Professional Disc Golf Player Forced to Explain What the Sport Is Again

By Todd Mitchell

NEAREST PARK - Six-time world champion competitor Paul McBeth had to explain to a stranger the very existence of disc golf again on Tuesday, End of the Bench has learned.

What started with a polite question about McBeth's logo-branded hat ended with another exasperated crash course in the game and its 14,000 courses around the world for a woman who sheepishly admitted she'd never heard of such a thing.

"It's a serious sport with roots going back to the early 1900s," explained McBeth, who recently signed to extend his sponsorship with equipment manufacturer Discraft for an additional $10 million, adding, "Paper bags are fine, thank you."

McBeth, who threw the first pitch at a White Sox game in August, was similarly frustrated at tax time while clarifying to a new team accountant that disc golf was not "just a hobby" and that he had serious questions about how to correctly document over $100,000 in tournament winnings alone during the 2022 season in hopes of avoiding a pretty likely IRS audit. 

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"You know how you can play basketball in the park just for fun with your friends, but also somewhere Michael Jordan exists?" McBeth asked. "This is literally the same thing."

McBeth has been defensive about the sport, expected to be a $500 million industry by 2028, since being questioned by local police on suspicion of public intoxication and possession of controlled substances for simply visiting a local park course last year.

"Disc golf is not for stoners and day drinkers," McBeth pleaded with authorities, later admitting, "It's not JUST for them."

End of the Bench contacted McBeth to find out if "frolf" is still in use but did not receive a response by the time of publication, and will have more as this story develops.

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