Faces of disc golf - Andrew Gum
Who are you?
I’m a very proud father of 3 wonderful children, they are the most perfect and precious beings I could ever imagine. I’m extremely honoured and grateful to be in disc golf media.
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What’s disc golf to you?
To me disc golf is a big beautiful family with a grand capacity for love and an enormous potential to make a meaningful difference in this world. It’s a parallel societal structure that serves as a prime example of how human beings can manifest magical things on Earth. It’s a magnificent community of generally kind and intelligent people with good values. It’s an enjoyable way of connecting and interacting with nature, people, gravity, weather, and myself. I have so much gratitude for all of the wonderful experiences and interesting people that disc golf has brought to my life. It’s an infinitely creative art form with one of the most amazing technological objects in existence. It’s a vital therapeutic method for ensuring a sense of well-being and survival in a painfully maddening world. We still have hope for humanity, we have disc golf.
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Forehand or Backhand?
I throw mostly backhand since my spine surgery in 2019 but I used to have equal distance and relatively similar control with the forehand. My backhand turnover game improved significantly to compensate and I really enjoy crafting lines that way. I’m using forehand approaches only when necessary but have been stretching the range out for it nicely over the last year or so.
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Favorite disc golf course?
It would be impossible for me to pick a single favourite disc golf course. I’ve been so lucky to play many great ones with each having their own unique character, skill requirements/shot shapes, landscape, infrastructure, and cultural context. Some absolutely brilliant ones that come to mind are Ale, Krokhol, Tallin Song Festival Grounds, Kippis (Heinola), Tampere Disc Golf Center, Järva, The Ranch(Waelder), The Beast, Roy G, Lauste, Luoluvuori, Sibbe, Äijanpelto, Egjorten, Kaatis, Drava, Keinunkallio, Parc Bourdan, Konopiste, Steady Ed and W.R Jackson(RIP) in Appling. My favourites to play are Meilahti, Zilker, Kängäslämpi, The Flying Armadillo, Laem Sor Beach, and all the FoSK Tour pop ups.
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Favorite item in your bag?
My favourite item in the bag is a Westside Warship that I’ve Aced with 4 times in 3 different countries: at last years hole 6 on the European Champs layout in Tallin, twice in the same day at the old Keinunkallio and Kivikko’s Hole 15’s, as well as a crazy blind turnover shot (13?) the only time I played Cat Hallow in Austin. Straight as an arrow and so fun to flip up down the pipe.
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Shoutouts?
Shoutouts go to my family and friends for all of their love, support, and great company. To MDG Media, DGN, DGPT, and NBDG for all of the opportunities and efforts to grow the sport. To all of the event organisers, workers, volunteers, fans, players, and everyone that helps make this game what it is. To the Estonian team here at the European Flying Disc Festival for raising the bar with the entertainment value and focus on sustainability. To Flying Plate for making the best apparel and these Faces of Disc Golf Bios. Huge thanks and keep up the great work all of you! And to everyone I forgot to shoutout directly this time, thank you for being you and doing all of those nice things you did…It means the world to me.
