by Harrison Flowers
On April 3, the OBU Disc Golf team participated in the national championship. Alexander
Shuman, Seth Spoo, James Owens, and Aaron Worten represented the Bison. Throughout the season they
climbed the national rankings, ending the season ranked 22nd
in the nation. They placed over many D1
universities such as Ohio State and Georgia. Their national’s experience wasn’t without its turbulent
moments. Storms delayed the team’s flights, “We had a pretty crazy travel experience. We were supposed
to go from Oklahoma City to St. Louis to Charlotte, but then the weather was bad,” said Aaron. The team
spent hours flying back in forth trying to get to South Carolina, where the tournament was to be played.
When they finally made it to the event on Tuesday, they were given time to practice the course.
The course that nationals is played on is at Winthrop University. It’s set around a lake and is very open to
the elements. The course is long and technically challenging. “It required some bomb shots on the first
couple holes. You’re kind of out in the open, so that means just a lot more wind. You got wind coming
from everywhere. As you can guess, this affects flying objects quite a bit. So that made playing the
course a lot harder. And then there are some more wooded courses where you had to hit some little gaps,”
said Aaron. What’s special about the course, aside from the difficulty, is its historic nature.
Winthrop has been the grounds for the past 26 U.S. Championships. “The course felt great, it’s a huge
piece of disc golf history and it was extremely cool to be able to play it,” said James. Another
factor of the course at Nationals was the extreme wind conditions. At 1 PM on the first day of the singles
round there was 26 mph wind with gusts up to 35 mph, and with the open course, there was no room for
error. When asked about how the wind affected the weekend, Aaron said, “A lot, it affected us a lot. Not
only us though, but a lot of teams. It was one of those days where if you were good, it would show and if
you were bad, it would also show.” But being from the windy state of Oklahoma has its advantages.
Aaron said, “I think it was an advantage to him because he is used to playing in the wind and putting in
it.” He continued, “Playing in the wind of Oklahoma definitely was an advantage. The worst part of
playing in the wind is putting in the wind and he is a very good putter in the wind and that’s what set him
above most people who play that course.” So, in the 1st
round of the singles event, James put up
the best score overall: 3 under par. When asked about how he felt about his performance after round one,
James said, “I felt optimistic, I just played my game, and it worked out even in the windy conditions.” In
the next rounds, James dropped to be tied for 4th
place in the event, which is still a fantastic
accomplishment. When describing James, Aaron said, “He was putting in the work; He is my glorious
king.” On Thursday, the team rounds began. The team event is alternate shot doubles, which
means that 1 person would go then the other. James and Aaron were paired up, and Alex and Seth were
the other pair. In the event, the team got 38th
place shooting an average of six under par. The
tournament wasn’t without its fun moments. Aaron described a funny happening on the 3rd
hole, “It’s a
shorter hole, but you have to hit it in a small gap that’s probably like 10 feet tall and like 20 feet wide.”
The precision required, coupled with the pressure from his team watching from the other side led to Aaron
spiking his disc into the ground right in front of him. He said, “I was like ‘oh my word you’ve got to be
kidding me’ and I saw my teammates just put their hands on their head and just look away, but that was
pretty bad.” With a 4th
place finish from James and a 38th place finish in the team round, the
OBU Disc Golf team had a great run at nationals. The team is losing a lot of talent next year. So, there is
plenty of room on the team for new talent. Disc Golf is an easy sport to get involved in and there is a
course on campus. “I used to make fun of all the disc golfers. But [a friend asked me to come out] and I
was like ‘OK’. I came out with him one day, came out with him another day, and another, and I got to the
point where I wanted to get good,” said Aaron, “Just being able to go out there have a good time with the
woods enjoy nature listen to music, it’s a good sport.” “If anyone is interested in starting disc golf, reach
out to anyone you know who plays. Or even just borrow some discs and go play on the course we have
right here on campus. We have an active group of players and its always a good time just hanging out,”
said James.
