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***image1***When the reigning champion of the Berlin Open arrives at a tournament on the European tour, people take notice.
“Hey, you’re that American,” is what Staff Sgt. Geoffrey McReynolds, a 721st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief, often hears as he walks into club houses across Europe. Recognized as the No. 1 player in Germany,
No. 2 in Europe and 158th in world rankings, people know who he is.
He’s the disc-golf champion of Germany.
“Disc golf is the biggest underground sport that has not hit mainstream,” said Sergeant McReynolds. “Millions of people in the world play disc golf.”
What started as a lazy afternoon on a local course with his father in 1999 quickly turned into a dramatic change in lifestyle. Just a month after trying the sport for the first time, then-Mr. McReynolds won an amateur tournament in Kingsport, Tenn., by 11 strokes.
“After that I was hooked,” he said.
Over the next three years, his life went through some major changes. After moving to the “advanced amateur” category, he decided to join the Air Force in 2000, and married his wife Katrina soon afterwards. Despite the much busier schedule, his golf game continued to improve – to a point that he considered going to the next level by competing in the Amateur U.S. Disc Golf Championship in Milford, Mich.,
in 2003.
“I told myself if I made the top 10, I’d go pro,” he recalled. “I came in ninth.”
Then-Senior Airman McReynolds won his very next pro tournament after that, and never looked back.
After moving to Ramstein, he began competing in German tournaments in 2005.
“My first tournament was in Berlin,” he said. “I played doubles, and didn’t play well at all. Nobody really thought anything of me.”
That all changed two days later, however, when he won the Berlin Open in the singles category. He was the first American to ever win the tourney, and he’d suddenly made a name for himself across Germany.
“I was ecstatic,” he said. “I thought ‘I’m here for the next four years, so expect to see a lot of me.’”
Today, Sergeant McReynolds is sponsored by a disc-making company called “Discmania.” Because disc golf is not yet a sport officially recognized by the Air Force, he uses weekends and leave time to compete. Some help has come through working the 721st’s “Panama schedule.”
“I’ve been lucky. Every other weekend is a three-day weekend, so I try to balance out tournaments with my off-weekends,” he said.
More help came from the German Professional Disc Golf Association director by arranging the yearly tournament schedule to match more of his long weekends.
“If it wasn’t for the German tour director helping me out, I wouldn’t have been able to play as many tournaments as I have,” he said.
Sergeant McReynolds has made the most of his time in Europe, also competing in France, the Netherlands, England, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and Austria.
“I’m basically flying by the seat of my pants,” he said.
This year he’s won two tournaments – the German championship, followed by his third Berlin Open crown. He came in 15th in a Sept-ember tournament in Sweden against opponents who are full-time professional disc-golfers.
“You can’t really complain about that with these guys – that’s all they do,” he said. “I play once every couple of weeks.”
He and his wife have three boys, all of whom love to pick up their dad’s discs and play in the yard.
“With the family situation, I have to have an understanding wife,” he said with a grin. “She’s understanding because she knows I’m trying to make a name for myself before we go back to the states. I try not to play too much, because I work long days.”
His player rating is currently 997, just three points shy of reaching the “world class pro” category. “Hopefully when the next ratings come out in November I’ll be over that thousand, and actually considered a world class professional,” said Sergeant McReynolds. “I’m working on it.”
With hopes of increasing his player rating also comes the hope of increasing his world ranking.
“Hopefully by the end of next year I’ll break into the top 100, and then when I go back to the states I’ll get to play with the better players,” he said.
But thoughts of leaving his Air Force career behind for disc golf are distant, at best, “I’m doing my 20 because it’s the best thing for the family,” he said. “As soon as disc golf actually hits mainstream and there’s a lot more money, then I would actually consider it. Until then, nah.”
