Raven
Klein Design

I knew about "frolf" in high school because my brother played but that's the extent of it from back then. I grew up walking distance from a course but never used it. I threw a disc a couple times in college with my friend but again, not with intention. It wasn't until April of 2020 that the term "Disc Golf" meant anything to me.

 

One brief stop before that, I was going on a nature/photography road trip with my friend Alex to Colorado, where we would meet his friend Tony from high school and that we were going to play a disc golf course called Beaver Ranch that was in the mountains... I thought Alex was kidding but he wasn't.. so one of the first courses I ever played was in fact, Beaver Ranch back in august of 2019. I didn't actually start playing until April of 2020.

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Before Covid fronted all the papers and forced people to make changes in their lives, I was playing volleyball competitively in the Adult circuit in Minnesota, and climbing roughly 5 days a week. Then I had to drop all of that and that's when disc golf slid in and filled that gap as best it could.

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I met Alex through volleyball and he became my climbing partner as well so when we couldn't do those things anymore we needed a new outlet. Alex had been playing disc golf casually since high school so he said, "this is what we do now... we're going to disc golf". It was a good enough solution because it kept us outside, and no one had to touch anybody else's stuff but we got to play a sport. The timing of Covid also brought our third player into the game; remember Tony from Colorado? Well, he had come home to MN and then got stuck here, so the three of us began playing weekly. We were taking so many photos and videos that after a weekend disc golf trip up in northern MN we made a plan to create content and that is how the RAT pack was born. (Raven, Alex, Tony).

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I had no idea that there was more to this game other than playing with friends at the park but I slowly learned that there were leagues, tournaments, professionals, and even an American and European Tour that traveled cross country in big events. There was even a Pro Tour stop in Minnesota at a course we had played. That was the first year of the Preserve Championships in Clearwater, MN. I ended up getting to go watch and after seeing the women play I told myself I could do that. I thought it would be so cool to play that event the next year.

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With nothing else to do except for work, I started dedicating more time into disc golf. I didn't like always losing to Alex and Tony so I started putting and doing field work and playing rounds by myself. Trying to understand flight numbers and wind but struggling with those, I just kept throwing, and throwing... and throwing. In my first year I played in four different divisions as I tried to figure out where I needed to be. Fa2, Ma2, Fa1, and FPO. And then before the year was over I quit my job to commit to improving in disc golf.

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After taking some photos of people playing at Blue Ribbon Pines for the Minnesota States event after my round, I was approached by someone to take some product photos for a disc golf product and we got to talking about if I had any interest in going anywhere in this sport past local leagues. Honestly I hadn't thought much about it but after a few more conversation with friends and family, I decided to apply for some sponsorships and that winter, December 2020, I signed my first ever disc golf contract with Dynamic Discs.

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I did end up playing The Preserve Championships that following year like I had told myself I could. I also played several other Pro Tour events the following season in 2021 with my main goal being "don't get last", and I didn't! I learned a lot in those events but knew there was infinitely more to learn. The winter of 2021 the decision was made that if I wanted to try my hand on the tour for 2022, I needed to move away from Minnesota so I had better training conditions. Alex and Tony agreed to make the move with me and the RAT pack moved to South Carolina for 5 months. 

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Although it looked like a dream to so many people, those 5 months were hard. But at the end of it, we had gotten our asses kicked so bad by the woods that we had actually become decent golfers. I found a van that Alex helped me renovate and in March of 2022 I started my first year on the Disc Golf Pro Tour. Alex and Tony went back to MN and I would eventually meet back up with them mid season when we came through.

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I am now in my 3rd full season on the tour, in my same little van. I have built a wonderful community of friends and fans and I can't believe how it all went down and that this is what I get to do. I have the best support system around me and It would be impossible to do this without them.

 

Besides just playing, I have gotten involved in doing many things in and around the sport. I've had the pleasure of doing commentary, as well as being behind the camera and filming for some of the events. I have dabbled in disc dyeing, I create all of my own stamps for my tour series discs as well get hired to create other players' stamps. I vend along the tour selling my own discs and stickers. I have designed not one, but two of my own jerseys and a patch. I have played in women's leagues in several states and hosted clinics of my own. I have become a UPlay ambassador and been able to not only teach schools, classrooms, and organizations across the U.S. but I also had the opportunity to teach disc golf in Africa for 3 weeks. All of these things have been possible because of disc golf and because of being open to experiences.

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I don't know how long I will continue to tour because it is far from easy but I do love it and I know that I will be involved in disc golf for many years to come.