Lone Star signs Nikko Locastro, re-ups Chandler Kramer, signs hundreds of local players to low-level sponsorship

December 5, 2022 by Charlie Eisenhood in News with comments

There are now more than 100 active disc manufacturers with PDGA-approved molds. More than 200 new discs from those manufacturers have been approved in 2022 alone. The disc golf boom since 2020 has driven a huge increase in manufacturing, and for every Innova in the market, there is a company that you have never have heard of.

Lone Star Disc is one of the new kids on the block. Based out of Conroe, Texas, about 45 minutes north of Houston, Lone Star got started in disc golf, like so many, during the pandemic. Terry Dillard and his family run an injection molding business that primarily serves the oil market. When the economy ground to a halt two and a half years ago, Terry’s sons — long-time disc golfers — suggested that Lone Star try their hand at making discs.

In 2020 and 2021, Lone Star had eight discs approved for PDGA play and were mostly a niche company familiar to Texas locals. Initially, the discs were all named after members of the Dillard family.

Now, they have buzzy sponsored pros, including Chandler Kramer, who surged into the public consciousness during an inspired run at the European Open; Nikko Locastro, who is in the middle of serving a six-month PDGA suspension for getting into an altercation with a PDGA rules official; and Leah Tsinajinnie. The company has also signed hundreds of lower-level players to its bottom sponsorship tier in recent weeks, sparking a wave of new interest in the brand. And they are up to 27 PDGA-approved molds with more on the way.

Lone Star Takes a Chance on Nikko

Nikko Locastro has notoriously struggled to hold down a long-term manufacturing sponsorship. He has been in and out of throwing a mixed bag for years, got dropped by Westside Discs after the 2021 season, and then, in 2022, got dropped by his newest sponsor, Clash Discs, after his PDGA suspension.

In November, Lone Star announced that they had signed Locastro to a multi-year deal. Lone Star Director of Marketing Josh Hofstra said that the deal is open-ended. “It’s not so much as us sponsoring a player as it is working with him,” he said, adding, “We took a chance on Nikko because we knew who he was as a person as opposed to just what he does on the…