Welcome to the
Disc Golf Foundation!

Meet DGF’s Newest Board Member – Annie Oldenburg

The Disc Golf Foundation is proud to welcome Annie Oldenburg to the Board of Directors.

To learn more about Annie, read her bio:

About Annie

Annie Oldenburg is Department Co-Chair and Assistant Professor of Art at Black Hawk College. She teaches courses in graphic arts and photographic media, including Adobe software, photography, and videography. Oldenburg earned her Bachelor of Arts in Studio Arts from the University of Wisconsin in Green Bay and her Master of Fine Arts in Visual Studies from the Hallie Ford School of Graduate Studies at Willamette University's Pacific Northwest College of Art.

Outside of her professional career, Oldenburg is a disc golf enthusiast and advocate for inclusive play. She co-runs the DOLLs (Disc On! Ladies League) in the Quad Cities and has played semi-professionally as a member of Team MVP.

Meet DGF’s Newest Board Member – Paul Carlstrom

The Disc Golf Foundation is proud to welcome Paul Carlstrom to the Board of Directors.

To learn more about Paul, read his bio:

About Paul

Paul Carlstrom has over 30 years’ experience in the sport of Disc Golf. He founded Flying Saucer Disc Golf in 1999, which focused on two of his passions, art and disc golf. He designed alien themed artwork, which were stamped onto custom discs and ran local leagues and tournaments in the Metro Detroit area in the ‘90s and early 2000s. His events introduced many new players to the sport.

In 2009, he got married and life transitioned them to Illinois where he introduced the concept of a fun random draw doubles league in the Bloomington/Normal area and soon after helped establish the Bloomington/Normal Disc Golf Club with the friends he made in the area. In Illinois, Paul continued to run events and local leagues and offered lessons to new players. He loved seeing players reach and exceed their goals with disc golf.

He is energized by the opportunity to give back to the sport that has brought so many great experiences and people into his life. Although he sustained injuries that lead to downtime, he stayed positive and knew that he would “gain strength through adversity” a common quote he stills uses today. Paul logged his best win to date at the 2016 Ledgestone Open in the AM Masters 40+ division.

Currently, Paul is the Director of Custom Disc Golf Sales at Discraft Inc. He joined their team in 2017 as a Wholesale Stock Representative and quickly advanced into his current role. He says the best part of it all is that he gets to do what he truly loves and gets to work with so many great Tournament Directors, League Directors and business owners that need custom golf discs. He looks forward to bringing his passion and excitement for the sport to the Disc Golf Foundation board.

Meet DGF’s Newest Board Member – Alyssa Livingston

The Disc Golf Foundation is proud to welcome Alyssa Livingston to the Board of Directors. On the board she has taken on the role as Secretary. Alyssa has been part of the disc golf community in Illinois since 2017 and like the rest of the volunteers on the board has a passion to grow the sport. Her passion has led her to share her journey through social media accounts as well as collaborate with others to start a women’s league in Illinois and work on developing a state tournament series for women.

“I am thrilled to have Alyssa join as one of our newest board members. I have no doubt she will make a big impact on our organization as well as the disc golf community. She is extremely creative, collaborative and has a strong desire to make a difference.“ - Cristina Carlstrom

To learn more about Alyssa, read her bio:

About Alyssa

I discovered Disc Golf in the Spring of 2017 and it’s been a whirlwind of learning, growth, and friendships ever since. Passionate is an understatement when it comes to the sheer tenacity in which I approach the game. Since finding this sport, I have been fully dedicated to the pursuit of perfection. I am very focused on being the best player I can be both on and off the course.

In the last five years, I have competed in countless tournaments, and managed to bring home a few wins. Beyond that, I have come to understand what the Disc Golf community is. This is a community of never-ending support.

Through this community, I have made some of my closest friends. I have learned so many valuable lessons, and my goal is to pass on the love and support that I have felt. I have also learned the value of giving back. I am currently a part of a local volunteer group, we do course maintenance, and hold volunteer clinics. I have also volunteered at multiple tournaments. I feel that volunteering and giving back to our local communities is just as important as playing. In my opinion, it’s an even better way to grow the sport in our local communities.

In 2020-2021, myself along with two other Northern Illinois women developed our own ladies league. We are focused on bringing this sport to women of all ages, and skill levels.

My focus is on community and growing the sport for what I feel is the future. Women and girls. I actively promote and participate in every woman’s event in my area. My goals for 2022 are to continue to promote Disc Golf for women and girls, grow our local ladies league, and play as many women sanctioned events as possible.

I look forward to fostering and healthy and productive relationship with the Disc Golf Foundation.

Welcome Mike Harrington!

The Disc Golf Foundation is pleased to welcome its newest board member, Mike Harrington. Mike comes to the board with many years of disc golf experience. He is the owner of the DGX (aka Disc Golf Experience and currently serves as the PDGA State Coordinator for Wisconsin. At the Disc Golf Foundation, Mike is the new Director of Course Development.

“We are excited to welcome Mike Harrington to the Disc Golf Foundation. Similar to all our volunteer board members, he is extremely passionate about disc golf and growing the sport. His knowledge and experience are great additions to the talents on our team. We look forward to his ideas and contributions. ” - Cristina Carlstrom

Derek Tonn, who previously led the Course Development Committee has moved into a new role in the Disc Golf Foundation as the Director of Marketing and Communications. In this new role, he will bring his marketing background and entrepreneurial spirit to help the Disc Golf Foundation achieve its goals.

To learn more about Mike, read his bio:

About Mike

Mike Harrington discovered disc golf while looking for something to do with his wife along their 20 hour drive to Florida. He found a park called Freeman Lake Park in Elizabethtown, Kentucky that listed disc golf as an amenity. He went to the sporting goods store before they left, bought a couple discs for each of them and after 7 hours of driving they arrived at their first disc golf course. He fell in love immediately because it was free and it was fundamentally the same premise as golf, which had long been his main past-time, only using different equipment. It also presented a new challenge for him at a time when golf had become very monotonous. He joined the PDGA within a few days of playing his first round ever.

As he played more, he began volunteering to help improve his local courses. He relied on his Horticutural education and his professional experience in the lawn and landscape industry. After a couple years of pursuing design opportunities, he was contracted to design and install his first permanent 9 hole disc golf course in 2014, which is something he takes a lot of pride in doing. He’s been involved in 2 other projects since 2014 and looks forward to the other few projects in the pipeline. The main reason he wants to be so involved in course design is to create safer and more sustainable disc golf courses using thoughtful design, proper construction techniques, and appropriate maintenance practices.

Career high(low)lights: His second hole ever in PDGA history was a triple circle 8, which oddly enough took place on a temporary course on the golf course at which he was a member for many years so he really should have known whether he could clear that pond or not (all 3 times). He has played over 1100 courses in 36 states since he started playing the sport. He won 5 PDGA tournaments in 3 different Amateur divisions (Recreational, Intermediate, and Advanced Masters 40+).

Career aspirations: He wants to maintain an average of 100 new courses played for as long as he is physically able. He wants to be able to say he has played all of the top 25 courses in the world at some point. He would like to say he’s designed at least as many courses as years playing the sport by the end of his career.

Montcalm College Receives Matching Baskets!

Montcalm College in Sidney, Michigan is the latest recipient of the matching baskets program. The course opened on Saturday, Oct 20, 2018.