May 31—Editor’s note: This article is the second in a three-part series about Dennis Vahsholtz and the growth of the sport of disc golf.

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“It’s a constant challenge every day with the changing weather conditions and everything. Nothing is ever the same. It just doesn’t get old. Just like people get who love to play golf, it’s the same way. You kind of get addicted to it.”

Dennis Vahsholtz has been playing disc golf professionally for about 35 years. Starting in Kansas, he’s traveled the country to play in tournaments. Overall, he’s played in 104 Professional Disc Golf Association sanctioned tournaments and won 24 tournament divisions, according to the PDGA website. His highest rating has been 955.

Vahsholtz said his first tournament was an unsanctioned tournament in Hays, Kansas, one of the first in the city.

“There was six people total. It was windier then (ever),” Vahsholtz said. “I got the prize for driving the farthest.”

The Hays tournament then inspired Vahsholtz to create his own course in Herington.

His first official PDGA sanctioned tournament was the Kansas City Wide Open in 1987. He came in 17th place in the advanced division.

The difference between an amateur player and a professional player is whether you take money in prizes, Vahsholtz said. Amateurs can take prizes that aren’t money, such as discs and merchandise. Players can either choose to play in the open division or in age-protected. The age-protected divisions, while they have names such as master and grandmaster, are different age ranges.

Vahsholtz said his best performance was during the 2003 PDGA World Championships in Flagstaff, Arizona. He took 6th place out of 50 players in the grandmaster division, which is players 50 years old and higher.

“It was in a lot of different types of courses mostly…