JK DiscGolf: Pro Caddy
Disc golf just keeps getting better. The DGPT is underway, the prize pools are getting bigger, the competition is tougher, and the pressures the pros face each week just keep growing. A new trend is also emerging with regards to caddies on the course. This year the DGPT introduced vests that each caddy must wear to help identify them on the course, adding a more professional look. Some players use a variety of caddies, sometimes it can be their spouse and other times it might be a friend. Sometimes it’s just a fan who had the fortunate chance to carry the bag for one of their favorite players. The biggest change seems to be the rising trend to have a full-time caddy on tour. Recently Drew Gibson announced that he was looking to hire a caddy to follow him on tour. On Twitter he said, “I feel for me to compete at my best each week having someone there for me knowing all my shots would be a huge help.”
The process took some time, and lots of people put their name in the hat. It’s unclear how the decision process was conducted, but on March 17 Drew announced via Twitter, “Just want to let everyone know that @jkdiscgolf has the caddy job until further notice. He was going to be at the events anyways for his own reasons, so it works out well to add him to my squad as well. I’m excited to see how this works out and the things we can accomplish.” Some of you may know JK from his YouTube channel, but if you don’t know him, you will now. I was able to reach out and asked him to share his story with us on the blog.
JK, or Jefferson Kearby, is from Kenosha, Wisconsin and is 21 years old. His first round of disc golf was in 2014, but he says he didn’t get passionate about the game until 2017. He says, “One of my uncles was an avid disc golfer at the time and invited my brother and me to a round. Not too long after I was asking my parents to drive me to the course so I could play by myself.” It didn’t take long for Jefferson to find a way to merge his passion for disc golf and video production. “I’m the type of person who finds something they like and turns into their life, along with that I always had a fascination with making videos. No matter what activity my friends and I were into I was trying to make some sort of content with it from backyard wrestling, wiffleball, or Lego stop-motion videos”, he says. “Once my friends no longer wanted to participate in my little videos it only made sense that I would start a disc golf YouTube channel. So, on a rainy, muddy day when no one else wanted to play a round I pulled out my phone and started recording. From that first video, all I wanted to do was make disc golf videos.” JK’s channel has a little bit of everything from disc reviews, tips and tricks, funny skits, and casual rounds. “JKdiscgolf was created as a way to share my experiences on the course”, he says. But he was 17 when he started his YouTube journey, and since then he has evolved and so has his approach to video production. Now at the age of 21 he has started a new channel, Disc Golf World. JK says he’s still shaping in his mind what this new channel will produce, but he’s sure he, “No longer want to share my experience, but rather tell the unheard stories of professionals the best way I can.” JK was able to take his crew to Las Vegas earlier this year to document some awesome moments. “After that trip, I knew officially this was something I wanted to become my life”, JK says.
It was this passion and commitment that put him in the perfect position to work with Drew Gibson. After seeing Drew’s tweet, Jefferson reached out to plead his case. “We had a back-and-forth about what the position entailed, and it was made official,” JK says. Once the details were finalized, it was all about getting ready for April when Drew gets back on the tour. What does that mean for JK? He says, “Having another person there to observe and learn can add so much to a disc golfers’ game. Having a second opinion for difficult decisions, hype to keep the momentum up throughout a round, or a needed lift in low times. I’m confident as time goes on, our teamwork will build to the point where he can think less and go into each shot with confidence.” This is in addition to studying the courses, taking notes, and learning Drew’s bag to help him overcome adversity. It will be interesting to see how this relationship evolves over the course of the season.
For JK, this opportunity is a once in a lifetime dream come true. “Being able to see the highest level of disc golf this close is an experience I want to learn from. I never had the dream of being a professional disc golfer, but I’ve always wanted to have opinions on the sport that people appreciate. It’s one thing to have ‘hot takes’ watching live coverage but it’s another to be out there on the course. I would love to be able to learn as much as I can from Drew at least this way I’ll be able to respond to social media comments with ‘well Drew Gibson told me this.’”
Other than Paul McBeth using the same caddy over the years when he travels to Europe, or spouses on the bag, this might be the first full-time caddy/player partnership on the DGPT. Is this going to be a new trend in the coming years? “I think it’s possible. I think having pros break down their game into the fundamentals will allow them to understand it more themselves but also caddies will be able to point out mistakes,” he says. “Right now, there are not many people that can tell Drew what he is doing wrong in his form but if now I know what the “perfect” Drew Gibson form is I will be able to ensure each throw is up to standard which will allow Drew to fix that immediately during a round rather than reevaluating after the round. This is just one of the ways that a caddie can help save strokes and if pros can score better in any way why wouldn’t they?” I think the idea of having the same caddy throughout the year is a great way to build chemistry and synergy. Think of Missy Gannon; her husband is always on the bag for her, and that must yield some kind of advantage over the course of the long season.
Only time will tell if this creative approach brings Drew closer to achieving his goals. He had a fantastic 2022 season, and with a strong caddy on his side he might be able to top that in 2023. JK will surely be documenting his journey to share with us online, so in closing he says, “If I wasn’t caddying for Drew Gibson, I was going to follow the tour in my car documenting it the entire way trying to make Disc Golf World a reality. This is something I am extremely passionate about. I hate to ask for anything but if you do enjoy anything from JKdiscgolf, The Disc Golf World, or Jefferson a like, share, and follow go such a long way and I appreciate every single one. Thanks.”
