By J. GERALD HARRIS, The Christian Index

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Alden Harris sees the professional disc golf community as his mission field.

Harris, 21, a member of First Baptist Church Woodstock, Ga., is a rising star in the world of disc golf and on the first weekend of August won the prestigious Mid America Disc Golf Open Silver Series at the Harmony Bends Disc Golf Course in Columbia, Mo.

Disc golf is a sport that is growing in popularity at an incredible pace. In fact, the number of people embracing this sporting activity is growing exponentially all over the world. According to UDisc, a very popular disc golf scoring app, it is one of the fastest growing sports in modern times, with a 33 percent increase in games played from 2019 to 2020 alone.

Disc golf has been referred to as regular golf’s “younger laidback cousin.” If you have gone for a walk in a public park recently, you may have seen golf baskets strategically scattered about; and you may have seen people attempting to throw frisbee-like discs into the baskets. However, disc golf professionals work tirelessly to hone their skills in the sport and can make some incredible shots as they fling their discs hundreds of feet through very narrow corridors lined with trees and bushes. Sometimes these golfers must be contortionists in order to position themselves to try to make a putt into the basket from behind massive trees or low-hanging limbs.

Harris, who is about to start his senior year of online studies in Sports Management at Liberty University, is currently under contract with Prodigy Disc Golf. He has had ten career wins authorized by the Professional Disc Golf Association, including victories in the Music City Open in Nashville, Tenn., and The Challenge at Goat Hill Park in Oceanside, Calif.

Harris drives up to 40,000 miles a year crisscrossing the nation in a specialized, personalized van. He generally tries to arrive at each disc golfing venue early enough to get in two or three practice rounds before the tournament begins.

In commenting on his 26-under-par victory at the Mid America Open, Harris explained, “It was a great battle this weekend. It was extremely gratifying because of all the hard work I have invested in my sport. It was also a blessing because I wanted to win for my family and all my friends who have supported me. It was the biggest win of my career so far.”

Harris continued, “God puts people in so many different…