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Page 2A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, May 19, 2021
UGA disc golfer focused on enjoying game, not trophies
BY THOMAS EHLERS
Sports Media Program at UGA
Davis York, a Univer
sity of Georgia student,
carries 25 discs in his
backpack every time he
plays a round of disc
golf. He totes another 30
discs in the back of his
car. While he only uses
around 10 on any given
round, York plays for
nothing but fun.
The second-year
statistics major recently
won the individual cham
pionship of the College
Disc Golf National Cham
pionships before leading
the UGA Disc Golf Club to
their first team national
championship since
2008, but his love for the
sport dictates his play,
not the end results.
Davis was introduced
to the sport by friends
during his sophomore
year of high school. He
said being outside and
hearing the sound of the
disk clanking against the
metal basket kept him
coming back.
“The complex where 1
played soccer at growing
up, they had recently put
in a new disc golf course,”
York said. “1 saw people
out there playing and
decided to go grab a disc
and went out there and
played and got hooked.”
The Pike County na
tive enjoys playing with
his 12-year-old brother,
Carter, when he is not
playing with his club
team. While he played
only a handful of times
his freshman year of col
lege, York became more
involved with the club
last fall.
York says the team
plays a putting league
once a week to work on
their short game and sev
eral rounds at courses in
the Athens area on other
days. These sometimes
27-hole practices helped
him to prepare for the
tournament at North
Cove Disc Golf and Social
Club in Marion, N.C.
In the individual tour
nament, York dualed with
Missouri University of
Science and Technology’s
Tyler Fank, who held a
stroke lead after the first
18 holes. York surged to
a 3-stroke lead headed
into the final hole. York
bogeyed while Fank shot
a par, securing the title
and a 2-stroke victory for
York.
The team tournament
consisted of pairs that
competed in three dif
ferent flights: champion
ship, first and second.
The COV1D-19 pandemic
forced tournament of
ficials to void qualifying
rounds, allowing UGA
Disc Golf to bring five
duos including York and
his partner, David Gunn.
The UGA duo led by
a stroke headed into the
final round of the team
tournament. Missouri
S&T’s Mark Anderson
and Carl Eastman played
well at the start, accord
ing to York, while he and
Gunn started slow. Head
ing into the 16th hole,
the UGA pair trailed by 3
strokes.
York said his strength
on the course is his
backhand shots with his
putter. On several occa
sions, his putter shots
set up the duo for eagles
or birdies.
At the 18th tee, York
and his partner needed a
birdie to force a playoff.
Three strokes later, they
birdied, forcing a playoff.
In the playoff hole, Gunn
threw a long drive to set
the duo up for victory.
But, Gunn missed the
putt.
York didn’t. The 25-
foot backhanded putt
gave the Bulldogs a
birdie and a title.
“1 stepped up there
and made it,” York said.
“The team kind of went
crazy after that.”
Carson Brock, a gradu
ate pharmacy student at
UGA, serves as president
of UGA Disc Golf. While
Brock said the team went
into the tournament
not worried about the
final standings, he knew
York’s game was certain
ly capable of capturing
the title.
“He doesn’t really do
anything flashy with his
game,” said Brock. “He’s
just a very fundamental
player. He can throw it as
far as any of us, and his
putting is top notch.”
By winning the indi
vidual tournament, York
qualified for the United
States Disc Golf Cham
pionships in October at
Winthrop University in
Rock Hill, South Carolina.
The invite-only tourna
ment features the best
in the game, and he is
excited for the opportu
nity to play.
“1 mean, I’m not go
ing to win that by any
means,” York said. “But, 1
think it’d be a really cool
experience.”
The national champi
onship marked the end of
the season for UGA’s club
team. They start tourna
ment play back in the fall
semester.
In the future, York
wants to use his statis
tics degree and work for
ESPN or the Braves, or
elsewhere in sports. As
far as disc golf goes, he
does not have big plans.
“1 mean, 1 don’t really
have many goals, 1 really
just get out there and
have fun,” York said. “1
don’t have intentions of
being a professional disc
golfer any day. 1 just like
getting out there once
or twice a week, on the
weekends playing with
whoever 1 can.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF UGA DISC GOLF
University of Georgia student Davis York poses with his cham
pionship trophy after winning the individual championship
in the College Disc Golf Championships at North Cove Disc
Golf and Social Club in Marion, N.C on April 10, 2021. York has
played disc golf since high school, and he says he enjoys the
outdoors and slow pace of play when he plays a round.
National Fire Safety
funds help Pike’s
Fire Department
The National
Fire Safety Coun
cil solicits funds
annually from
local businesses to
support the Pike
County Fire De
partment Fire and
Life Safety Pro
gram. Past dona
tions were used to
purchase Marshall,
the Fire Life Safety
Dog costume.
“We get our
children’s book
lets from them,
pencils, bracelets
and stickers with
these funds,” said
Fire and Life Safety
Instructor Lt. Dani
Kelly. “They are
our main source of
educational prod
ucts for the kids.”
The PCFD
would like to
thank Auto Hobby
Collision, Lubna
Dairy Queen,
Advanced Power
Equipment, United
Bank, Pike Pest,
Big Chic, Middle
Georgia Fleet,
Amanda Hutchison
(Virgil Brown &
Associates,LLC),
City Pharmacy,
TenCate, New
Hope Baptist
Church, Goodman
Grading, Touch
stone Embroidery
and Willamson
United Methodist
Church for their
support.
SPECIAL PHOTO
National Fire Safety Council funds
were used to purchase Marshall
the Fire Life Safety dog costume
(above). Below, Scooby Doo gives
Marshall five at Halloween.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Above, William Gray (center) completed his Eagle Scout proj
ect with the help of friends, family and the community. He will
unveil the new disc golf course at Williamson’s Benson Hilley
Park after a special ceremony set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May
22. At left, the disc golf baskets are installed.
Eagle Scout project provides disc golf course
BY RACHEL McBANIEL
news@pikecountygeorgia.com
William Gray, a junior
at Pike County High
School, recently com
pleted his Eagle Scout
project and will officially
open a disc golf course to
the public after a special
ceremony set for 10:30
a.m. Saturday, May 22 at
Benson Hilley Park in Wil
liamson. He has been in
Boy Scouts for six years
with Troop 2 in Griffin at
First Baptist Church.
“Originally this simply
started out as an idea
that would have the
biggest influence in the
community and would be
something enjoyable with
a reasonable amount of
work,” he said. “It quickly
ballooned into a complex
project costing more than
$5,000 of donated money,
roughly 300 man hours
of volunteer work from
over a hundred people
donating their time, and
a huge commitment on
my part. However, it is all
well worth it to give Pike
County its first disc golf
course.”William is the
son of Carrie and Spencer
Gray and the brother of
Caroline and Sarah who
both graduated from
PCHS and Winston and
Laura who are both in el
ementary school. He said
his community helped
invest in his idea to make
the disc golf course a real
ity. “Most people don’t
realize how amazing our
society is that we are able
to collaborate and come
up with solutions to so
many different problems.
The greatest advantage
you can give yourself is to
be a person who is easy
to work with and use that
to expand your circle of
connections because you
would be shocked at how
willing people are to help
with something when
they “invest in the per
son.” A special thanks is
also in order for Strategic
Treasurer, Mike Knabe,
my family, the Williamson
City Council, and espe
cially Mayor Steve Fry,”
he said.
William noted that
Scouting provides valu
able lessons and he
has enjoyed his time
as a Scout. “Scouting is
designed so Scouts spend
their first years learning
skills to interact effec
tively with the community
and be persistent with
tasks, and the second half
of Scouting is implement
ing those skills and pass
ing them along to the next
generation. This project
was truly the culmina
tion of my organization,
communication, planning,
and leadership to be able
to pull off something so
advanced and difficult,”
he said. “Scouting is an
ever-evolving institution,
but it is still one of the
best ways I know that
young boys can mature
and become self-sufficient
and successful. Especially
in our surrounding area,
Scouts are instilled with
high-quality values that
leaders need to have to
be able to command re
spect from their peers.”
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