FISHERS, Ind. — Fishers native Stacie Rawnsley has always liked throwing things. She was a pitcher for the Fishers High School softball team, went on to play at the next level and also picked up ultimate frisbee in college. 

Just two years ago, she turned her attention to disc golf. 

“There’s just something so beautiful about flight of disc,” Rawnsley said. “Once you see one fly with like an ‘S’ shape and just see how far it can really go, you’re just so ecstatic about it. It brings so much joy to you and you don’t know why.”

Rawnsley was first introduced to the sport back in 2019 when a friend brought her to a disc golf course. She admits she was a little skeptical at first.

“I was like ‘no, disc golf is gonna be lame’ and then I got a disc to fly correctly for the first time and I just became absolutely hooked on it.”

Rawnsley picked it up quickly because of her background in softball and Frisbee. In the beginning, it was really just for fun. Then, during the pandemic in March of 2020, Rawnsley lost her job as a pet store manager in Indianapolis. That’s when she decided to take the leap and go pro. 

“I had two months because you could social distance while playing disc golf. You just don’t putt into the baskets so I was able to practice a ton for the two months everyone was on lockdown, so I was like ‘why not?’”

Now a rookie on the Professional Disc Golf Association Tour, Rawnsley has spent the last few months competing in events all over the country. She travels the country solo in her Honda Element with a small camper attached to the back. 

“I sleep in that and I literally just travel across the U.S. in a car and sleep wherever I want. I mean, that’s an adventure right?” she said.

It is an adventure and Rawnsley is succeeding along the way, currently ranked in the top 20 in the PDGA standings. This week, she’s competing in the Disc Golf World Championships in Ogden, Utah. 

“My goal is to achieve top 30, which I think is very doable,” she said.

Rawnsley said she plans to join the tour again next year and hopefully beyond. She also says she wants to buy a bigger camper.

“I have goals to get a touring van and deck it out to live in something much more livable than my car and little pod. So yeah, I’m definitely going to be doing this long term.”

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