Interview with Disc Golf World Champion Avery Jenkins – Interview by Steve Pease

This interview was something I’ve wanted to do for quite a while; I am honored to be able to share it with you now. Avery Jenkins comes from a disc golf family, his parents were both Disc Golf Champions and his sister Valarie Jenkins is a 3X and current World Champion. Avery is the current World Champion and the current U.S. Doubles Champion with his partner Dave Feldberg.

There are a lot of guys who say that they want to play pro disc golf. Can you give us an idea of how hard it is to get into, and what is a typical week like for you in the heart of the season?

You have to realize that playing Professional Disc Golf is not as easy as it may look. Players like myself that play for a living, as Professionals will tell you that it’s a struggle from weekend to weekend. We have to play our best in order to stay on the road and there is little room for error. You have to win tournaments or place consistently at the top in order to remain on the Road, and have some great sponsors that pay the way. You have to play your best, or even better than that sometimes in order to make it.

A typical week includes a lot of travel from Tournament Location to Tournament Location each and every week all across the US and sometimes Internationally. Leaving very little time in the middle of the week for Rest and some time to Practice the Course that you will be playing the next weekend.

For me it includes lots of phone calls to family, friends & sponsors, writing blogs and doing video blogs, finding a place to stay for the weekend, training when possible and of course practice when given the chance. Always making time during the week for fun adventures along the way.

So I challenge any players that think that they’ve got what it takes to make it as a Professional Disc Golfer, you need to bring it if you intend to make it.

If you had to pick a course as your favorite in the U.S. Which would you pick?

Milo McIver Disc Golf Course in Estacada, Oregon just outside of Portland and host to the annual Beaver State Fling PDGA National Tour Event. It is my favorite course for the fact that it has a great variety of holes from tight, accurate wooded holes to wide-open bomber holes. It has 36 Disc Golf holes with a great mix of Par 3’s, Par 4’s and Par 5’s on both courses. It challenges every part of a players game, powerful and controlled drives setting up accurate upshots followed by clutch putting throughout the entire course.

Milo also has limited distractions for the fact that the course is isolated within an Oregon State Park, leaving you surrounded by lots of trees, manicured fairways, large mountains and a beautiful river. This course has a great layout and design due to the hard working Portland Rocs Disc Golf Club; I wish that every course was like Milo McIver. I highly recommend that any player that has the chance, make sure that you play this course.

My favorite course and the one I play the most is Blue Ribbon Pines in East Bethel MN. What do you think of BRP?

Blue Ribbon Pines is very well taken care of and is one of the most manicured courses that I have ever played due to the hard work of the entire Jordan family. It has well designed Tee pads that are built up with beautiful stone and rock teeing areas on many of the holes. It has a great mix of tight wooded to open fairways throughout the 27 holes of this course.

It has some great holes that are very difficult including Hole #4, #6 and #19 in the Minnesota Majestic layout but lacks other challenging holes. It has a lot of 200’-300’ holes that are considered to be very easy when played with Pro Level players during the National Tour Event. I really like to see that beautiful course with a demanding 18 Hole Pro Course layout with the addition of a few more Par 4’s and 5’s to offer more of a challenge. Overall, most players consider it a good course.

Do you have any superstitions that you do or don’t do before every tournament?

I am big believer in Karma and all that it entails. I like to think that superstitions are the reasons that a lot of things happen in Disc Golf, and especially in Life. I have certain superstitions of how I prepare for tournaments, what I wear, what discs that I throw and how I approach the course before playing an event.

A few examples are I don’t throw yellow discs or discs that are under-weight. I also make sure to walk through mandatories and walk around all out–of–bounds areas on the course. Don’t ask why, I just do those things. There are also certain ways that I prepare for a tournament, days and even hours before the start of the event. Those are just a few things that I am superstitious about while playing tournaments and Disc Golf in general.

What would you recommend the average player spend their practice time on? On a percentage, what would you say they should spend on driving, approach, and putting practice?

Driving 33% Approaching 33% Putting 34%

A little more time dedicated to Putting, but every aspect is as important as every other aspect. The Drive sets up everything else that is to follow on every hole. A Solid Approach Game always makes the difference between pars and bogeys. The Putt is everything in Disc Golf, just like in approaching, because it can really make the difference between Winning and simply put, not winning.

This is Part 1 of the interview; part 2 will follow in the next article.

Complete Part 1 Interview at Examiner.com: Avery Jenkins Interview Part 1

Complete Part 2 Interview at Examiner.com: Avery Jenkins Interview Part 2