Number 100- Chandler Streuli Interview

I have finally done it, over two years of interviews and articles have reached me to the point of this article, number 100. It has been a journey and I have enjoyed every single minute of it. I had many ideas for this article, but I decided that I would answer the questions that I have asked the professionals I have talked to throughout the time I have been doing this. So, I hope you like my story into disc golf and enjoy!

My start into disc golf happened about seven years ago when I was a junior in high school. For the longest time my friend Jacob had talked about a game called disc golf for the longest time. Like the rest of my friends, we instantly thought that he was talking about throwing ultimate discs at a metal basket. But he kept going on and on about having putters, mid-ranges, and drivers so we had to see what he was all about. We eventually went out to our local course, albeit not the most beginner friendly course, but we still played all 18 holes. From that day on I was hooked, and we played almost every single day that summer. Eventually we all went and bought our own discs so we each had a set if we weren’t playing with the others. I can still remember the discs that I bought, I got a DX stingray, DX destroyer (dumb looking back), and a d line magnet. Our local store had a deal and it was like $20 for a base start set you picked out. I just thought the discs all looked cool and went from there. I remember talking with my friends and saying, “we won’t ever need more than these, we won’t get too serious about it.” Well, I know own more than 40 discs and have a backpack bag. I fell in love with the sport and continue to play it as often as I can.

When it comes to an inspiration to play, I find that the game itself inspires me to play. Over the years I wanted to get better, but I also took some sizeable breaks in between playing a ton. The love for the game and the willingness to go throw new plastic and watching a disc fly always kept me going. I use disc golf as a relief from the day-to-day tasks that I have and using the sport as a sort of therapy. Recently I have gotten to be more competitive while playing and truly trying to improve my disc golf game. But its just the atmosphere and love for the game that keeps me going to play it.

So, the tricky part here is that I am not a professional, nor am I sponsored. I may get some flak for this, but I haven’t even played in an actual tournament or event. Finding time between school and sports made tournaments a thing I couldn’t do. I just like playing the game and have no plan on becoming a professional disc golfer in the for see able future. Regarding being on a team I have high hopes that 2019 will be the year I begin to write for a company and be a “sponsored” writer so to speak. I would love the ability to write for a company and really help a brand name grow through my writing and abilities. I will hopefully make it out to an event this year and see what real competition is like, but we will see.

Finally, I had to be the one to think about what my favorite disc and course are. Fortunately for myself I have had 99ish other interviews to think about this question long hard. To start, my favorite disc is the Latitude 64 claymore in gold line plastic. I currently do not bag one of these, but I need to get one back in my bag. The claymore is a stable mid-range that goes forever in a straight line. The gold line plastic is grippy and isn’t to gummy for my taste. The one I had got me out of many tricky situations and saved a lot of holes from being bogeys or worse. I would highly recommend throwing a claymore if you need a stable mid-range. For my course I would say it would have to be Fort Steilacoom in Lakewood, WA. The course itself is long and wooded but gives you just the right amount of challenge. No matter the score at the end of the round I always leave Fort Steilacoom with a smile on my face. The scenic holes and challenging lines make it hard to beat for me.

Looking ahead towards 2019 is a scary thought. I know I want to continue to post blogs and get articles out there for professionals and the like. But this is the year I graduate from college and get to move towards a career in my field of study. So, I want to continue to write for you all and write this blog into 2019 but I don’t have any set goals set in stone quite yet. Just be on the lookout for potential changes coming this year with this site and take the journey with me.

Growing the sport has been a challenge for me looking at what I do and have done. I think the biggest thing I do regarding growing the sport is just taking new players out to the course and spreading the sport. I talk about the sport a lot and always am down to teach someone new how the game plays. I love taking friends who have never played out to the local course and watching their face light up when they see their first good drive, or they sink a great putt. The spark that ignites within them is something I strive for. The other thing I do is just giving people information about the professionals within the sport. The blog itself is growing the sport by spreading the word about disc golf to people across my state and the country. By giving people a story on their favorite disc golfer it could inspire them to do something to grow the sport themselves.

Coming from a point of view of someone who is not a professional makes it hard to give good advice for someone who wants to take their game to the next level. But I have learned one really good piece of advice over he past couple of years. The advice I must give is just take practice and learning in chunks. What I mean by that is just take it step by step when improving yourself. If you have three things you need to work on with your form. Spend a day or two working on just one of those things. Then, when you feel comfortable with that, move on to the next step. If you try to do everything all at once then you will not progress and often make things harder for yourself. My advice to those of you who want to start writing blogs like me, just start. Just take the time to write and figure it out. Just start writing and messaging people and see where it takes you. If you want to interview people you have to be able to handle people who do not want talk to you. But most importantly with disc golf and writing, just have fun. Don’t stress, just have fun and it will be way more rewarding that way, I promise.

Now, having said all this it is hard to say anything else that I may want you all to know about me. You don’t know a lot so its tricky to answer. But I think I got an answer for you. I am a Mechanical Engineering student at Central Washington University and am graduating this June with a bachelor’s degree. I played on the football team here at CWU for 5 years as an offensive lineman. I have a girlfriend named Rachel who at this point I have been together with for over 2 and a half years, and I love her more each and every day. Lastly, I fell in love with this sport so many years ago and I am so glad I did.

I Want to thank all of you for sticking with me for this ride I have been on for the last two years. Without you I do not know where I would be in this disc golf community. You have accepted me with open arms, and I couldn’t be more thankful. If you want to find me on Facebook just search for “The Disc Jock” and if you want to follow me on Instagram you can follow me @thediscjock . Look out for more articles coming your way and thank you again for 100 articles, lets make it 100 more!