2022 Disc golf world championships

Shortly after defending my thesis I traveled to Peoria, IL to play in the 2022 Disc Golf Masters World Championships. I was excited to be in the competition but knew I would be up against 150 great disc golfers from all over the world so I tried to keep my expectations realistic.

There were two main courses before the finals. First up was Wildlife, which is a very technical, wooded course with a lot of elevation changes. We played one practice round, where I managed to lose an important distance driver on the first hole. I knew this was the kind of course where pars would be good and you need to avoid the big numbers.

I tee’d off around 9 o’clock and remember being nervous/excited on the first hole. I played solidly throughout the round and was -1 through 15 holes but from my practice I knew that 16, 17, and 18 were a very challenging final three holes. I felt okay taking a bogey on 16 and a par on 17, but the wheels came off on 18. After a beautiful drive out the gap and way up the fairway my second shot slipped out of my hand and shot deep into a thick bush. My third shot was just a pitch out. On the fourth shot I decided to throw a grenade over the one remaining guardian tree which went way right and got stuck in a giant pine tree. Frustrated at this point I had to throw a roller out of the woods, which rolled under the basket and just kept going. I missed the next putt and tapped in for a triple bogey 7. Oof.

Despite the horrible finish to my round I was still in the top third of the competition, and got to have a later start the next day. After a nice breakfast and ample time to warm up I was ready to tee it up at Maxwell and was looking forward to be out of the woods for a little bit. However, Maxwell has a few very difficult holes and a bunch of O.B. to be wary of. I managed the course well and only had one penalty stroke, although I did miss some circle one putts. I finished off by birdying 17 and 18 and the round pushed me up the leader board.

Back to Wildlife and looking for redemption. I played solidly, even carding a turkey on holes 8 through 10. I was three under going into the three final holes. Again I bogeyed 16 and took a par on 17, and again I had a solid drive out the gap on 18. Knowing how poorly I played this hole the last time I played it smart and managed to make par. This round boosted me up into the top 20.

Back at Maxwell I was expecting to shoot a very hot round. Unfortunately, nothing felt great and overall it was pretty lackluster. I made a lot of pars and did not get a birdie until hole 15. However, everyone struggled with the wind and this was enough to push me into a tie for 10th place and get me through to the Semifinals.

Going into the semifinal round I was in a tie for 10th and I knew it would be tough to get into the 4th place or better for a chance to play in the finals. This round was a shotgun start at 9am, so I didn’t feel as warmed up as I would have liked. I managed a couple early birdies but it cooled off and I was -2 with 2 to play. I knew this round was decent so checking scores I saw that I needed at least one birdie to stay in the top 10. I threw a great drive and had a look for birdie but missed the putt. The last hole was a long par 3 that I felt pretty comfortable with my forehand on. I threw a great shot and put it inside the circle. Despite the wind, nerves, and a bit of rain I got the putt to drop and ended up -3 on the round and tied for 9th at the tournament.

This was such a great experience and I’m very proud of my consistency in big situations. Prior to playing in the world championships I had never won a tournament. Since then I have won three big ones and I think the confidence from this showing has made a huge difference.