Jonathan Ray gets to live the life most disc golfers only dream of doing, traveling and working for disc golf. Jonathan has been traveling the country in his Dynamic Discs RV setting up his moving disc golf pro shop at big events. Although he does not get to play as often as he'd like, from time to time he makes sure to fit in some tournament play. This year the PDGA Masters Worlds was in Kansas City which gave Jonathan the opportunity to compete.
At the time of this article, the competition had just started, but he had already garnered a world title, Long Drive Champion at 2018 Masters Worlds. We asked Jonathan a few questions about his winning throw at this year's field events.
Dynamic Discs: How long have you been playing disc golf?
Jonathan: I started playing disc golf in 2010 recreationally and my competitive nature quickly pushed me into tournament play. I’ve been traveling the country in one of the DD RV’s competing and bringing the DD love to the lower 48 states for the last 4 years.
Dynamic Discs: What disc did you throw and did you only throw one mold?
Jonathan: I threw 2 Enforcers and 3 Ballista Pros in the competition.
Dynamic Discs: Why did you pick that disc(s)?
Jonathan: This competition requires not only distance but accuracy as well. I chose my enforcers for their stability at high speeds to make sure I got some qualifying throws in bounds before I went for the big shots. The Ballista Pro is what I typically use for raw distance but they can be a little more touchy when thrown hard but have unparalleled glide for a high-speed driver.
Dynamic Discs: What were the wind conditions and did that cause you to make any adjustments to your normal throwing?
Jonathan: I got to warm up a little to test the wind and it was an odd right to left crosswind. I wasn’t able to throw hyzer flips because the crosswind would push them down too quickly so I went with my more overstable discs and threw more straight line flex shots.
Dynamic Discs: You get 5 tries right, which one got the most distance? 
Jonathan: My 3rd throw was the one that won it for me with my Ballista Pro at 501 feet. I had two safe throws in bounds at about 475 feet and then started pressing with the last three. I was trying to hit the 600 mark with my last two but the crosswind wasn’t letting them come out of the turn with that much spin on them.
Dynamic Discs: Did you throw at the beginning of the day or toward the end, after throwing your furthest throw, how confident were you that it had a chance to win?
Jonathan: I threw as soon as we were able at 11 am. I wanted to get out and get a practice round in at Waterworks that afternoon so it made sense to go early.
I honestly didn’t think that distance would win. I had thrown much further warming up with a slight tailwind. The crosswind forced me to adjust and lower my expectations. I anticipated needing 550 feet to win and left feeling like that wouldn’t hold up.
Dynamic Discs: What advice do you have for players that are running to achieve maximum distance?
Jonathan: The best advice I can give players trying to gain distance is to focus on your core strength and legs. That’s where your power is coming from. Create torque from your lower body. Don’t try and throw harder, try and throw efficiently using your bigger muscle groups. Smooth is fast and fast is far!
Congrats to Jonathan Ray on his world title!
