PDGA No. 3140 might be the most interesting in the history of professional disc golf …
It belongs to none other than Scott Stokely.
You’ve heard the name, right?
Growing up in the game, I knew who Scott was. But the image I had of him wasn’t always the most positive one. I knew him as a freak disc golf talent, of course. He was one of Ken Climo’s toughest rivals. But I also knew him for the knuckle tattoos and the royal-blue hair. I knew him for the in-your-face, larger-than-life persona he’d built for himself as a golfer, as well.
Incredibly, with the 52-year-old heading back out on tour for the first time in years, it was high time somebody sat down with him and learned more about who he really was, who he really is and who he really plans to be moving forward in the sport as a touring professional, yet again.
After five minutes with the guy, of this much I’m certain: They don’t make ‘em better than Scott. Read what Stokely had to say during our half-hour conversation – you’ll feel the same way.
No holds barred, have at it:
Scott, my man, what feelings do you have about the 2022 season? You’re a seasoned pro, but honestly – are you nervous?
“So it’s 99% excitement. It’s mind-blowing to me that I still get the opportunity to do this. So really, I’m just going to enjoy the experience, but I’m also not here to just show up. I’m here competing to win.
“If I ever don’t believe I have a chance to win, I won’t play. If I’m not playing to win, I’m stealing a spot from someone who would like to be out here trying to win. So I’m definitely out here to compete, but I’m also going to soak in every bit of it.”
What are your goals for the season? What do you feel you are realistically capable of out on tour this year?
“My goal is to win an event. And I believe I’m capable of it.”
Specifically, where do you think you have the best shot to take down a tournament? What kinds of courses give you a chance to win?
“I’ll start by saying the long, open ball golf courses will be my weaker courses overall – for sure. I’m out here in Las Vegas right now, and I can reach all of the par-3 holes. That’s not a problem. That’s easy.
“For the par-4s, I’m throwing a more difficult approach shot than a lot of the players on every single one of them. And that’s an uphill battle. Because if I’m throwing 300-foot upshots and my competition is throwing 200-foot upshots, I have to execute 300-foot upshots at a higher rate than they have to execute 200-foot upshots. That’s hard, but especially hard if it’s windy.
“From there, I’m having to make 27-foot putts, while they’re making 18-foot putts. I believe throwing far, however, is a skill – no different than throwing accurately. So power-throwers should be rewarded. On these kinds of courses, they will be.
“That’s fair.”
Right, but you want to win – where can you do that? What events are you literally circling on the Pro Tour calendar because you know you can compete with the best disc golfers in the world?
“I’m not circling anything. I take the exact opposite approach. The minute I do that, I set myself up for failure. I mean, that’s a lot of pressure. I don’t think about tournaments. I view every single throw as independent of every other throw. So no, I don’t have one that I’ve circled.
“Other than that, the World Championships is the World Championships. It’s hard to escape the excitement of that. And, of course, the Eagles Crossing Skins Match is something that’s going to be very special to me, as well.”
With Brodie Smith?
“Exactly.
“It’ll be the largest skins match in disc golf history. Eagle McMahon, Calvin Heimburg, Brodie Smith and me. It’ll be fun. It’ll really be a lot of fun. And right now, there’s $12,000 in skins on the line. It’s going to be a lot more, though.”
When you were at your physical peak, how far could you throw a forehand and backhand? Nowadays, what’s the farthest you can throw as a 52-year-old?
“At my peak, I had the world record at 693 feet. That was back in 1998. It was a backhand throw, but it was also with a speed-six disc. It might’ve been a speed-seven. Forehand, I threw 568 feet with a five-, six- or seven-speed disc, as well. These weren’t wind-aided throws, either. That’s just how far I could throw a disc.
“Today, I comfortably throw over 500 feet with a backhand and sidearm. And these are golf shots. At a tournament last year, I threw a backhand 600 feet on a flat-ground hole. But so many of these aren’t golf shots. They’re those big, anhyzer, flex shots. So comfortably, 500 feet is very realistic for me on actual golf lines. And farther, if I’m throwing for distance.”
One from each division: On both the MPO and FPO side of the sport, whose game are you a fan of?
“Oh, that’s so tricky …
“You know, I’m going to give an easy answer and say Paul McBeth and Paige Pierce. Because we’re getting into one of the things I think we all enjoy about sports — to see the peak of what the human body is capable of, you know?
“And they are the pinnacle of what a man and a woman or an FPO player and an MPO player — whatever politically correct term you want to use — can achieve. They’re the pinnacle of what a disc golfer is capable of today.
“I’m sure that’s not the ceiling, though.”
Let’s talk about the Berg. As I understand it, you like it, right? Also, rumor has it you’ll actually be putting with it – why?
“I am.
“The thing that’s great about the Berg is that it doesn’t fly. But that’s what you want. It doesn’t punish you for your errors, because whether you throw it too hard or too soft, it kind of flies the same distance, you know?
“If you’re putting in the circle and putt too hard, you go about eight feet past the basket. It doesn’t fly. That’s what you want in a disc for short throws. You don’t want to be penalized.
“And I’m putting with it, because I make more putts with it – it’s as simple as that.
“I get a consistent release with the disc. It doesn’t fly right or left when you change the angle on the putt as much as with other discs. It’s very forgiving. And again, it doesn’t blow past the basket when you miss, which means I can be more aggressive on putts with less fear of the comeback putt.
“The Berg had a cult following, but it doesn’t anymore. The Berg itself is why people keep throwing it. The disc’s following is now massive. And with good reason – it’s a great disc.”
How has the sport changed from when you and Climo first got started with things years ago?
“One change is that everybody’s good. And everybody has all the shots. The biggest change, though, is by far the women’s field. The men’s game has evolved a lot. The women’s game has evolved more.
“I was playing all the way through the 90s. At that time, you could go an entire year without seeing a woman or two or three women playing together out on a disc golf course. Girls came out with their boyfriends.
“Not all of them, obviously. I don’t want to make anybody angry, but generally, disc golf was a boy sport. Now, the women’s game is independent. It’s its own sport. FPO is like that. Everybody is just so f*cking good. It’s incredible.”
This one’s from a reader: Supposedly, there’s a story about the first time you and Paul McBeth met. Could you share it?
“How do I answer this?
“When I came back to the sport after being gone for 13 years, I was invisible. When I competed on tour in the 90s, there was no YouTube — there was barely any internet. So nobody knew who I was. I needed to get my name out there so I could sell discs and run clinics. And I didn’t know how to go about doing it, because I’d aged out of doing it on skill alone.
“So, I decided that I was going to basically become a professional wrestling character. I was going to be as outrageous as I could possibly be. That way, people would notice me. I was just marketing myself.
“I didn’t do anything mean or malicious or anything like that, but I wasn’t aware of how much the culture of the sport had changed from the ‘Wild West’ days when I had been playing. Being a crazy, goofy and outrageous guy wasn’t as well received as I’d intended. By the way, that doesn’t mean it didn’t work …
“Anyway, one of the things I did when I came back is that I started a public rivalry with Paul McBeth. I’d never even met him, nor was I capable of competing against him at that point. I just thought it would be fun to start this big rivalry with him, because that way, I could put attention on myself and my brand.
“I don’t regret any of it, but it certainly wasn’t the long-term approach my brand needed. I like Paul a lot. I have so much respect for Paul. Paul is introverted. So I don’t think Paul appreciated the attention that was being thrown at him, you know?
“I don’t think Paul necessarily enjoyed it, but again, I didn’t do anything negative or mean. The sport had changed while I was gone. And it took me a little while to realize where it was headed.”
When did you get the ‘DISC GOLF’ knuckle tattoos and why?
“Like I said earlier, at the time, I’d been out of disc golf for 13 years. The reason I came back to the sport was because I was having personal problems. I had a problem with substance abuse for a fairly short period of time, but it was bad when it was bad.
“When I came back to disc golf after being gone for so long, it saved my life. I really believe disc golf saved my life. The tattoos were what I referred to as ‘my wedding ring to the sport.’ It was a promise that I would never leave disc golf again.
“And the reason I did it on my hands was because I couldn’t hide them. If I got a tattoo on my arm, I could put a shirt over it. I wanted to put a disc golf tattoo somewhere where, when you met me, that was the very first thing you saw. That’s who I am. This is what I do — period.
“There’s no escape in it. I will never leave the sport again.”
Blue hair: What was it for? And will it be making a comeback while out on tour?
“It won’t, no.
“When I came back to disc golf, I fell in love with the autism and special needs community. I went to 270 cities and taught disc golf to kids and adults with special needs. These classes were all free for the kids and their families. I actually paid for it all out of my own pocket. All the kids would get discs and a shirt just for showing up.
“These events were held for an organization I created called Blue Power. Blue is the color of autism awareness. I was traveling and doing clinics, but eventually, my main thing was my work with the special needs community.
“I would do clinics and run events to make money so I could do a special needs class in a new town. That’s where the blue hair came from. The kids loved it, because they’d recognize me from YouTube — almost like a type of cartoon character. It was really fun.
“Now, I’m doing something different. Starting last April, every single tournament I go to, I give the tournament director the name of a local autism organization. Any prize money I win, they don’t pay me. Instead, they send my prize money directly to the local autism organization.
“So technically, I’m an amateur — I don’t play for money. Even the big-money skins match at Eagles Crossing — all of the money on any skins I win will go to an organization called Hope 4 Autism. I will also be teaching classes around the country, but because of COVID, it’s more challenging than it was before.”
You knew this was coming – let’s talk foot faults. In the moment, you responded like a complete champ. What were you thinking? How did you feel?
“You know, it’s really hard to get within two strokes of the lead at the World Championships only to be called on five foot faults. It wasn’t my call, though. Two of the players on my card made the call, and I can’t dispute it. That’s all it is.
“Those five foot faults were called against me at a difficult time. But I have no recourse. I mean, those are the rules. People can judge that situation for themselves. I got called. I accepted those calls, because the rules say I can’t dispute them — that’s that.”
What’s your relationship like with Climo in 2022? What about some of the other ‘pioneers’ of the sport?
“Ken and I never hung out before. I mean, we weren’t enemies, but we weren’t really friends, either. We were just two people that played a sport. We’re very different types of people. And so Ken did his thing, and I did mine. But we aren’t the ‘pioneers’ of the sport, either — that’s not me and Ken. I am very close to the pioneers of the sport. Those who are still with us, at least.
“I was close to Ed Headrick. I talked to Victor Malafronte not that long ago. I talked to Dan Roddick not that long ago, too. Just yesterday, Jim Kenner, the owner of Discraft, and I talked for a bit. These are the ‘pioneers’ of disc golf. I’m part of the community. I’m part of their social network. I am not one of them, though.
“These are my mentors, my heroes, my friends and even my parental figures while growing up. I’m close with all of them. They’re some of the best people I’ve ever known in my entire life.”
It’s interesting to hear you say that. I’m not crazy young, but young-ish, you could say. When me and my buddies get together, we talk about you, Climo and Barry Schultz. You guys have always been ‘pioneers’ of disc golf in our eyes.
“Right, but as far as players go, there were great players in the early days of the sport, too. The sport just evolved. There were many awesome players in the 90s when I was touring. And those 90s players were better than people give them credit for. And as a group, far better than people give them credit for. But yeah, as a whole, there’s also no question the players are better today.
“Individually, Ken was the best at what he played back in the day — cheesy little pitch-and-putt courses. They were silly courses to a large extent. In today’s game, on those types of courses, Ken would still be competitive. It was just a different game.
“I was the player who had the wrong game for the era. I could throw a six-speed disc 500 feet, but every hole was 300 feet. I couldn’t use my biggest skill set on a golf course. I played in the wrong era.”
If you could, what’s the single most important message you would like to send out to the disc golf community at the start of the 2022 season?
“The biggest message I can give anybody in the world is to do the things you want to do in life. I believe the key to happiness is to figure out how you want to live your life. You don’t have to follow society’s rules. Society says college, marriage to one person, children, a mortgage, a house in the suburbs and a 401(k). And in that order, too.
“I want to make this clear, so please make sure it gets in the article: that is absolutely fantastic. That’s a life that will work for many people. And it’s a good one. They’ll be extremely happy.
“But there are many out there who are doing that, and that’s just not who they are. It’s certainly not who I am. So the biggest thing I like to tell people is that you don’t have to live your life by the rules you’ve been told you have to live by. You figure out what makes you happy and do that.
“I’m an example of this. Me and my girlfriend are nomads. We will never for the rest of our lives own or live in a house — ever. That’s not what makes us happy. We have no storage unit. We have no home base. What makes us happy is doing another adventure next week and never stopping. That’s not going to make everybody happy, though …
“The key to life is not to be a nomad — the key to life is to figure out what works for you. So we live our life differently than most people, but we are happy because we are living our life.”
I said it to start this thing off, and I’ll say it to close it out …
Sure, Scott is one of the best disc golfers in the history of our sport. And I still maintain that he’s a “pioneer” of the game, even if he won’t admit it. But as impressive of a professional disc golfer as he’s been these past few decades, he’s a better human being – a much better human being.
Moving forward, keep a close eye on Scotty …
Both on and off the course, he’ll keep doing amazing things.
Have anything to add? Take to Twitter to let us know – we’ll actually (for real) get back to you.
Dude. This is such a good interview.
“figure out what makes you happy and do that” its really that easy.
No doubt!
I was stunned out how good of a guy Scott is …
I mean, I knew he was a good guy, but not THIS good.
Can’t help but pull for him this year – best of luck, brotha!