Some Manitowoc and out-of-town residents got a preview of some women’s disc golf players before the upcoming 2025 Professional Disc Golf US Women’s Championship.
Paige Pierce, Holyn Handley, Missy Gannon, Raven Klien, and Ella Hansen spoke about their experiences in the sport during a panel at PetSkull Brewing yesterday afternoon (June 17th).
The crowd then got to ask questions of the golfers, including how they are able to keep going mentally.
Gannon said she reminds herself of what she is doing for her job.
“I’m out here throwing discs and having fun,” she exclaimed. “And, just keeping that perspective and knowing that like it could always be worse.”
Hadley talked about how she got into the sport, saying that she checked everything to make sure that she was ready before going pro.
“It’s very out of character for me to do something that risky,” she admitted, “But you know, once I decided to just send it, it was kind of crazy how like not anxious I was about it I felt and it all worked out, and here we are.”
Pierce got her start out of high school and has seen a lot of change in disc golf for women over the years.
To her, there are more players now and many different techniques used.
“You can’t help but see the creativity in your card mates and how each one of us attacks the hole so differently,” she explained. “And I think that’s one of the coolest things you know about our sport, in comparison to any other sport.”
According to Wikipedia, she broke the record for the highest Professional Disc Golf Association player rating for a woman player earning a 978.
She also racked up 154 wins in her career so far.
The ladies were also asked what can be done to keep bringing women into the sport.
Hansen says getting to know newly interested people and playing in groups really helps.
“Just having a good women’s community can really help a lot,” she said. “And I think just trying to find women who play in your area and just making it a point to play with other women even if it’s just a casual round or if it’s an organized league or tournaments, things like that.”
Another question was how the players get ready for a course they’ve never played before, like Silver Creek or Rolling Ridge.
Klein says she takes a lot of notes.
“Because I only had one chance to see the course and then it’s almost a nice chance of I just get to play now,” she told the crowd. “I don’t have to compare my tournament round to the two practice rounds I had where I shredded, or played great, or oh I hit that tree or whatever it is. Now you just get to play, you know were you want to be.”
These women are just part of the full 2025 US Women’s Disc Golf Championship that takes place starting tomorrow (June 18th).
The tournament will be split between Rolling Ridge in Reedsville and Silver Creek Park in Manitowoc.
It runs until June 22nd.
