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Glassman, right, with PDGA Pro World Champion Ken Climo. "He is the best disc golfer in the world, a 12-time world champion," Glassman said. "This would be similar to a picture of a kid with Michael Jordan."
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Members of the WIU disc golf team captured third place in the National Collegiate Disc Golf Championships.
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WIU Disc Golf Team Finishes Third at Nationals

April 23, 2010

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MACOMB, IL - - When Kenny Glassman finishes his graduate program at Western Illinois University, he will have several exciting options ahead of him: he could pursue a Ph.D.; he could apply for pharmacy school; or, he could go pro in one of the fastest growing sports in the world. And he's not even technically a "student-athlete."

Glassman, of Gurnee (IL), a graduate student in biology, helped lead the WIU Disc Golf team to the National Collegiate Disc Golf Championships last weekend (April 15-18) at the Hippodrome Disc Golf Course in North Augusta (SC). Glassman and the other WIU players came in at 16 under par on the 18-hole course during the first round, and are now ranked third in the nation. The team, which goes by the WIU Leathernecks name, was also crowned the National Collegiate Doubles Champions, based on their total best of three doubles rounds.

The WIU team, which is a sport club sponsored by Campus Recreation, captured third place out of 26 teams from colleges and universities across the country. According to Glassman, many of the competing teams had professional coaches and were from universities with large amounts of funding for the sport. But the WIU club made the trip south with five members in one car, and their funding—in addition to the $250 that WIU provides for each club sport—was partially raised by an art major on the team selling screen-printed T-shirts. The team, usually consisting of 20-30 members, selects the highest scorers to attend tournaments.

Glassman, who started the club in 2007, has watched members go from placing last in local tournaments to taking third in the nation in only a few years.
"When I started at Western in 2006, there was no disc golf club. I am always out on the course practicing or running leagues, so whenever I see people on the course I always introduce myself and invite them to come play casual rounds," he explained. I realized how many people on campus played disc golf. After I started the club, the interest grew each year and we traveled to more tournaments."

In addition to forming the club at WIU, Glassman assisted the Macomb Park District in a project that involved improving Everly Park's disc golf course by laying concrete "tee pads" from which disc golfers can achieve better throws. As an individual player he ranks fourth in Illinois, and finished 14th in the country for the points race in 2009 (with 6,878 points for the year).

The University of Augusta took first place at the national collegiate championship, which is sponsored by the Professional Disc Golfers Association, and has grown from only a few participating teams to having 26 competing in its fourth year.

Glassman's teammates for the national tournament included Scott Parik, a junior art major, Nick Rampson, a senior art major, and Jon Manuell, a junior recreation, park and tourism administration (RPTA) major, all of Woodridge (IL); Ryan Gavrick, a senior political science major, of Lemont (IL). Glassman may consider going professional after he finishes his master's thesis. But there is a risk involved.
"Once people start playing for money, it's much more competitive," he said. "It's more fun to play at the collegiate level. Everyone is friendly and it's just an unbelievable atmosphere."

This insight is actually based on experience, because Glassman has played in professional tournaments for prizes. According to Glassman, after the national tournament last weekend, the director remarked that the sportsmanship of all the players, and the level of competition shown by the top eight teams, was "beyond anything he'd ever seen."

"It was a huge honor to have the opportunity to attend the collegiate disc golf championship and represent Western Illinois," said Glassman. "Playing well and finishing as one of the top disc golf teams in the country was just an added bonus."

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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