Player Profile: Chandler Kramer
What a time to be alive if you’re a disc golfer. The sport is exploding worldwide, the pro tour is providing nail biting battles every week, and the wave of new players are quickly showing us why they deserve to be on tour. On both the MPO and FPO sides we are seeing amazing golf. It would take an entire blog just to list all the amazing new players on the scene, so this week instead I will focus on a name that may be new to you, but not for long.
Chandler Kramer burst onto the scene in the most epic way possible. His story needs to be shared, and he was gracious enough to take time out of his touring schedule to talk with me and share his journey. Let’s begin!
Born and raised in Waco, TX, Chandler’s first sports experience was soccer as a very young boy. “Then as I got older, I played baseball and tennis for many years”, he says. “In college, I played Ultimate for Texas A&M’s club team.” It’s clear that Chandler had a penchant for athletics, with a natural ability to learn and adapt to new challenges. Then one fateful holiday, his passion for disc golf was ignited. Chandler recalls, “My sister wanted to get me an ultimate disc for Christmas one year and accidentally ended up buying me a disc golf disc instead. I just decided to go out and see what it was all about and then I was hooked!” (Insert cheesy ‘and the rest is history’ comment here.) But it gets better. In 2020 Chandler was still in college when he decided to sign up for his first event, The Backbone Creek Barrage, a C-Tier in Marble Falls, TX. Unaware of the divisions, he signed up for MPO. He secured a third-place finish, and he’s been playing MPO ever since. He may be the only man who’s ever skipped the entire amateur process and start at the highest level of competition and be competitive right out of the gate.
It's only been two and a half years and Chandler is already battling with the best in the world. He has already played 20 tournaments in 2022, with several top ten finishes, two second place earnings, and a win at The Hideaway Open in Terrell, TX. But it was his performances in Europe at the PCS Sula Open and then the European Open where he was thrust into the spotlight, where he secured fifth place at both events.
Maybe it is not such an anomaly, but there is yet another aspect of Chandler’s game that really adds to his unique story. He’s done of all of this by leaning on almost exclusively his right-hand forehand game. So how does one get so successful from just one shot type? “For me, the secret is to have every possible shot you can have while playing from only one side. I think if you’re going to commit to playing from one side, it’s a necessity to be able to shape the disc in as many ways as you can. I personally plan on developing my backhand a little bit in the off-season so that I can use it if I need to in tournaments. Much like certain players though, I’ll only be using it when I need to”, Chandler says.
Now one doesn’t just excel on the pro tour with an epic forehand, there’s still the task of putting. And while a lot of focus has been placed on Chandler’s driving, he’s very much holding his own in the circles. Chandler says, “Throwing was the easy part for me, but putting was ridiculously hard. I put a lot of my time into putting and over time I became a lot more consistent at it. I think practice in general really helped me get to where I am today.” His putt is a direct laser to the basket, and that makes him deadly from all distances. Chandler says his putt developed from trial and error, and from the ever-present wind in Waco. “For me, I must stick to my routine of putting and not think about it too much. The more I think about it, the more likely I am to overthink it and miss the putt”, Chandler says. I think we can all relate to that mindset.
In addition to the pressures of vaulting to the top of the tour, Chandler has also been thrust into the spotlight. I asked him how he deals with his newfound fame. He says, “The attention has been great but if I’m being honest it’s been overwhelming at times. I try to tune everything out and stay focused when I’m on the course. I want to think that me being able to compete so well comes down to my decision making.” His results certainly show that he is focused and ready to compete, and you can expect to see more of this young man on tour coverage in the coming years.
At such a young age, it is hard to plan for the future, but Chandler says he has a plan, at least for his immediate future. “I’m going to try to stick to the pro tour for a while. I’m only young once so I want to try and pursue this now. The good thing is, if disc golf doesn’t work out, I can always fall back on my degree.” A sensible plan indeed. And after that? Chandler muses, “Honestly, I don’t know. I’d like to think that I can win a couple of titles in that time frame, but you never know. Major titles are even harder to come by so who knows if I’ll be able to win one of those. I really want to win the USDGC at least one time before my career is up. That is definitely one of the goals in my career. I can’t put a number on how many titles I want to win. I’m just going to go out and try to play the best I can. If I play well, anything can happen.” A down to earth, humble, but lofty approach to the game. I think we can agree that this man will leave his mark on the game and will certainly reach most of his goals.
In closing, Chandler says, “There isn’t too much I’d like to add. I just want to say thank you to my sponsors Lone Star Discs and The Disc Barn for supporting me and helping put me on tour. If you want to support me, I have a tour series disc out now! Also thank you for taking the time to ask me questions!”
