Tell Austin grad Alec Anderson that you’re into disc golfing, and you’re sure to put a smile on his face.

Anderson first started disc golfing when the sport was still in its infancy and now he’s doing whatever he can to help the sport grow. In recent years, he has risen to the pro ranks after he helped start up a school disc golf club team at the University of Wisconsin-Plateville.

Anderson grew up on disc golf with his dad Dean Anderson and he hasn’t let go of the sport since.

“I’m really lucky I get to say I’m one of the very first generational disc golfers. My dad got me into it right when I was born,” Alec said. “There was just me and my friend [William Bednar] playing out there. We were kind of the first real young ones to play in Austin.”

When Alec was growing up in Austin, he made big waves in the pool as he competed in the Minnesota Class A State Diving Meet in his senior season, but he was making far bigger marks behind the scenes out at Driesner Park, where he spent up to eight hours per day playing disc golf with his friends in the summer. Eventually he began to play with Jordan Castro, who Alec now sometimes runs into during pro tournaments.

“I still talk to Castro almost every single day. He’s still got a little one up on me and I’m still working hard to catch him,” Alec said. “The want to win and the desire to succeed have driven me. I love to win. I hate losing more than I like winning. I hate knowing somebody worked harder than me or practiced harder than me. I think a lot of my ability to stay mentally focused in disc golf came from diving in high school. That five seconds of focus before every dive and every throw is so important. You have to do what you practiced every day for so many years.”

Alec is now entering his fifth year as a student at UW-Plateville and he has a had huge impact on the growth of disc golf on campus. In his sophomore year he helped from the disc golf club with one of his friends and the team has competed in the National Collegiate Disc Golf Championships in North August, South Carolina in each of the last three years — taking 24th in 2015, and finishing fourth in 2016 and 2017.

Alec said he had to actively search for members to get the team started. He also had to write a constitution for the club and find an advisor.

“It’s just a lot of meeting people on the course and trying to get people to come to the team,” Alec said. “UW-Platville helps out clubs immensely. It’s amazing how they helped us out with the drive down to nationals so we could go down and represent the school.”

Last summer was a big one for Alec as he took fourth in an amateur major in Michigan and he took third place in the Amateur Worlds in Quad Cities, Iowa. By the end of the summer he was a pro as he earned sponsorships from MVP Disc Sports and Savage Ultimate.

“Last summer I had the greatest summer I could possibly ask for as a disc golfer,” Alec said. “Taking third in Quad Cities was absolutely immaculate and it was one of the biggest accomplishments of my life. It has opened up doors for me that I could have never imagined.”

While he’s played in tournaments and made new disc golfing friends all over the country, Alec has never forgotten about those that have helped him along the way.

“I’d like to say thank you first to my family for teaching me the great sport and always supporting me and my love for the sport. My girlfriend Bailey for always being at every tournament and practice round with me,” Alec said.