A pair of Austin disc golfers took a big trip to test themselves against the world’s best, and they found out that they rank pretty high.

Austin grads Jordan Castro and Adam May totaled a team score of 251 to take second place in the Advanced Category at the Pro Disc Golf Association World Doubles Tournament at Mount Vernon, Tex. recently.

“It was pretty surreal,” said May, a 2011 Austin grad, who attends St. Cloud St. University. “It was just a great experience, especially when we came out with a second place finish. We thought that we could compete pretty well, but we didn’t expect to do as well as we did.”

The pair drove a total of 28 hours to compete in the weekend tournament, but they were able to play in the top two ranked courses in the world and two new courses that hadn’t been played on before. One of the holes was 1,019 feet long and Castro said the courses, which were heavily wooded, pushed disc golfers to the brink of their abilities.

“It was way different than Austin,” Castro said. “You have to hit your shot perfect and a lot of them you can’t even see the hole from the tee.”

Castro and May, who had just two bogeys all weekend in Texas, normally compete in 20 to 25 disc golf tournaments per year and they usually finish in the top five or top 10, but this tournament was special because they got to pick up some new ideas on how to play the game. They traveled the second farthest out of anyone at the tournament in Texas to get there and they met all kinds of new people.

“It was fun just to meet new people and promote the sport,” Castro said.

Castro and May qualified for the tournament by being certified in the PDGA and they made up their minds that they were going to make the trip two months ago. The two of have been partners for quite some time now as May has played disc golf for 11 years and Castro has played for six years.

Castro recalled seeing someone throw an ace when he was younger and thought it looked cool. Now he has 55 aces in his disc golf career.

May said Castro has come a long way in a short time as a disc golfer.

“I remember when he couldn’t even throw a frisbee,” May said. “Now he’s probably one of the top ones in the state. It’s incredible how far he’s come in a short time.”

This time of year is a big time for disc golfers as the weather gets warmer and the grass gets green.

“It’s something to look forward to all year,” May said. “Just getting outside with friends and getting exercise is great after being stuck inside all winter.”

Castro and May thanked their sponsors, Jason Linnett and Nik Johnson, the owners of J&J disc golf shop in Austin.