Stacie Rawnsley returned to gambling in 2019 and decided to pursue pro status after losing her job during the pandemic.
FISHERS, Ind. – Stacie Rawnsley, native of fishermen, has always loved throwing things. She was a pitcher for the Fishers High School softball team, continued to play to the next level, and also picked up Ultimate Frisbee in college.
Just two years ago, she turned to disc golf.
“There is just something so beautiful about the theft of the record,” Rawnsley said. “Once you see a fly with an ‘S’ shape and you see how far it can really go, you’re so ecstatic about it. It brings you so much joy and you don’t know why.
Rawnsley first discovered the sport in 2019 when a friend took her to a disc golf course. She admits she was a little skeptical at first.
“I was like ‘no disc golf is going to be lame’ and then I got a disc to fly properly for the first time and I was completely hooked on it.”
Rawnsley understood this quickly due to his background in softball and Frisbee. At first it was really just for fun. Then, during the March 2020 pandemic, Rawnsley lost her job as a pet store manager in Indianapolis. It was then that she decided to take the plunge and go pro.
“I had two months because you could distance yourself socially while playing disc golf. You just don’t put in the baskets, so I got to work out a ton during the two months that everyone was locked out, so I was like “why not?”
Now a rookie on the Professional Disc Golf Association tour, Rawnsley has spent the last few months competing in events across the country. She travels the country solo in her Honda Element with a small motorhome attached to the back.
“I sleep in there and literally travel across the United States in a car and sleep wherever I want. I mean, it’s an adventure, isn’t it? “She said.
It’s an adventure and Rawnsley makes it happen, currently ranked in the top 20 of the PDGA rankings. This week, she’s competing at the World Disc Golf Championships in Ogden, Utah.
“My goal is to reach the top 30, which I think is very doable,” she said.
Rawnsley said she plans to join the tour next year and hopefully beyond. She also says she wants to buy a bigger motorhome.
“My goal is to have a passenger van and equip it to live in something much more livable than my car and my little pod. So yeah, I’m definitely going to do that in the long term.
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