The early years of the PDGA.
June 1, 2021 by Gabe LaBounty in Podcast with 0 comments
“Steady” Ed Headrick (PDGA #001) is the founding father of organized disc golf after quitting his executive position at Wham-O in 1976 and founding both the DGA and the PDGA, but little is known about Ted Smethers (PDGA #1159), the man who worked under Headrick and later took the reins of the PDGA to take the pro tour and rules organization to the next level. This talk with Smethers reveals a power struggle between one man and the opposing desires of the players that resulted in the seeds of the modern Professional Disc Golf Association.
Roots Of Flight: From Headrick to Smethers — The Beginnings of the PDGA
Logo by Alyssa Ann – IG: @inkwitchlyss
Hosted, written, and produced by Gabe LaBounty – IG: @grizzlygingerdg – Twitter: @GGDiscGolf
If you know or know of a piece of disc golf history, send an email to [email protected].
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Note: You can follow Ultiworld and Roots of Flight on Spreaker. The podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, Deezer, RSS, Google Play, and your other favorite podcasting apps!
Don’t miss our subscriber-only segment featuring deleted scenes from the history of the PDGA with Ted Smethers. Ted tells the stories of why he never was a contender in disc golf, how technology enhanced his stewardship of the PDGA, and how the 1984 PDGA world champ almost wasn’t in the tournament.
Bonus Content for Roots Of Flight: From Headrick to Smethers — The Beginnings of the PDGA is only available to Ultiworld Subscribers
Already have a subscription? Log in
Whether you visit Ultiworld for our reporting, our podcasts, or our video coverage, you can help us continue to provide high quality content with a subscription. By becoming a subscriber, not only do you receive benefits like bonus content and full article RSS feeds, you also help fund all of Ultiworld's coverage in general. We appreciate your support!
