The Humm Squad- Mike Beshore Interview

Trying to reach out to more than just players in my area or professional is something that I strive for within my interviews. I love getting to talk to players, but, getting to talk to TD’s, company owners, team creators, etc. is just as interesting to me. So, with that in mind and trying to reach out to my local area I came across Mike Beshore. Mike is a player from the Central Oregon area who is the Business Insight Analyst for Humm Kombucha and runs a lot of events in that area. He is a great guy to talk to and has a great story to tell as well. Give it a read and enjoy!

Mike got his start into Disc Golf a few years ago in 2010. He told me “for the first two year I was a one-disc wonder, I threw only a champion eagle.” Which is common for people to do, he did not feel the need to buy or use any other discs. But, he soon grew out of the one-disc days in 2012. He told me “in August of 2012, I ran into a group on a course in PA and saw how these should have been thrown.” It all clicked for him after that, he began to throw more than one disc and started to pick up the game. Mike also credits his friend Bill Charron #44715 from PA for helping him get his feet truly wet in the sport. Mike told me “Bill and I would play as much as we could on our local courses in PA, he taught me everything and truly took me under his wing.” That is something special, it is always great when someone learns the game from a friend and in turn takes that knowledge and makes it a passion for the game. Now, to keep that passion going, there must be an inspiration to continue to play. Mike finds his inspiration from many sources. One of the ones he told me was “I am a very competitive person; the individual competitive experience keeps me going when I need it.” Being able to be competitive with yourself and drive yourself internally is such a good thing to have and Mike has that in spades. But, more than just himself, Mike told me that “the community within Disc Golf, it is always warm and inviting and there is always a family feel within the sport.” Those are some things that not many sports truly have, Disc Golf is one of the lucky ones. The sport itself opened its arms to Mike and he joined gladly and it is great to see.

As I previously mentioned, Mike works for Humm Kombucha in Oregon where it is located from. Mike told me “I have worked for them for almost 5 years now and worn many hats, right now I am a business insights analyst.” He is dedicated to his work and has been striving and succeeding through Humm for years now. Now, Humm Kombucha is known in the Disc Golf community through its sponsoring of Paige Pierce, Eric Oakley, and Ricky Wysocki. Mike explains this as “the Humm Squad, it was an ambassador program in 2017.” He explained that he and a fellow staff member started the idea of growing the brand of Humm Kombucha and branching out into the world of Disc Golf. As he told me “Humm is super open to exploring and trying new things, we have seen a good response with it.” The fact that a company like Humm is trying to join into the world of Disc Golf is so new and so exciting. I am excited to see how far they will grow and how far Mike will take the team as time goes on.

Since Mike lives in Oregon and works with so many Dynamic Discs players, his favorite disc and course made a lot of sense. Working with some of Dynamic Discs players made Mike start to throw increasingly more of their discs. He told me “I bag all trilogy plastic, I specifically love throwing putters and mid ranges so my favorite disc is a Marshal, it is a very reliable straight to stable putter.” The Marshal is a great disc and should be thrown by everybody at least once. Like most people from the state of Oregon, there is truly one course that stand above of them all. TO no surprise, Mike told me “Milo McIver in Estacada is my favorite course, I have a huge smile on my face when I play there. It really is world class.” Milo is an amazing course and anyone who has had the opportunity to throw on would agree with Mike.

Growing the sport is something that we all for the most part try to do. Mike is a champion for this and he tries to grow the sport locally as well as nationally. When it comes to the local scene, Mike sits on the board of the Central Oregon Disc Golf Club or CODGC. He told me “we have grown from 60-180 from 2014-2017 and we are hoping for 200 members in 2018.” So, he is gaining some speed and gaining momentum fast as the years go on. I expect him to meet his goals and pass them as this year progresses.

Advice is so helpful and so pivotal in the sport of Disc Golf. We can all learn and grow from someone else and advice is the best way to get that learning across from person to person. Mike’s advice seems perfect for all ranges in the sport. Mike told me “everyone can bring their own flavor to the sport, but, anyone and everyone can learn from throwing slower discs.” That seems to be the pattern when I ask people for advice, just got to throw slow. To help with that, Mike also said “go throw putter only rounds, they really help form and learning how discs fly.” Personally, I have thrown putter only rounds and they are so fun to play. They can be tricky but, they helped my form enormously. So, I agree completely with Mike and offer you to do the same and follow his advice.

It is not very often that I don’t get a huge response on my last question when interviewing someone. But, Mike didn’t have anything else to say. He knew he had said what he wanted to and left it all out there on the table.

I would like to thank Mike for taking the time out of his day to let me ask him these questions and for answering them as well. If you would like to know more about Mike you can find him on social media. If you would like to know more about COCDG you can find the Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CentralOregonDiscGolf/. Also, if you would like to know more about Humm Kombucha you can find that out here: https://hummkombucha.com/. Look out for more coming soon!

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icture credit goes to Mike Beshore