Discussing Disc Golf with Ty Browning

photo courtesy of Ty Browning

Having not eaten any food, Ty Browning throws on his polo collard golf shirt and with sweaty palms, he nervously prepares himself for a disc tournament.

Browning graduated a semester early this school year to pursue his dream of becoming a professional disc golf player.

Graduating early for Browning was simple — he had all his credits, except government and a semester of English. For Browning to finish, he speed up the process by taking AP English in class along with doing the second semester of English and AP government online. 

As of the start of this year, Browning is considered a professional player according to the Professional Disc Golf Association. According to Ty, he plays conservative, building up his technique over time — aiming more on accuracy not so much distance.

He is currently sponsored by Prodigy Disc Golf, who’s provided him with his collection of 20 discs — each used for different shots. 

Browning has been playing for nine years — but he didn’t get serious until three years ago. Disc golf was a sport Browning enjoyed playing, the competitiveness was what drew him in. The past three years have consisted of practice whenever there is enough time to get out on a course and countless youtube videos of how to correctly throw a disc.

“Whenever it’s above 30 to 40 degrees, I’ll be out there playing a round or two a day,” Browning said. “I work at a Dynamic Disc store, so I work there two days a week, and pretty much every other day I have to just play.”

On a standard 18 — hole course, Browning has scored 16 under par on an easier course, and 5-6 below par on a more challenging course — a score that Browning currently wants to work on getting lower.

Browning moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas after Christmas this past year. His dad found a job working for the Walmart Headquarters, causing his family to move before his second semester. Browning took this as an opportunity to make disc golf his main focus and pursue his dream, leading him to graduate early.

Browning practices by driving and putting the discs into the basket. When he drives the disc, he feels satisfaction by the way the disc flies — especially when it glides out of his hands perfectly. He has baskets in his new backyard in Arkansas, so he is able to practice whenever he can — something that has given him the opportunity to work on his technique.

“It’s pretty similar to golf,” Browning said. “You pretty much have to be on point or it is going to have a pretty rough outcome. It’s really just fun to challenge myself to be as perfect as possible.”

Browning started playing at a church camp with a friend of his who also graduated early. They saw some people playing a few rounds, so they asked to borrow some discs and started playing for the first time. 

“They taught us and got us going, and allowed us to play once a week,” Browning Said. “Which was kind of fun and what got me into it.”

Browning competes with kids all over, including Quinn Napier, an SME alum and current freshman at K-State. 

“He is my number one competitor,” Browning said. “We are so similar but different. Our skill levels are both pretty similar, but our styles of play are so different. So it’s fun to have someone that I can really fight against, because he challenges me all the time.”

At the end of February, Browning will travel cross-country in a car, attending tournaments in Waco Texas and parts of Illinois.

Anything that was around one to two hours away from home, Browning would sign up and go play in. He didn’t travel much when he was still in school, however he did attend some tournaments in Emporia and Illinois, twice: one for a normal tournament and one for the world championships. 

This year, Browning plans to travel around the U.S. in his Nissan Rogue — practically be living out of his car and sleeping on his inflatable mattress  in hopes of improving his ranking as a disc golf player.