Studious - Christina Linthicum Q and A

I always try and reach out to talk to players that I do not know a lot about. So, after going through a ton of Instagram pages I found Discraft team member Christina Linthicum. After talking with Christina and getting to ask her these questions, I think that her story is awesome and definitely worth the read! Check it out and enjoy!

1) How did you get your start into Disc Golf?

My older brothers first brought me out to play with them after they started playing. When I left home for college, I pretty much stopped playing until I got with my now husband. He was a friend of theirs through disc golf. He helped me correct my form, and I improved dramatically after that.

2) Who or what inspires you to continue to play?

Knowing that I can be better than I am inspires me to keep at it. I guess I feel like I have something to prove. Also, I want to make my husband proud. The support I get from other disc golfers really helps motivate me too!

3) What made you want to go pro?

I never played Am women’s. I didn’t know any better to be honest. I had never really played with women, so my first real tournament I entered in the open women’s division. It was U.S. Women’s in 2011. It was a real eye opener for me getting to play with all those talented women. My first rating was an 869, so it wasn’t that big of a deal, but I wish I had played in advance for at least the first year.

4) What is it like to be sponsored?

Well, it’s new to me, but I really enjoy representing such a respected company and the pride and sense of community that comes with that.

5) What is it like to be on Team Discraft?

It’s been so great. The resources that are available to me in other Discraft team members are priceless. For instance, at my last tournament, I lost a disc and didn’t have any backups yet. I was still just working with the discs I tested out! I was able to reach out to the team and got a replacement for the tournament.

6) Favorite Disc?

Meteor, easily. Even before I was sponsored, I was pushing the Meteor on people! As a lefty, discs I can control on a turn are invaluable. This mid has been in my bag for years.

7) Favorite Course?

Tough to say, but I really loved Peter Pan in Emporia. Beautiful course and a fun mix of holes. I also really enjoy playing at Lion’s Park in Temple Texas. The course is challenging and fun, and there is never any shortage of volunteers from the local club at the tournaments there.

8) What can we expect form you going into 2018?

This will be the first year that my work schedule and/or injury (hopefully) won’t be holding me back, so hopefully you will see a lot of improvement and a lot more tournament play!

9) Do you have any pre-tournament rituals? if so, what are they?

Only that I eat A LOT. I have a real problem with my energy levels if I don’t eat plenty while I’m playing. I always pick a hotel with a continental breakfast.

10) What advice could you give someone who wants to step up their game?

Don’t get ahead of yourself. Don’t throw discs you can’t handle just because everyone around you is. Don’t try to throw five hundred feet, throw smoothly, correctly, and consistently. And, of course, play tournaments! The nerves that come with it can be painful, so you have to get used to them.

11) What has been your favorite disc golf memory so far?

During the second round of Texas State’s last year, I was on a fantastic lead card with Paige Pierce, Catrina Allen, and Lisa Fajkus. We had a pretty sizable crowd following us, which was so awesome. I threw my second shot on the par four hole we were on, and it went in! I went nuts, the crowd went nuts, my husband went nuts… yeah, good times!

12) What do you think you do to help grow the sport?

Disc golf is such a big part of my life, it has become a big part of the lives of everyone around me in a way. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been the one to explain to someone what disc golf is. I also make a habit of buying fundraising discs and items. Supporting our touring players is so important for the sport!

13) Is there anything else you would like people to know about you that they may not?

I’m secretly (maybe not so secretly) a big ol’ nerd. I love to read and have about seven hundred books or so in my home library. I collect plush microbes, read graphic novels, and have a very strange sense of humor. Also, I’m actually a loner by nature. So if I’m not talking or am sitting by myself, it’s not that I mind meeting or having a conversation with you, it’s just my default! Also, I use exclamation points a lot.

I would like to thank Christina for letting me ask her these questions and for taking the time out of her day to answer. If you would like to know more about her, you can find her on Instagram at @christinalinthicum50045 and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ChristinaLinthicum/ . Look out for more coming soon!

Picture credit goes to Christina Linthicum