offerings.
Schusterick said that is an indication of the research and development going into discs from a number of leading companies, and that disc golf now attracts great young athletes who learn the techniques of the game quickly.
“We have kids 15-years-old throwing it (a drive) over 500-feet,” he said.
Schusterick said he sees disc golf on the cusp of much bigger and better things, including major television network coverage in the not so distant future.
“I think it could happen within five years, or maybe 10. I think everything is there for it to happen,” he said, adding it just needs that one person to come along, fall in love with the support and to push it to the next level.
If that happens the sport will take the steps to match the promotion, for example Schusterick said there needs to be a few more top level professional disc courses that would first for televised events.
And, there would need to be just a few more full-time pros. Today most still have other careers, so attending every event on a longer pro circuit suited for TV would be difficult for many.
Those full time pros are important too in terms of being “really good ambassadors” for disc golf, being role models for new players to aspire too.
“It’s a huge leap,” said Schusterick, but it is possible if the sport can get everyone “working toward a common goal.”
In Schusterick’s case he said he feels an obligation to be supportive of the sport talking to fans, giving clinics, talking to media.
“I wake up every day and work really hard to do that stuff … to open minds to a new sport,” he said, adding then there is the time on course too.
“I work really hard to be the best player in the world too,” he said, adding that effort is ongoing.
As noted the new season kicks off this week with the Memorial
“I feel I’m in the best shape of my life,” he said, days before leaving to prepare for the first big event of the year. “I’m really at a good comfortable spot. I think this year is going to be very good.”
You can keep track of this great player’s career at www.schusterick.com
