Still The Master of The Wind- Ron Convers Jr. Interview
When I interview people, I like to just talk about the game of Disc Golf, but, I try not to take up too much time as I know professionals and individuals are busy. However, I found someone who loves talking about this game more than anyone I have met so far. That individual is 2-time grandmaster world champion and Dynamic Discs thrower, Ron Convers Jr. Ron has had a long and historic career so far and will tell you it if you let him. I let him tell me his story and here it is! Enjoy!
Ron’s start seems to be the same way we all start, with a friend. Ron’s friend and Ron were cooks for different branches of the same restaurant. Ron explained to me that “as an ice breaker coming out of high school, he introduced me to Disc Golf, he had some of the original Eagle molds and we went round and round with those back in 81’”. Like that he was hooked, he continued to play and has been playing Disc Golf for over 30 years now. However, with a career that long, there must be a secret formula or something that keeps you going. Drive for the game, bet with a friend, whatever it may be, there just must be something there.
Ron’s inspiration for the game comes in many forms. He told me “it started with a gentleman named John Heaton, him and I were very competitive.” They would compete in all aspects, “hustling pool, card games, you name it. It was just second nature.” From then on, they would compete and compete. But, Ron then found a local guy in his club named Jim Soutter. He told me that Jim “went to am worlds and placed 7th, so after that we just competed. He also has the number one bag tag right now so I have to get that back.” It is great to see that no matter how high Ron climbs in the rankings he still has his friends to give him some competition when he comes back home. The competition between them is huge. He later went on to tell me “we go back and forth, he wins a championship, I win it the next year, we push each other consistently.” They have something that not too many people have in this game and it is great to see.
Sponsorship is a sought-after goal for most players in modern-age Disc Golf. We all want the new discs, the free swag, the recognition we feel we deserve. Ron has been lucky to have many sponsors throughout the years and has appreciated them all. He told me “my first one back in 2000 was discsource.net before it folded, after that I went to Discraft.” So, he was not originally in Dynamic Discs but began his career slowly but surely before moving on to Dynamic Discs. But, after years on Discraft he came onto the Dynamic Discs team. He told me “DD markets everything, so all my carts, clothes, bags, discs, you name it, I can get through them. Most of my Disc Golf needs are met.” He also told me that “with having a disc sponsor, they send you merchandise that you can flip to help pay for the costs of being on the road.” Which is nice, especially since it used to not always be like that. Along with being a sponsor, I wanted to know what it was like to be on team Dynamic Discs. Every company has its quirks and changes and I wanted to know what made DD so special. Ron explained to me that “it’s great, it is a large family. The original crew that has been with us is a tight knit group of people.” Which is great, a big family is hard to deal with sometimes, but it is good to see that they still find a way to be cohesive. One of the hardest parts though, as Ron says, “I don’t get to meet all of these players and I see all of these new team members that I haven’t even met before and it was not like that before, but, I trust that DD gets good people more than just good players.” Which is something good to hear, that the only issue is that the company is big enough to reach such a wide range of people. Ron is excited to see the growth and is looking out for the future of DD going forward.
Coming up with your favorite disc and course can be a tricky question. If you have been playing the game and have been traveling, you can never just pick one of either. So, I let Ron choose his top three for each since he couldn’t decide on just one. When it comes to discs his top three were “Suspect blend or lucid with my flying RC on it, it is not flashy but it goes and is by far the best approach shot disc. Two is the Enforcer because I like to lean on an OS disc and have it come back. Three would be the Justice, its really OS and I can do it all with it.” All three are amazing DD brand discs and I would agree with them. The more he talked about them the more I wanted to go buy all three and throw them. His course selection was so varied and he had to do some thinking with this question. He started off by saying that “the Bois D’arc course in Ponca City, OK is a course that I helped build and get here, it is very think and has some tight fairways that’ll test you.” Which as he described to me as this amazing course that has some teeth to it, so if you like technical, go check it out if you can. The other courses he told me were “Dogwood in Tyler, TX is one that if you are not prepared then you will have a bad time, just look it up for yourself. I also wish I could go back and play the original players cup at Crystal River in FL.” These are all amazing courses, but all have their challenges within them. I think they should all be thrown if given the opportunity.
Growing the sport is something that we all need to do. Simply because the larger the sport becomes then the better it will end up. We all have our own methods of doing so and Ron is no different. I asked him how he grows the sport and he told me “I teach beginners how to play, I put design work into courses and a big one that I do is try and put it into schools but also help out a boys and girls club with about 400 kids teach them Disc Golf with a variety of other sponsors and pros along with me at the Winters Last Blast in Vernon, TX.” Which is amazing, teaching the youth is so pivotal and I think that it is so grand and awesome to do. Especially when it comes to teaching 400 kids at a time. Since he is so good with teaching people the game, I wanted to see what advice he could offer someone who wants to take their game up a notch. He had a lot to say on this matter, all good, but I will shorten it up to the key points. He told me “learn to put together a good game, learn to work a course properly, walk it backwards first before throwing on it. Go throw putter only rounds, they help you learn your shots and placements on a course. Also, learn your strengths and weaknesses, those are key to know and work on.” I could go on and on with advice from him, but, I think that he made it clear to work your courses like you’ve known them your whole life. That advice is something I never thought about, and I will gladly take into account going into my next rounds.
With all that he said I was not sure if he wanted to say anything else for you all to know about him. But, to my surprise he did have some things to add and let you know about. He said, “I am online a lot so I can be contacted there, I also charge for lessons at $40 a lesson. I am open to talk at events, all you gotta do is ask and if I have time I will gladly answer it for you. I do what I can each day to help grow the sport and I love getting people to play better.”
I would like to thank Ron for taking the time out of his to answer my questions and for letting me ask him questions in the first place. If you would like to know more about Ron you can find his athlete page here: https://www.facebook.com/Ron-ConversJr-1526963507555262/ or on Instagram at @conversjr. You can also find his Dynamic Discs player page here: https://www.dynamicdiscs.com/ron-convers-jr_a/321.htm . Here is a link where you can read an article Ron wrote about Mastering the Wind!: http://www.discgolf.discraft.com/res_wind06_p1.html . Look out for more coming soon!
Picture Credit goes to Ron Convers Jr