What ulti stars would be the best candidates to kill it on tour?

[ChrisWoj]

So, we've seen that Brodie Smith is capable of competing in any given tournament, at the very least. He's intermittently been in these top 10 spots. Frankly - given his background - it should have been expected that we'd see this, at the very least. But regardless of the fact that he was once in the discussion for top player in the sport of ultimate - he wasn't necessarily in the discussion as the top thrower in the sport of ultimate. He was a great thrower, plenty of highlight reel throws showing what he was capable of, but a huge part of his claim to be at the top of the sport came from size and athleticism.

Who are the top names in the sport of Ultimate, in terms of the best throwers, that we could see "age out" of that sport, and wind up eyeballing disc golf as a future? (of course, I know that many of the best usually just become "old ultimate players", but "what if...")

 

[Getty]

Keep your eyes on Cody Kirkland. He's crossing over between the two sports and is doing quite well.

Mike Glass, UPA HoFer, was 1000+ rated and could've done well if he had chosen pro disc golf post-Ulty.

Dennis Warson, UPA HoFer, is pretty good.

My old friend and teammate Timmy Keith just won his 2nd world title in MP60.

There are lots more of us who've won on the local level, but after we've aged out its been on to our careers and families. Brodie is an outlier in that he chose to turn into a touring pro post-Ulty. I can't think of anyone else who has done that since most of us play elite-level Ultimate into our 30's.

 

[Smigles]

To be fair, any decent Ultimate player will have more touch than 90% of golfers and be in better shape than at least 95% of us.

 

[ChrisWoj]

To be fair, any decent Ultimate player will have more touch than 90% of golfers and be in better shape than at least 95% of us.

Yeah, I'm more wondering specifically who is one who is truly a great thrower who might cross-over. Someone who'd have even better odds of success than Brodie. I'm kinda just fishing for names in case we see some pop up in the future. I don't know anything about high level competitive ultimate.

 

[biscoe]

Yeah, I'm more wondering specifically who is one who is truly a great thrower who might cross-over. Someone who'd have even better odds of success than Brodie. I'm kinda just fishing for names in case we see some pop up in the future. I don't know anything about high level competitive ultimate.

Rowan McDonnell of the DC Breeze is considered one of the best throwers in Ultimate and has been playing PDGA events for a couple years. Breeze teammate Steven Wartinbee has been playing more dg than Rowan and has had a bit more success. Steven is pretty much a forehand specialist though.

In my experience the guys who move over generally prefer Ultimate to a large degree over disc golf and only move over because they either age or injure out of Ultimate (or started dg when Covid shut Ultimate down).

 

[BogeyNoMore]

It'd be interesting for a Ulti player that crossed over to actually bag an Ultra Star.

 

[ChrisWoj]

In my experience the guys who move over generally prefer Ultimate to a large degree over disc golf and only move over because they either age or injure out of Ultimate (or started dg when Covid shut Ultimate down).

Yeah, same experience. My primary thought has to do with the fact that the money seems to be drifting toward disc golf, unless there's been a movement to increase salaries in ulti in a big way that I'm not aware of (entirely possible/likely).

 

[Smigles]

Yeah, I'm more wondering specifically who is one who is truly a great thrower who might cross-over. Someone who'd have even better odds of success than Brodie. I'm kinda just fishing for names in case we see some pop up in the future. I don't know anything about high level competitive ultimate.

I know a few here in switzerland, but its not names you guys in the states have ever heared

David Hüsler has been one of europes top ultimate players for a couple years and just won his first DG tournament here in switzerland. Only picked up DG during Covid though...

 

[chevis]

In my experience the guys who move over generally prefer Ultimate to a large degree over disc golf and only move over because they either age or injure out of Ultimate (or started dg when Covid shut Ultimate down).

yep. i still do both, but dg is getting more and more time as my body doesn't like all the running (especially my knees).

It'd be interesting for a Ulti player that crossed over to actually bag an Ultra Star.

i bagged one for the 1st couple years of playing, didn't use it enough to justify the awkwardness in the bag; sometimes if i play a 2disc round(driver&putter) i'll have the ultrastar carry them.