Emerging sport takes Hinckley native around the globe

by Dan Holland

As a Hinckley native and former disc golf world champion, the emerging sport of disc golf has taken Avery Jenkins all over the globe; first as a player/competitor and more recently as a disc golf course designer.

Jenkins, a 1997 graduate of Highland High School, began playing disc golf at 5 years old, encouraged by his parents, Leroy and Sharon Jenkins. Both parents later played the sport professionally, with Sharon Jenkins being a three-time women’s masters world champion.

“I was introduced to the sport by my parents, as I played a lot of Frisbee with them growing up in Hinckley,” said Jenkins. “My dad had a co-worker at the water department in Medina who told him about a new Frisbee course in Medina located at Roscoe Ewing Park. So, we headed down there, and we really enjoyed time down there playing the course.”

Jenkins, who was a Professional Disc Golf Association world champion in 2009, played in numerous junior tournaments around Ohio and neighboring states during his youth. His younger sister, Valarie Jenkins-Doss, was a three-time women’s PDGA world champion from 2007-2009, and won an additional world title in 2016. Valarie’s husband, Nate Doss, is a three-time PDGA world champion.

Jenkins logged thousands of miles around the country while pursuing a career as a professional disc golf player.

“It involved traveling around the country and competing at a very high level,” Jenkins said. “We would play at events on the weekends. I would travel with two friends from Michigan. I went on tour in 2001 in a motorhome, and we traveled to every corner of the country competing and playing tournaments every weekend. In 2002, I played in 46 tournaments, with most tournaments being two- to three days long ranging in scale to different tiers of competition.”

During his 10th year of playing the sport professionally, Jenkins claimed his first and only disc golf world championship title in a tournament in Kansas City, Missouri.

“That was my first world title and my sister’s third consecutive world title, as she had won in 2007 and 2008, and we made a pact that if she won the world title in 2009, then I would win one too,” Jenkins recalled. “She won her title, and I won mine in a sudden death playoff to claim my first. We’re the first and only brother and sister sibling world champions in the sport of disc golf.”

Jenkins, who is a U.S. DiscGolfPark sales manager and lead course designer, has been designing disc golf courses all over the world since 2015. In all, he has designed 82 courses in 30 states and 10 countries.

“It’s a very natural transition going from being a player to doing course design, as we’re very experienced and particular in how we do that,” said Jenkins. “The little details and nuances really weigh in to how a course is designed and how it is laid out; how it needs to have a good flow with a lot of variety and variation.”

The Jenkins’ family property in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, where Avery lives with his wife, Leah, and their two sons, Arian and Arlo, includes two 18-hole disc golf courses.

Above all, Jenkins is grateful for the opportunities the sport has provided him.

“I’m really grateful for where the sport has taken me as a player on the competitor side and later as a coach and team manager, and then transitioning to the design side of it,” said Jenkins. “I probably travel more now as a designer than ever before.”

Disc golf, which is one of the nation’s two fastest growing sports – along with pickleball – is very accessible to aspiring players, Jenkins noted.

“Find a course nearby you,” he said. “We pride ourselves on disc golf being very affordable, accessible and inviting,” said Jenkins. “There are 17,000 disc golf courses worldwide and it’s amazing how much it has flourished over the last couple decades. You really only need one disc to get started, and it’s a nice way to spend an afternoon in the outdoors.”