Faces of Disc Golf - Pete Niemelä

Who are you?

Pete Niemelä, 44 years old mental health and substance

abuse practical nurse from Tampere, born and raised here,

i'm also a husband and "father" of social media dog Risto =)

Im a "fribahörhö" and i've been playing disc golf from 2010

and i do pretty much everything in and out of the sport,

i have competed in almost 200 PDGA-events so far,

i also run events and competitions, i hold clinics although

i'm not a very good player myself but hey,

they who can't do, they teach =)

I'm also co-founder in my DG club and I'm the main founder

of the Winter Series in Pirkanmaa,

a very popular Winter Disc Golf Series with

nearly a thousand participants every winter.

I have done some commenting on DG videos and

I've been volunteering in EO and EAO since 2011.

I'm part of Team Discmania as an ambassador so I do

lots of social media related to disc golf and new discs and stuff.

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What's disc golf to you?

It's more than a hobby to me, it's my getaway

from negative things in life, like being an adult person,

i don't think of anything work related or stuff like that

when I'm in the course or just throwing discs.

DG is very social to me, it's a good way to see your friends

and to meet new ones. And i would be lying if i said that

i don't like the competitive side of the sport,

mainly i compete against myself and the course.

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Forehand or backhand?

I have to say that I'm a dominant backhand player.

I use only one finger in my forehand grip,

so my forehands are mainly just upshots or scrambling.

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Favorite disc golf course?

Hands down the Beast at Nokia,

if temporary courses aren't in the mix,

i would say Vesterkalmare in Åland islands,

old Järva would be number one with a clear marginal,

but the recent changes to the course drops it down

and even off the podium.

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Favorite item in your bag?

Disc wise I would say my First Run FD,

it's been in my bag over 10 years and if I lose it,

ending my career and DG might be closer than ever 🤞

If discs aren't in the mix, I would say that whale sack or

towel is my number ones. Towel is my stress toy in

competition rounds 😄

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Shoutout?

Shoutout to all disc golfers generally, but i have to point out

volunteers in this point, if you are running events or help

maintaining courses, giving clinics to beginners or

doing press, videos or social media, keep it up.

And big shout out to you if you are making cool and legit

disc golf apparel and clothes, FPC, you know this shout is

for guys 💪 If you are coming to Worlds in Nokia or

Tampere, come to say hello!

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