Blase Gapinski | Demo 64

The Ferris State disc golf team returns from spring break with only two weeks to go until they depart to compete for the national championship.

The team is getting ready to try and bring home their 5th national title after devoting their spring break to training and coming together as a team. Each year, the team takes their time off to travel to Marion, North Carolina. This gives the team an opportunity to spend time together and get a look at the courses that they will be competing at.

Leonard Johnson, head coach takes his team on this trip so there aren’t any surprises on the course when nationals comes around.

“We had an opportunity to stay pretty close to the courses. It’s a complex in North Carolina called North Cove which used to be a ball golf course,” Johnson said. “They turned a ball golf course into three pretty awesome disc golf courses and we were able to play all of those courses a couple of times everyday to prepare. There’s no better experience than to really be familiar with the courses that you will be competing on at the national level.”

This trip has been a tradition each year because of how beneficial it is. Johnson explained why he started it in the first place and the outcomes that follow it.

“The first time I took a team on a Spring break trip was actually in 2015 which was the year that we won our first national championship. The comradery that is developed during that time is unbelievable,” Johnson said. “From all the time spent in the vans on the way down to playing disc golf together everyday. Knowing each other, being able to rely on each other, and trust each other helps build confidence in one another and there’s no greater feeling than that.”

During this trip, Johnson and the other coaches determine what division each member of the team will be competing at. This process can be difficult because of the varying skill levels that the team offers.

“It kind of sorts itself out and a lot of that falls on the team members themselves. The cream rises to the top and they know who is going to give us our best chance to win at each of the three different divisions. Some of those decisions are really tough to make because the guys are all so good,” Johnson said.

Captain of the…