By Andy Furman
NKyTribune reporter
She has been on the tour since 2017. She considers it a full-time job. She competes in some 25-30 events a-year; and she has sponsors to pay her way.
Golf?
Nope.
Give up?
Rebecca Cox, the Amelia High School graduate is on the Disc Golf Pro Tour – and she’ll making her next stop on the 2024 LWS Open at Idlewild in Burlington – August 9-11.
The Burlington stop is the 16th on the Disc Golf Pro Tour.
“I’ve been playing disc golf for 20 years,” the 28-year-old Cox told the Northern Kentucky Tribune. “My dad has been playing, and, well, we just grew up playing it.”
And she makes her living playing the sport. “My boyfriend is a touring pro. We have sponsors – it’s tough with the competition – but we have ‘em.”
Idlewild will be sort of a Homecoming for Cox. “I grew up playing the Idlewild course,” she said. “And my family will be out there to support me.”
Cox, if anything, is consistent.
“I’ve been in the Top 10 finishers in most of the competitions,” she said.
So how does one become successful in disc golf?
“First,” she says, “you don’t need a specific body type. The typical disc athlete is tall and lanky, but the players come in all shapes and sizes.”
And where would one even train for the sport?
“Technically, my dad is my coach,” she admits, “but there’s really no set coach or teacher on how to play.”
Cox says her off-season consists of strength training, as regular competition starts in February and rolls to mid-October.
“Yes, weather could be a major factor in performance,” she says. “Rain is a major challenge.”
And as for equipment, the discs, she says, come in different types of plastics and, “they all fly differently.”
Yes – like frisbees – and the sport is also known as Frisbee Golf.
The sport is usually played on a course with nine or 18 holes (baskets). Players complete a hole by throwing disc from a tee pad or tee areas toward a basket, throwing again from where the previous throw landed, until the basket is reached.
The baskets are formed by wire with hanging chains above the basket, designed to catch the incoming discs, which then fall into the basket. Usually, the number of throws a player uses to reach each basket is tallied – like par – and players seek to complete each hole in the lowest number of total throws.
The Disc Golf Pro Tour has expanded – and so too has the fan base. “You can purchase an app for YouTube coverage,” Cox said. “As for performing, anyone can learn and start – it’s relatively inexpensive.”
She said one needs a Tour Card to sign into a tournament.
“And at the Pro Tour level., you need a certain rating level.”
Last year, a total of 143 players in both MPO and FPO divisions, competed for a total purse of $93,610.
Finally, a sport for Couch Potatoes.
Sorry, Rebecca.