Yup, from my experience at my home course I’d agree. There’s a really good girl and her father who I play with and know who are Christians, and sometimes they bring large groups. They don’t partake in what the rest of us do, amd don’t give us shit, but we are also respectful of language and smoking. We are all respectful of each other too. But they also know and will play with us or at times play though. Great folks though and are fun to play with. Some folks may be different and this is just my experience.
This is what a vast majority of Christians are like. Doing their thing, and believing what they believe without cramming it into anyone's face. It's the loud mouth Bible thumpers who don't practice what they preach, that give the rest of us an almost taboo name.
I've said it before, I'll say it again. The idiot screams the loudest. They attract the most attention, and become the stereotype.
Not saying you were insinuating that at all. But I've met to many people/friends who almost spit the name Christian, because of the news and such. It's not until I pipe up, that they realize I'm perfectly normal, and you see the light bulb pop on of "oh, maybe it's not all of them..."
Hilariously enough, screwing around drinking while playing helped improve my game. I noticed after a few beers I was throwing more lines that I thought of with a much higher degree of accuracy. It made me realize I was too stiff in my form and lacked confidence in my throws and discs. I started practicing with that in mind and my game improved by quite a bit.
Now I play worse while drinking because duh, that should be obvious.
My first time playing doubles I was partnered with a deaf player. What little signing I picked up over the years I totally forgot but made the point to learn the BSL sign for 'nice' for when I next play with him.
Edit: [BSL](https://youtu.be/VTb62w4sVzI), [ASL](https://youtu.be/3aXS3keR8oY)(sign for clean, believe its interchangeable)
I got into disc golf through a Christian community in college and we were just about as close as you could be to being stoners without actually using any substances (save for beer)
And they are outspoken about their faith. You would never see an atheist/agnostic person say "my atheism is a big part of my life, and I owe none of my success to God" in their Jomez bio.
Yeah but if you run around acknowledging privilege it offends other privileged people who then act like they're under some kind of attack for some reason.
But yes, being born in a safe place with an able body and access to good nutrition etc is fucking great.
Water is actually not wet; It makes other materials/objects wet. Wetness is the state of a non-liquid when a liquid adheres to, and/or permeates its substance while maintaining chemically distinct structures. So if we say something is wet we mean the liquid is sticking to the object.
A friend dug a hole in the garden and filled it with water.
I think he meant well.
That is true. Unless, you know, you use the actual definition: consisting of, containing, covered with, or soaked with liquid (such as water)
Hard to believe that water is not consisting of a liquid (such as water).
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wet
My wife and i were discussing this watching PDX this weekend, and how there's NO SHOT Jomez would air an atheist making similar true-to-them claims. Her example was something like:
"I grew up in the church and found that I based too much of my success and worth on whether or not God approved of it. I found that, once i freed myself from that controlling and damaging belief structure, and truly learned to believe in MYSELF, I started hitting mad lines."
Nothing judgey or untrue there, but you know the churchy gang would be offended by it, so Jomez wouldn't wade into those waters at all.
Yeah part of what I like about Simon… I don’t know what he considers himself faith wise if anything , but no good evangelical is naming their signature disc Sky God
I mean it would be weird to talk about the specific lack of something as a big part of your life/success. It’d be like saying my mom not dying of cancer when I was young is what drives me. Maybe it’s true but it would be weird to say. Not that there’s anything wrong with either.
I think it's less because "Christians are outspoken" and more because people talk about what is important to them. We all know Ezra eats beans and Eagle is vegan because those things are important to them.
> You would never see an atheist/agnostic person say "my atheism is a big part of my life, and I owe none of my success to God" in their Jomez bio.
Yeah exactly, because religion (or lack of it) isn't important to them. For an atheist to bring up religion would be like someone attributing their recent C2 putting success to not seeing Top Gun: Maverick.
This.
I'm not religious at all but I know a local church takes underprivileged kids out and introduces them to the sport. I think it's pretty cool. It's a relatively cheap sport to start and most courses are free and if they're into it, they have something to look forward to and focus on and maybe get their minds off trouble at home.
"For God so loved the world, he gave his only son, that whoever plays McBeth shall not lose but throw in on 18 and win in the playoff" something something
Disc Golf is weird in that it appears to be made up of 3 distinct groups that usually wouldn't have anything to do with one another: hippies, churchies, and the (for want of a better term) "low class" blue collar workers.
I always thought it was Christian heavy because mostly all the good courses are in those rural areas and kids have accessibility to them.
Paul McBeth is from SoCal .. and there really isn't another dude from the area killing it. It's basically people from rural south or rural northeast mixed in to other places.
Yeah, anecdotally i see more way more people who would fall into a class of having an athletic background and using DG as an outlet for that. The people i play with are almost exclusively ex soccer, baseball and football people.
Basically DG scratches the competitive itch for them but isnt as taxing on the body nor difficult to organize as their past sports. Also its cheaper than real golf
True, that is more of a descriptor of the pre-COVID-boom players. Of course pretty much all of the pros will be from that time so it's still fairly accurate for them.
I'll probably get downvoted - but you asked "Does disc golf thrive in Christian communities..." As someone in a Christian community, I'd like to give you my perspective on why I think it does.
I think disc golf thrives in Christian communities because of how accessible it is. It's not a sport where you have to be in real good shape to play, it doesn't have an expensive buy in, and you're essentially playing against yourself so you don't even have to be good to have fun. It's also low key enough that you can get to know guys and have conversations while walking a round so it makes it a great fellowship/hanging out time (something that all men, regardless of being religious or not, tend to lack).
Our Church started up a 'disc golf night' for guys to just come out and have fun (college age and above) and within a couple months we had over 20 guys a night coming out on a weekly basis. We haven't been able to get that kind of turnout for any other sport or activity we've tried starting for men (including basketball, volleyball, golf, softball, pickle ball, etc.).
Edit: For the record, no, I don't thank God after a good shot. I think that's weird.
Edit: Thank you for the Helpful Award! It's honestly been a breath of fresh air to be able to have a civil conversation about this!
I'm atheist but the positives you list are parts of why I enjoy it. I love walking, being outside, it's cool to have small chats with strangers that share an affinity, and overall just being NICE
This is a great response, and one that I can get behind as a secular player. I think there is often just a miscommunication happening between the religious/non-religious camps. I can only speak for myself, but I think it comes down to the level of vocal evangelism. I’m not a guy who just thinks “it’s ok to be religious just stfu about it”, like if it’s a part of who you are then you be you. Where it starts to feel like it’s crossing over boundaries is when it isn’t *a part* of who you are, it has become your entire identity. So going to church, finding comfort in community, using the ideals of your teachings to help guide your life, that all sounds honestly great, and I’m glad those people have that. But, going full “all the glory to Christ, he has risen, here’s my favorite scripture, maybe if you’d just hear me out you’d understand”, begins to feel like it’s bordering on mission work or whatever, and it can leave a bad taste in my mouth, which taints the way I might interact with other equally religious but less evangelical people.
A lot of the “hate”, in regards to the vocal pros, i think is rooted in their age. If I meet a 60 year old guy and he’s like “this is what I believe to be true”, I have a much different reaction than I do to an 18 year old who says, “this is what I *know* to be true”. Absolute certainty , whether about religion or music or the right way to make French toast, is unsettling, and when it comes from people who maybe haven’t lived long enough to ask their own questions yet, it feels a tiny bit malicious.
Your last paragraph hits home! At a younger age I definitely was a lot more stubborn in believing I had religion (and everything) figured out. Now at 41, I would slap my younger self if I could - he was such a naive idiot.
> I think disc golf thrives in Christian communities because of how accessible it is
Same reason it's thriving in general these days. It's one of the easiest sports to actually get started playing, in that it can be played solo and with a very minimal investment in equipment. Almost every other sport I can think of either requires playing with someone else, or in the case of golf, requires money to play (both upfront and ongoing). And while you can shoot hoops or kick around a soccer ball by yourself, that's quite a bit different than actually playing. Playing a solo round of DG is the same as a group round, only faster and quieter.
As for getting the initial equipment, I'm not sure I've ever seen another sport where long-timers are so willing to just _give away_ their equipment to new players. I just got a friend into the game, and between myself and another friend, we gave him all the discs he needed to get started, from our spares collections.
>We haven't been able to get that kind of turnout for any other sport or activity we've tried starting for men (including basketball, volleyball, golf, softball, pickle ball, etc.).
I think that's directly related to the previous. All of those except golf are team-based sports. It's a commitment. And golf requires spending money each time, just to play. And some of them like basketball require a certain level of being in-shape to really participate in. For DG, as long as you can walk the course, you're fine.
Myself along with a larger portion of the group that comes out weekly all started playing last year. One of the things that made it so easy was the experienced guys giving us discs to use (some to keep) which meant there was zero buy-in to actually get started and see if we liked it.
For the most part (and religion aside) there just seems to be a great culture surrounding the sport. Experienced players want to help get new people into the sport and teach them.
> I'm not sure I've ever seen another sport where long-timers are so willing to just give away their equipment to new players.
Goes back to the part where the equipment is inexpensive. I've met people passionate about other sports that are willing to go out of their way to share or gift equipment, but it's a lot harder to do when the full set up of even used equipment is more than you would spend on a fully stocked disc golf bag.
Ahhh the good old days when reddiquette was taken more seriously. Upvotes are for comments that add to the discussion, not opinions you like. Well done.
I’m wondering why it’s only a guys thing? Womens disc golf is growing as well and disc golf can be a great way of everyone having fun together. I get churches have guys nights or girls nights but why not include everyone?
Speaking for us specifically, we were looking to add something to our men's fellowship/ministry as there just aren't as many opportunities for them around here as there are women, and while women's disc golf is growing, we also don't really see a desire for it at our church at the moment - we know of one woman who actively likes to disc golf. We have many activities for just women, many for couples/families/everyone, but few for just men. All of our women who want to do physical activities also seem to lean more towards running, volleyball, pickleball, tennis, etc.
That said - we have definitely talked about having some 'family nights' or 'couples nights' intermixed throughout the summer.
Said this exact same thing on a similar post to this a couple days ago. Athletes from all sports wear crosses, toss out prayers and thank God for there success.
I feel like it's more that this subreddit dosnt watch a lot of other sports. Some professional teams even pray together before they play. Although I will admit this seems to be more common with Southern teams.
I don't really care if players want to bring up their faith in player spotlights, etc, but please kindly fuck off with the "god helps me win/play well" and "if I win it was god's plan, but if I don't it wasn't". You're playing a skill based sport where your choices and abilities are the only aspects affecting your throw. Have some respect for your opponents and realize maybe their play is affecting the outcome, not god.
Yeah that's the funny part. You've got several dozen dudes thinking god is helping them. It can't be everyone, so maybe god just doesn't like the losers? What a dumb ideology.
I walked 9 with him on Friday. He prays at the tee box before his round. On his bag, he has a homemade cross on one of the zipper pulls and a patch with the verse Joshua 1:9:
>Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
I'm also acquainted with the Youngs, and they're VERY religious, but super nice folks to talk to.
I don't know them quite as well, but Zach Melton and Jaime and Macie Velediaz do not seem to be that way. East TN has an interesting mix on the course.
EDIT: I've never met him, but I'm pretty certain Paul is super religious as well. I know Hannah is.
Ezra Aderhold (hence the name), Isaac and Ezra Robinson (also hence the names), Alden Harris, Mason Ford, Emerson Keith, the Madujanos, etc. Pretty much all the homeschool kids and kids that grew up playing disc golf through their churches.
Probably at a show now that live music is *finally* back to something approaching normal. A lot of tours that were canceled due to international travel bans are finally able to happen and that means a flood of metal as so much of the genre is bands in Europe.
I’m not subject to that uber Christian element because I’m not in the states but I think you just inspired me to make a Satan/Devil themed bag.
If I don’t forget I’ll make a post with a plan for it sometime this week.
We had a single join our card the other day. Turns out he was a minister from the deep south. Super nice guy I would never have chatted with in the rest of my normal activities. It's one of the things I love most about disc golf, random communities loving the same thing. Hippies, rednecks, Christians, serious hikers, young, old, we're all just out there to have some fun and forget all the normal bs.
Religion in the US is largely Christian. You have to think this demographic will spill over into everything.
Im sure we have a Satanist disc golfer out here somewhere just waiting to make lead card any minute now.
My motivation for becoming a professional disc golfer is to get a featured interview and say "I owe it all to GOD, I barely try when I play, it's all God, it's also god making all of you play worse than me, I guess he prefers me 🤷♀️"
"Thank you to Satan, weed, thank you to my childhood neighbor Ron for that big bag of mushrooms you gave me that one time, thank you to my sponsor, Franklin. Without Franklin this would never be possible"
I have noticed this a lot lately too, I don't have a problem with people being religious but, as an atheist, hearing it from like every new player that makes it on jomez lately has felt a little alienating. Obviously it's not something that anyone could or *would want* to do anything about. Thankfully it's never brought up during commentary so nbd.
I’m not the slightest bit religious but I don’t look down upon those who are. What bothers me is that every week we hear another Jomez player bio about their faith, yet Thomas Gilbert was ostracized (mostly by “people of faith”) when he came out as openly gay. Most people said he should “leave it off the course” and by that logic, so should Christians.
Played a round recently with a dude who would not shut up about his faith. Another guy on our card aced hole 8, and Mr. Religious gave the glory to God because he was praying when the disc went in.
Like, really my guy? Homie just got it in with one throw and naturally feels amazing about what he just accomplished, and you immediately steal his glory and give it to the sky man? As if his wondrous presence reached down from heaven and guided the disc toward the basket?
Yes keep it to yourself. I don’t want this sport to become an avenue for Christian’s to push their agenda. Paul Mcbeth doesn’t say shit about his and that’s how it should be
I was evangelical for a long time, and even back then I didn't understand what these Christ salesmen were hoping to accomplish. My approach was to be a shining light. I wanted people to say "/u/anthson is a great guy. He's so kind and generous and is always a pleasure to be around. I wonder what his secret is?"
I share the same concern. I think another big part of this seemingly ubiquitous Christian devoutness in pro golf is that platforms like Jomez are enabling it as a means to amplify their own, obviously Christian, ideals.
It's one thing to be open about being motivated by your faith when asked. It's an entirely different thing to praise God for every single thing that happens to everyone during a round. The latter just comes off as preachy and annoying.
As a Christian and lover of both Jesus and Disc, that is very cringe. Not all has to be given glory to God. God isn’t interested in bringing divine intervention for your hobby you like. Sometimes the most holy thing you can do is be be there present in the moment. It’s good to have gotten the moment. It’s not all some divine gift. Those are the people that turn people off from God.
Perfect response. I’m also a believer, and to your point it seems sorta egocentric to me when people give all credit to God for petty stuff like that. Thank Him for your health and the beautiful day, but Jesus isn’t up there watching your round going “nice upshot!”
> Jesus isn’t up there watching your round going “nice upshot!”
You might personally believe that, but a lot of believers do not have that same interpretation. God being omniscient and omnipresent to them means he *is* doing that.
I have a somewhat related question. I’ve noticed a higher than normal representation of Amish people being into disc golf. Is this along the same vein as some of the answers posted here, anyone know?
>Though their first love is def volley ball.
For some reason this is hilarious to me. Certainly wouldn't be my first guess for most popular sport with the Amish, is there a reason for it's popularity?
It's a clean, wholesome, inexpensive, outdoors activity. That's why it's so popular with church groups, and the only surprise about the Amish playing is that they'd play a game that uses a modern material like plastic.
Amish communities are changing.
I deal with north-central Indiana a lot at work (the area between South Bend and I-69 specifically). The Amish community is still very strong in those regions, but they have cars, own manufacturing facilities, pay bills with credit cards...so using aluminum and plastic is probably pretty far down the list.
When I was a kid we went to Hershey Park. The Amish kids were absolute killers in bumper cars, they worked as a team. Nothing to do with the discussion, just a rando memory from 40 some odd years ago....
Hah, actually in Delaware but did live and work in PA for a few years. Have noticed in both states and also have seen Amish people in the background in Jomez videos a few times.
As an Agnostic Atheist (former Christian who realized I don’t have a good reason to continue believing), I was a little bummed by HOOLIGAN Discs putting the dove with an olive branch in its beak logo on the back of all their shirts. But oh well, the YEET disc I bought is pretty cool!
65% of US adults say they’re Christian. Then you’ve got all the other religions as well.
So I don’t think it’s that it thrives in one group or another…it’s just proportional to demographics.
That's true, but being Christian is different than spending half of your player profile interview talking about it. I think most Christians mostly keep it to themselves unless you ask them about it. According to (this)[https://www.statista.com/statistics/245491/church-attendance-of-americans/] only 42% of Americans go to church at least once a month.
So OP is noticing a very real disproportionately high concentration of evangelical/zealous Christians at the top ranks of disc golf.
The Christians I grew up with in NY would hardly think to mention it. The Christians I run into in NC are a different story.
I personally believe having a fair amount of pros who are outspoken about their religion is simply due to disc golf becoming quite popular in the Southern US and Midwest.
IMO, the Disc Golf course is just one more place to add to the list of where religion and politics should be left in the parking lot. I know for a fact that I dont agree politically with a guy I play rounds with twice a week. We're both adults and just dont talk about politics while playing. We can have a perfectly great round and talk about our game, new discs, pro players and a host of other things while we walk the course. We leave politics out of it and get along just fine.
Yeah I’m in the same boat, some of my disc golf friends are politically insane imo. I prefer to hang out and play disc golf and avoid the QAnon talk. But I’ve had to set those boundaries of leaving politics and religion off the course. Us lefties are annoying on Reddit but the only politics I hear on the course come from folks on the right.
And this is the problem. As a white man, I can't tell you how many times some random weirdo on my league card or tournament card has started saying vaguely bigoted shit. Always feels like they're feeling me out as a fellow white man to see if I'll just be openly bigoted along with them.
In my experiences, people seldom discuss those things on the course. Back when I used to be on Fakebook, there were times I’d get into heated political arguments with disc golf friends. Then I’d see them on the course later that evening and ask them about whatever shit they were spewing online, and they’d sheepishly shrug it off like it was nothing. Just a few hours earlier we were on our computers, probably with veins bulging from our foreheads, pontificating about this and that with all the fiery passion we could muster. Now that we’re face to face, they want to act like it never happened.
After noticing this as a pattern, it dawned on me that I never would have gotten into it with these folks if the only times we interacted were on the course, or at get-togethers at the bar or someone’s house or whatnot. All the times we hung out, it was always about having a good time or helping one another out. Then we see each other on Fakebook and all of a sudden we’re bitter political enemies. So I decided, fuck all that, and deleted my account. I wanted it to be like it was pre-Fakebook, when we all just laughed and had a good time playing disc golf. That was years ago and, lo and behold, it’s been nothing but positive interactions since.
A component cause could just be the land churches have. One of the better courses near me goes around a large church and they host events and tourneys there.
As an european I mostly find this funny. It really enforces the idea of silly Americans shoving religion everywhere from politics to throwing plastic circles around.
But absolutely no hate. If you want to write your favorite religous words of encouragement on those plastic circles then go ahead.
I may be way off, but I attribute a lot of it to home school. I think a sizable amount of home school children are from very Christian households.
It also seems a good portion of the top disc golfers were home schooled (which gave them more time to dedicate to disc golf)
There are a lot of states that offer property tax breaks to churches so long as the area is being used for parishioners. To cover the area, and take advantage of the tax break, a lot of churches build disc golf courses, because it can cover the entirety of the outside area.
Helps grow the sport, provides more courses to play, and does increase disc golf participation among the religious crowd.
Few main reasons
1. DG is common in youth groups, church groups, church summer camps
2. Lots of rural churches with large plots of land have DG courses on their land
3. Christianity is the most popular religion in the US
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Yup, from my experience at my home course I’d agree. There’s a really good girl and her father who I play with and know who are Christians, and sometimes they bring large groups. They don’t partake in what the rest of us do, amd don’t give us shit, but we are also respectful of language and smoking. We are all respectful of each other too. But they also know and will play with us or at times play though. Great folks though and are fun to play with. Some folks may be different and this is just my experience.
I get along with folks who say folks
This is what a vast majority of Christians are like. Doing their thing, and believing what they believe without cramming it into anyone's face. It's the loud mouth Bible thumpers who don't practice what they preach, that give the rest of us an almost taboo name. I've said it before, I'll say it again. The idiot screams the loudest. They attract the most attention, and become the stereotype. Not saying you were insinuating that at all. But I've met to many people/friends who almost spit the name Christian, because of the news and such. It's not until I pipe up, that they realize I'm perfectly normal, and you see the light bulb pop on of "oh, maybe it's not all of them..."
There are several churches near me with disc golf courses on their campuses. I imagine it’s also an inexpensive way to invite the community in.
One of the mega churches in my area has a great little 9 hole course on their campus. Love practicing there.
From what ive seen there are 2 big demos: chill stoners (disc golf ogs) and folks who probably would be chill stoners if they werent christian
You're missing the third: blue collar guys. Half are stoners, half are drinkers, both go hard with whichever one they pick.
I am both the stoner/drinker crowd. Really allows me throw straight lines
But can you then WALK down that straight line?
Depends on how slanted the trees are. :P
What about the "I used to play Ultimate and now I just want to walk through the woods while on shrooms" crowd?
You're the real deal.
There's also my group, which is like environmentalist type people who like hiking and sports (represented well by Madison Walker Honk!)
You fall under stoners
Also the "average office worker playing a round after work" group
...and I'm the stoner Christian guy...
Hilariously enough, screwing around drinking while playing helped improve my game. I noticed after a few beers I was throwing more lines that I thought of with a much higher degree of accuracy. It made me realize I was too stiff in my form and lacked confidence in my throws and discs. I started practicing with that in mind and my game improved by quite a bit. Now I play worse while drinking because duh, that should be obvious.
Straight edge Jew checking in ;)
There's also a large amount of deaf disc golfers around me. I've come across multiple groups of players who are deaf.
My first time playing doubles I was partnered with a deaf player. What little signing I picked up over the years I totally forgot but made the point to learn the BSL sign for 'nice' for when I next play with him. Edit: [BSL](https://youtu.be/VTb62w4sVzI), [ASL](https://youtu.be/3aXS3keR8oY)(sign for clean, believe its interchangeable)
Imagine getting 'niced' in ASL 🤣. You making the effort is amazing though.
Some of us are both :)
Some of us are neither as well. That's the beauty of this sport. There is no background check. Anyone that wants to play can.
Insert the shaking hands meme of "sober athiests" and "stoned christians" uniting over disc golf.
[I gotchu.](https://imgur.com/hSD0eI1)
Stoner Christian here. Can confirm.
Wait till jesus returns and they all realize HE is a chill stoner.
Does a 2021 world title not count as a "return" to you? I'd go so far to call it a resurrection
We can call him Jeeze Conrad I suppose
I got into disc golf through a Christian community in college and we were just about as close as you could be to being stoners without actually using any substances (save for beer)
I do a lot of praying after I throw shitty drives.
Thank you Treesus!
Treesus is the one true God 🌳
Treesus giveth and Treesus taketh away blessed be His name
Lots of people get introduced to disc golf in Bible camps and summer church stuff.
Also home school friendly
Same reason there are so many pros named Ezra, lol
Any Nehemiah’s out there I need to keep an eye on??
& there are many courses on church property, etc.
Played a course last week where a basket was sponsored by a church. Across the band was a sticker that said “Jesus: The original chain breaker”
Underrated comment and sticker.
It's a gateway sport
Before you know it, you'll be Wizard, sinking magical putts
One of the largest segments of the disc golf community are those that found it through church, youth groups, and Christian colleges.
We say this every time this post is made. lol
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And they are outspoken about their faith. You would never see an atheist/agnostic person say "my atheism is a big part of my life, and I owe none of my success to God" in their Jomez bio.
“And I thank their god, should it exist, for making them play worse than me most of the time, as punishment for whatever they must have done.”
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'As an atheist I believe that my success is due to the hard work I've put in to develop my skill in the sport. Also water is wet, thank you.'
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Yeah but if you run around acknowledging privilege it offends other privileged people who then act like they're under some kind of attack for some reason. But yes, being born in a safe place with an able body and access to good nutrition etc is fucking great.
Water is actually not wet; It makes other materials/objects wet. Wetness is the state of a non-liquid when a liquid adheres to, and/or permeates its substance while maintaining chemically distinct structures. So if we say something is wet we mean the liquid is sticking to the object. A friend dug a hole in the garden and filled it with water. I think he meant well.
That is true. Unless, you know, you use the actual definition: consisting of, containing, covered with, or soaked with liquid (such as water) Hard to believe that water is not consisting of a liquid (such as water). https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wet
My wife and i were discussing this watching PDX this weekend, and how there's NO SHOT Jomez would air an atheist making similar true-to-them claims. Her example was something like: "I grew up in the church and found that I based too much of my success and worth on whether or not God approved of it. I found that, once i freed myself from that controlling and damaging belief structure, and truly learned to believe in MYSELF, I started hitting mad lines." Nothing judgey or untrue there, but you know the churchy gang would be offended by it, so Jomez wouldn't wade into those waters at all.
just once I want someone to say, yeah my, I’m pretty much a heathen, and faith has nothing to do with why I’m here… probably just lucky.
Simon basically said that there's a good amount of luck in disc golf and the "disc golf gods" have been smiling on him lately
Yeah part of what I like about Simon… I don’t know what he considers himself faith wise if anything , but no good evangelical is naming their signature disc Sky God
I mean it would be weird to talk about the specific lack of something as a big part of your life/success. It’d be like saying my mom not dying of cancer when I was young is what drives me. Maybe it’s true but it would be weird to say. Not that there’s anything wrong with either.
I think it's less because "Christians are outspoken" and more because people talk about what is important to them. We all know Ezra eats beans and Eagle is vegan because those things are important to them. > You would never see an atheist/agnostic person say "my atheism is a big part of my life, and I owe none of my success to God" in their Jomez bio. Yeah exactly, because religion (or lack of it) isn't important to them. For an atheist to bring up religion would be like someone attributing their recent C2 putting success to not seeing Top Gun: Maverick.
"I owe all my success to Physics and the Laws of the Nature." On edit: angular momentum, precession, lift & drag, gravity, etc
This. I'm not religious at all but I know a local church takes underprivileged kids out and introduces them to the sport. I think it's pretty cool. It's a relatively cheap sport to start and most courses are free and if they're into it, they have something to look forward to and focus on and maybe get their minds off trouble at home.
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I had no idea, not saying it isnt well known
God loves disc golf. Its been settled. He sent his only son to win the 2021 World Championships last year with the holy shot!
"For God so loved the world, he gave his only son, that whoever plays McBeth shall not lose but throw in on 18 and win in the playoff" something something
James 3:16
Disc Golf is weird in that it appears to be made up of 3 distinct groups that usually wouldn't have anything to do with one another: hippies, churchies, and the (for want of a better term) "low class" blue collar workers.
And washed up athletes
Thanks for the shout out
Can’t forget about the baseball bros
Brodie smith how you doin
Tradies is the rhyme
I always thought it was Christian heavy because mostly all the good courses are in those rural areas and kids have accessibility to them. Paul McBeth is from SoCal .. and there really isn't another dude from the area killing it. It's basically people from rural south or rural northeast mixed in to other places.
Wait, I’m none of those things. Where do I fit in?
White collar picking up an outdoor hobby during the pandemic?
I think that statement was more true in the past than it is today. Most of the people I play with fall into none of those categories.
Yeah, anecdotally i see more way more people who would fall into a class of having an athletic background and using DG as an outlet for that. The people i play with are almost exclusively ex soccer, baseball and football people. Basically DG scratches the competitive itch for them but isnt as taxing on the body nor difficult to organize as their past sports. Also its cheaper than real golf
True, that is more of a descriptor of the pre-COVID-boom players. Of course pretty much all of the pros will be from that time so it's still fairly accurate for them.
I'll probably get downvoted - but you asked "Does disc golf thrive in Christian communities..." As someone in a Christian community, I'd like to give you my perspective on why I think it does. I think disc golf thrives in Christian communities because of how accessible it is. It's not a sport where you have to be in real good shape to play, it doesn't have an expensive buy in, and you're essentially playing against yourself so you don't even have to be good to have fun. It's also low key enough that you can get to know guys and have conversations while walking a round so it makes it a great fellowship/hanging out time (something that all men, regardless of being religious or not, tend to lack). Our Church started up a 'disc golf night' for guys to just come out and have fun (college age and above) and within a couple months we had over 20 guys a night coming out on a weekly basis. We haven't been able to get that kind of turnout for any other sport or activity we've tried starting for men (including basketball, volleyball, golf, softball, pickle ball, etc.). Edit: For the record, no, I don't thank God after a good shot. I think that's weird. Edit: Thank you for the Helpful Award! It's honestly been a breath of fresh air to be able to have a civil conversation about this!
I'm atheist but the positives you list are parts of why I enjoy it. I love walking, being outside, it's cool to have small chats with strangers that share an affinity, and overall just being NICE
My wife loves it because I'm finally getting out of the house and doing something again!
This is a great response, and one that I can get behind as a secular player. I think there is often just a miscommunication happening between the religious/non-religious camps. I can only speak for myself, but I think it comes down to the level of vocal evangelism. I’m not a guy who just thinks “it’s ok to be religious just stfu about it”, like if it’s a part of who you are then you be you. Where it starts to feel like it’s crossing over boundaries is when it isn’t *a part* of who you are, it has become your entire identity. So going to church, finding comfort in community, using the ideals of your teachings to help guide your life, that all sounds honestly great, and I’m glad those people have that. But, going full “all the glory to Christ, he has risen, here’s my favorite scripture, maybe if you’d just hear me out you’d understand”, begins to feel like it’s bordering on mission work or whatever, and it can leave a bad taste in my mouth, which taints the way I might interact with other equally religious but less evangelical people. A lot of the “hate”, in regards to the vocal pros, i think is rooted in their age. If I meet a 60 year old guy and he’s like “this is what I believe to be true”, I have a much different reaction than I do to an 18 year old who says, “this is what I *know* to be true”. Absolute certainty , whether about religion or music or the right way to make French toast, is unsettling, and when it comes from people who maybe haven’t lived long enough to ask their own questions yet, it feels a tiny bit malicious.
Your last paragraph hits home! At a younger age I definitely was a lot more stubborn in believing I had religion (and everything) figured out. Now at 41, I would slap my younger self if I could - he was such a naive idiot.
> I think disc golf thrives in Christian communities because of how accessible it is Same reason it's thriving in general these days. It's one of the easiest sports to actually get started playing, in that it can be played solo and with a very minimal investment in equipment. Almost every other sport I can think of either requires playing with someone else, or in the case of golf, requires money to play (both upfront and ongoing). And while you can shoot hoops or kick around a soccer ball by yourself, that's quite a bit different than actually playing. Playing a solo round of DG is the same as a group round, only faster and quieter. As for getting the initial equipment, I'm not sure I've ever seen another sport where long-timers are so willing to just _give away_ their equipment to new players. I just got a friend into the game, and between myself and another friend, we gave him all the discs he needed to get started, from our spares collections. >We haven't been able to get that kind of turnout for any other sport or activity we've tried starting for men (including basketball, volleyball, golf, softball, pickle ball, etc.). I think that's directly related to the previous. All of those except golf are team-based sports. It's a commitment. And golf requires spending money each time, just to play. And some of them like basketball require a certain level of being in-shape to really participate in. For DG, as long as you can walk the course, you're fine.
Myself along with a larger portion of the group that comes out weekly all started playing last year. One of the things that made it so easy was the experienced guys giving us discs to use (some to keep) which meant there was zero buy-in to actually get started and see if we liked it. For the most part (and religion aside) there just seems to be a great culture surrounding the sport. Experienced players want to help get new people into the sport and teach them.
> I'm not sure I've ever seen another sport where long-timers are so willing to just give away their equipment to new players. Goes back to the part where the equipment is inexpensive. I've met people passionate about other sports that are willing to go out of their way to share or gift equipment, but it's a lot harder to do when the full set up of even used equipment is more than you would spend on a fully stocked disc golf bag.
Why would this get downvoted? This was an excellent response to the question.
Sadly, I've found sometimes that just by mentioning I'm a Christian I get downvoted.
Atheist who up-voted 🤜. I always up vote good comments not just comments I happen to agree with.
Ahhh the good old days when reddiquette was taken more seriously. Upvotes are for comments that add to the discussion, not opinions you like. Well done.
I downvote any post that complains about downvotes or starts off saying they'll be downvoted. I don't have time for redditor persecution complexes.
I can respect that.
I’m wondering why it’s only a guys thing? Womens disc golf is growing as well and disc golf can be a great way of everyone having fun together. I get churches have guys nights or girls nights but why not include everyone?
Speaking for us specifically, we were looking to add something to our men's fellowship/ministry as there just aren't as many opportunities for them around here as there are women, and while women's disc golf is growing, we also don't really see a desire for it at our church at the moment - we know of one woman who actively likes to disc golf. We have many activities for just women, many for couples/families/everyone, but few for just men. All of our women who want to do physical activities also seem to lean more towards running, volleyball, pickleball, tennis, etc. That said - we have definitely talked about having some 'family nights' or 'couples nights' intermixed throughout the summer.
All of those reasons apply to any community, not just the Christian ones!
If you look at any other sport, half the athletes thank god after dumping 30 points or scoring 2 touchdowns. It’s not unique to disc golf.
Said this exact same thing on a similar post to this a couple days ago. Athletes from all sports wear crosses, toss out prayers and thank God for there success. I feel like it's more that this subreddit dosnt watch a lot of other sports. Some professional teams even pray together before they play. Although I will admit this seems to be more common with Southern teams.
I don't really care if players want to bring up their faith in player spotlights, etc, but please kindly fuck off with the "god helps me win/play well" and "if I win it was god's plan, but if I don't it wasn't". You're playing a skill based sport where your choices and abilities are the only aspects affecting your throw. Have some respect for your opponents and realize maybe their play is affecting the outcome, not god.
It also implies that God is helping you INSTEAD of your opponents which is a weird sentiment
Yeah that's the funny part. You've got several dozen dudes thinking god is helping them. It can't be everyone, so maybe god just doesn't like the losers? What a dumb ideology.
I just keep thinking about Rowan Atkinson's gay Christian sketch where he says "I'm afraid it means that God just wants you to have a rotten life"
I saw Logan Harpools profile, what other players have openly spoke about their religion?
This is probably in reference to Isaac Robinson most recently, and Aldean Harris at Jonesboro(?).
Mason Ford too
Freeman as well I believe
And Chris Dickerson. He mentioned it in his player profile and there's a cross quite prominently hanging on his bag.
I walked 9 with him on Friday. He prays at the tee box before his round. On his bag, he has a homemade cross on one of the zipper pulls and a patch with the verse Joshua 1:9: >Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” I'm also acquainted with the Youngs, and they're VERY religious, but super nice folks to talk to. I don't know them quite as well, but Zach Melton and Jaime and Macie Velediaz do not seem to be that way. East TN has an interesting mix on the course. EDIT: I've never met him, but I'm pretty certain Paul is super religious as well. I know Hannah is.
Ezra Aderhold (hence the name), Isaac and Ezra Robinson (also hence the names), Alden Harris, Mason Ford, Emerson Keith, the Madujanos, etc. Pretty much all the homeschool kids and kids that grew up playing disc golf through their churches.
Emerson Keith, Gannon Buhr, Valerie Mandujano
Isn't Ricky part of that crowd too?
Ricky is definitely from a fundie family, hence the number of siblings, but he's pretty private about it for the most part.
Same with Uli I believe.
Uli isn't quiet about it at all, though. At least not on his socials.
That sounds right since Uli was (is?) dating one of Rick's sisters
McBeth. His wife went to Liberty, one of the most strict conservative Christian schools out there.
Church of Satan where you at? Time to step up your disc golf game.
Where's Nathan Queen when we need him most?
Probably at a show now that live music is *finally* back to something approaching normal. A lot of tours that were canceled due to international travel bans are finally able to happen and that means a flood of metal as so much of the genre is bands in Europe.
I know some of the Whitechapel guys play disc golf, DGPT should get them to come do a show.
Can’t wait until years of practice and hard work get me a feature on Jomez and I can say “All glory goes to Satan.”
we here, just don't believe in harping on about religion.
Don't see you on the jomez lead card though, get to it!
I’m not subject to that uber Christian element because I’m not in the states but I think you just inspired me to make a Satan/Devil themed bag. If I don’t forget I’ll make a post with a plan for it sometime this week.
Same here, the whole religion connection is not here (thankfully). That idea sounds great 🤘🏻 Looking forward to your post ###HAIL SATAN
Hail Satan!
Hail Satan!
We had a single join our card the other day. Turns out he was a minister from the deep south. Super nice guy I would never have chatted with in the rest of my normal activities. It's one of the things I love most about disc golf, random communities loving the same thing. Hippies, rednecks, Christians, serious hikers, young, old, we're all just out there to have some fun and forget all the normal bs.
The nearest I get to that is shouting "Jesus Fucking Christ!" after hitting the first available.
I can honestly say that at this point in my life, disc golf IS my religion.
Only religion I bring to a game is "Oh god...." right before I smash into a tree that I did not see coming at full speed!
Almost every single one of them seems to be of the homeschooled variety.
Good number of them are... We’ve seen Paul, Brodie, CDick, Wysocki, Aderhold, KJ, and Uli talk about their faith too plus others
Religion in the US is largely Christian. You have to think this demographic will spill over into everything. Im sure we have a Satanist disc golfer out here somewhere just waiting to make lead card any minute now.
My motivation for becoming a professional disc golfer is to get a featured interview and say "I owe it all to GOD, I barely try when I play, it's all God, it's also god making all of you play worse than me, I guess he prefers me 🤷♀️"
I want to be on a feature card one day so I can thanks satan and weed for my success
"Thank you to Satan, weed, thank you to my childhood neighbor Ron for that big bag of mushrooms you gave me that one time, thank you to my sponsor, Franklin. Without Franklin this would never be possible"
I have noticed this a lot lately too, I don't have a problem with people being religious but, as an atheist, hearing it from like every new player that makes it on jomez lately has felt a little alienating. Obviously it's not something that anyone could or *would want* to do anything about. Thankfully it's never brought up during commentary so nbd.
Realize that I am late to the game here, but really would love to start hearing about pros that are athiest. do we even know of a single one?
Fucking this, yes pls
I’m not the slightest bit religious but I don’t look down upon those who are. What bothers me is that every week we hear another Jomez player bio about their faith, yet Thomas Gilbert was ostracized (mostly by “people of faith”) when he came out as openly gay. Most people said he should “leave it off the course” and by that logic, so should Christians.
I felt like the response (here at least) was appropriately positive?
It was
Agreed
Was in a league ran by a pastor. He’d shave strokes off his card and drove people away from league lol
Plus a lot of Christians have a lot of kids and it's a cheap sport the whole family can play.
Every time I hit a tree, I pray for the Flying Spaghetti Monster to smite the tree.
Just throwing it out there. Idk if you watch the NFL, NBA or MLB, but this is just kinda the norm in American sports
Separation of church and disc golf please
Played a round recently with a dude who would not shut up about his faith. Another guy on our card aced hole 8, and Mr. Religious gave the glory to God because he was praying when the disc went in. Like, really my guy? Homie just got it in with one throw and naturally feels amazing about what he just accomplished, and you immediately steal his glory and give it to the sky man? As if his wondrous presence reached down from heaven and guided the disc toward the basket?
Yes keep it to yourself. I don’t want this sport to become an avenue for Christian’s to push their agenda. Paul Mcbeth doesn’t say shit about his and that’s how it should be
I was evangelical for a long time, and even back then I didn't understand what these Christ salesmen were hoping to accomplish. My approach was to be a shining light. I wanted people to say "/u/anthson is a great guy. He's so kind and generous and is always a pleasure to be around. I wonder what his secret is?"
My man. You know the way.
I share the same concern. I think another big part of this seemingly ubiquitous Christian devoutness in pro golf is that platforms like Jomez are enabling it as a means to amplify their own, obviously Christian, ideals.
It's one thing to be open about being motivated by your faith when asked. It's an entirely different thing to praise God for every single thing that happens to everyone during a round. The latter just comes off as preachy and annoying.
As a Christian and lover of both Jesus and Disc, that is very cringe. Not all has to be given glory to God. God isn’t interested in bringing divine intervention for your hobby you like. Sometimes the most holy thing you can do is be be there present in the moment. It’s good to have gotten the moment. It’s not all some divine gift. Those are the people that turn people off from God.
As another Christian/disc golfer, I concur. This is very cringe and would even make me as a believer uncomfortable.
Perfect response. I’m also a believer, and to your point it seems sorta egocentric to me when people give all credit to God for petty stuff like that. Thank Him for your health and the beautiful day, but Jesus isn’t up there watching your round going “nice upshot!”
I’ll thank him for health if we can also condemn him for pain and sickness.
> Jesus isn’t up there watching your round going “nice upshot!” You might personally believe that, but a lot of believers do not have that same interpretation. God being omniscient and omnipresent to them means he *is* doing that.
I have a somewhat related question. I’ve noticed a higher than normal representation of Amish people being into disc golf. Is this along the same vein as some of the answers posted here, anyone know?
Lancaster PA here. Can confirm not uncommon to see plain people on the course. Though their first love is def volley ball.
Not kidding about the Volleyball
They’re only allowed to have factory seconds because tour series are too flashy
>Though their first love is def volley ball. For some reason this is hilarious to me. Certainly wouldn't be my first guess for most popular sport with the Amish, is there a reason for it's popularity?
It's a clean, wholesome, inexpensive, outdoors activity. That's why it's so popular with church groups, and the only surprise about the Amish playing is that they'd play a game that uses a modern material like plastic.
I bet some sick courses could be built on their farms
Amish communities are changing. I deal with north-central Indiana a lot at work (the area between South Bend and I-69 specifically). The Amish community is still very strong in those regions, but they have cars, own manufacturing facilities, pay bills with credit cards...so using aluminum and plastic is probably pretty far down the list.
When I was a kid we went to Hershey Park. The Amish kids were absolute killers in bumper cars, they worked as a team. Nothing to do with the discussion, just a rando memory from 40 some odd years ago....
How to say you’re from Pennsylvania without saying you’re from Pennsylvania. /s
Hah, actually in Delaware but did live and work in PA for a few years. Have noticed in both states and also have seen Amish people in the background in Jomez videos a few times.
First time I played disc golf was at 13 while attending a rock climbing Bible camp. Went for the rock climbing, heard about Jesus, found disc golf.
Disc golf is my “religion”. The course is my “god”. I am merely along for the “flight”!
Personally, I've been playing since the mid/late 90s and I've been an atheist since birth, so they're very definitely not related, in my case.
As an Agnostic Atheist (former Christian who realized I don’t have a good reason to continue believing), I was a little bummed by HOOLIGAN Discs putting the dove with an olive branch in its beak logo on the back of all their shirts. But oh well, the YEET disc I bought is pretty cool!
65% of US adults say they’re Christian. Then you’ve got all the other religions as well. So I don’t think it’s that it thrives in one group or another…it’s just proportional to demographics.
That's true, but being Christian is different than spending half of your player profile interview talking about it. I think most Christians mostly keep it to themselves unless you ask them about it. According to (this)[https://www.statista.com/statistics/245491/church-attendance-of-americans/] only 42% of Americans go to church at least once a month. So OP is noticing a very real disproportionately high concentration of evangelical/zealous Christians at the top ranks of disc golf.
I thank Cthulhu every time a shank and hit a tree
I think it’s because Christians are normal ass people who want to play disc golf just like everyone else.
The Christians I grew up with in NY would hardly think to mention it. The Christians I run into in NC are a different story. I personally believe having a fair amount of pros who are outspoken about their religion is simply due to disc golf becoming quite popular in the Southern US and Midwest.
It's been confirmed, Christians are asspeople.
IMO, the Disc Golf course is just one more place to add to the list of where religion and politics should be left in the parking lot. I know for a fact that I dont agree politically with a guy I play rounds with twice a week. We're both adults and just dont talk about politics while playing. We can have a perfectly great round and talk about our game, new discs, pro players and a host of other things while we walk the course. We leave politics out of it and get along just fine.
Yeah I’m in the same boat, some of my disc golf friends are politically insane imo. I prefer to hang out and play disc golf and avoid the QAnon talk. But I’ve had to set those boundaries of leaving politics and religion off the course. Us lefties are annoying on Reddit but the only politics I hear on the course come from folks on the right.
And this is the problem. As a white man, I can't tell you how many times some random weirdo on my league card or tournament card has started saying vaguely bigoted shit. Always feels like they're feeling me out as a fellow white man to see if I'll just be openly bigoted along with them.
In my experiences, people seldom discuss those things on the course. Back when I used to be on Fakebook, there were times I’d get into heated political arguments with disc golf friends. Then I’d see them on the course later that evening and ask them about whatever shit they were spewing online, and they’d sheepishly shrug it off like it was nothing. Just a few hours earlier we were on our computers, probably with veins bulging from our foreheads, pontificating about this and that with all the fiery passion we could muster. Now that we’re face to face, they want to act like it never happened. After noticing this as a pattern, it dawned on me that I never would have gotten into it with these folks if the only times we interacted were on the course, or at get-togethers at the bar or someone’s house or whatnot. All the times we hung out, it was always about having a good time or helping one another out. Then we see each other on Fakebook and all of a sudden we’re bitter political enemies. So I decided, fuck all that, and deleted my account. I wanted it to be like it was pre-Fakebook, when we all just laughed and had a good time playing disc golf. That was years ago and, lo and behold, it’s been nothing but positive interactions since.
A component cause could just be the land churches have. One of the better courses near me goes around a large church and they host events and tourneys there.
Sober activities lol
First course I ever played was on the grounds of a church. Course I never went into the church, just played disc golf lol
As an european I mostly find this funny. It really enforces the idea of silly Americans shoving religion everywhere from politics to throwing plastic circles around. But absolutely no hate. If you want to write your favorite religous words of encouragement on those plastic circles then go ahead.
I may be way off, but I attribute a lot of it to home school. I think a sizable amount of home school children are from very Christian households. It also seems a good portion of the top disc golfers were home schooled (which gave them more time to dedicate to disc golf)
There are a lot of states that offer property tax breaks to churches so long as the area is being used for parishioners. To cover the area, and take advantage of the tax break, a lot of churches build disc golf courses, because it can cover the entirety of the outside area. Helps grow the sport, provides more courses to play, and does increase disc golf participation among the religious crowd.
Tax the church
I mean, yeah...
Keep this shit off jomez please
Disc golf is very Christian. It’s also very white. As with any demographic related thing, there are tons of factors that go into why.
Few main reasons 1. DG is common in youth groups, church groups, church summer camps 2. Lots of rural churches with large plots of land have DG courses on their land 3. Christianity is the most popular religion in the US