A couple of years back, my wife bought me a camouflage Brigham Young University (BYU) bucket hat – this hat. I’m a proud graduate of the school and have season tickets to home football games. The biggest reason I wanted it, however, was to rock it out on the disc golf course …
Utah’s situated in the desert: The heat’s BRUTAL during the summer months.
It arrived in the mail – I wore it; I worshiped it.
When the time came to wear it during a particularly hot, sunny tournament round in Northern Utah, I was pumped. The hat had nothing to do with it, but I proceeded to play the WORST sanctioned round – or close to it, at least – of my pathetic disc golf “career.”
I’ve not touched it since: I’m mega-superstitious about the whole thing. When your golf game’s as bad as mine, you’ll look for any excuse to justify dreadful play: My go-to is the bucket hat.
It’s because of this idiotic story that I was surprised to see Ricky Wysocki rocking a bucket hat of his own during the final round of the 2022 Dynamic Discs Open. Wysocki strikes me as a fairly conservative guy – the in-your-face look felt like a bit of a gamble, given the situation …
In any of its forms, golf is a mental sport: The smallest, most insignificant of changes or details can throw players off their game – well, the bad ones, at least. As you know, that’s not Rick …
And you know what?
I freaking love it.
Our sport’s loaded with a cast of colorful characters. Oftentimes, it’s the headwear that signals this to viewers at home. Nathan Queen is known for wearing an Innova visor without the actual visor part – no idea how he got his hands on it. Kesler Martin sports a ginormous sun hat. Dave Dunipace dons similar headgear, but with a bridal veil-esque neck covering in the back …
He’s ancient – I’ll let it slide.
And how could we forget whatever you call the thing Gregg Barsby wore during his 2018 takedown of the PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships at Smuggler’s Notch?
Ear warmers, maybe?
Back to Rick, though: The final-round bucket hat was 100% strategic …
It was bold. It generated conversation, inspiring all manner of mediocre blog posts – one of which you’re reading. It was also a hardcore, mid-round marketing ploy, which speaks volumes about how confident “Raptor Legs” himself was that he was taking down the “W” in Emporia.
Pay attention to Ricky’s Instagram this week: Those hats will 100% be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Screw the Halo Polecat: The bucket hat is what your game’s missing.
We’re a far cry from Ricky’s camera-shy days at Latitude 64, aren’t we?
Step aside, “Raincoat Rick” – there’s a new alter-ego in town: “The Gettin’ Buckets Bomber.”
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