Every Shot Matters

Jim Ned senior Corban Nix has turned disc golf from a family pastime into a path toward Junior Worlds and possibly a collegiate future.

Corban Nix spends most days doing the same thing: practicing disc golf.

The rising senior at Jim Ned High School plays daily, constantly working on his throws, refining his consistency and preparing for tournaments that now take him across Texas—and soon, to one of the biggest junior disc golf events in the world.

What started only a few years ago as a family outing has quickly turned into something much bigger.

Back in 2022, a friend of Corban’s father, Shannon Nix, invited him to play a round of disc golf in Brownwood. Shannon decided to bring Corban and his brother along.

That introduction changed everything.

Now, disc golf has become Corban’s primary athletic focus, one he hopes will eventually take him to the collegiate level and possibly beyond.

“It’s an up-and-coming sport,” Corban said.

Disc golf works much like traditional golf, except players throw specialized flying discs toward elevated metal baskets instead of hitting golf balls into holes. Courses can stretch through parks, wooded areas and rugged terrain, forcing players to balance distance, accuracy and strategy while battling changing wind conditions.

For Corban, the challenge became addictive almost immediately.

LEARNING THE GAME
Unlike athletes in more traditional sports, Corban didn’t grow up with coaches, private lessons or organized youth teams guiding his development. Instead, he taught himself.

Shannon said Corban learned by watching YouTube videos and through repetition.

That self-motivation is what stands out most to his father.

“When he’s all in, he’s all in,” Shannon said. “We don’t coach him—he practices because he wants to. Goes all in because he wants to be successful.”

That drive shows how quickly Corban improved.

Today, he regularly competes in tournaments throughout Texas, traveling to places like San Angelo, Lubbock and the Dallas area. Along the way, he has become familiar with many of the same competitors he sees from tournament to tournament.

Most of those trips happen with his dad.

“Traveling with him is great—we have a great time,” Shannon said.

Sometimes Shannon competes as well, playing in his own division while Corban plays in his.

Much of Corban’s development has happened close to home.

In Abilene, he regularly plays at Cal Young Park and Will Hair Park, two of the area’s primary disc golf courses. But one of his favorite places to play sits a little farther south in Ovalo.

Rocky Hills Disk Golf Course, owned by Cam Hurst—a former principal who started his vision as simply a “retirement project” —is widely regarded as one of the top disc golf courses in Texas and has earned recognition among elite courses worldwide. Corban described it as one of the “top 100 courses in the world.”

The course includes elevated tee pads, dramatic terrain and even a massive green shaped like the state of Texas.

For Corban, having access to courses like that has helped sharpen his game.

And the sport itself continues to grow rapidly.

Countries like Finland and Norway have become major disc golf hotspots internationally, while participation in the United States has exploded over the last decade. Corban noted that there are thousands of courses around the world now, and the top-ranked player in the world is American.

That growth is beginning to create opportunities at the college level as well.

Corban said some colleges are starting to introduce disc golf programs through their athletic departments, particularly schools on the East Coast.

As for his own plans, he said his family is “looking into it.”

CHOOSING DISC GOLF
He hopes to continue playing competitively in college while majoring in accounting.

Before focusing heavily on disc golf, Corban was involved in several other sports at Jim Ned.

As a freshman and sophomore, he played football, basketball and ran track. This past year, he competed in triple jump and played tennis.

Eventually, though, he decided to step away from football and basketball so he could devote more time to disc golf.

The decision reflects how serious the sport has become for him—not just physically, but mentally.

“I give myself the most pressure,” Corban said. “I know I’m capable and I want to compete well.”

That internal pressure has helped shape his competitive mindset. Disc golf is often described as highly mental, requiring players to recover quickly from mistakes and stay focused over long rounds.

Corban said competing has helped him become mentally tougher.

He said he has learned to focus on the “next shot” and on “finishing strong.”

THE ROAD TO JUNIOR WORLDS
This summer, Corban will compete in the Junior World Championships, one of the premier events in youth disc golf.

He qualified by accumulating enough points through tournament play, a process that rewards consistent high-level performances throughout the season.

The event is a major step up from local and regional tournaments.

“It’s a cool event,” Corban said.

Junior Worlds draws elite youth players from across the globe. According to Corban, last year’s tournament included competitors from 11 different countries, including Finland and Germany.

This year’s tournament will take place in Pittsburgh after last year’s event was held in Kansas.

Each age division includes 144 players, with around 500 competitors overall. Unlike many other tournaments Corban enters, Junior Worlds separates players strictly by age group, meaning the best junior players in the world are competing directly against each other.

That international aspect is part of what makes the tournament unique.

For one week, the sport’s top young players all gather in one place, turning the event into something closer to a major championship atmosphere than a typical youth tournament.

Corban said the host city embraces the event, with local communities organizing activities and welcoming players and families throughout the week.

POWER, PRECISION AND CONTROL
At most tournaments during the year, Corban plays against everyone, not just players his own age.

And according to Shannon, he handles that challenge well.

“He beats everyone,” Shannon said.

At the highest levels of disc golf, power becomes almost difficult to comprehend.

“It’s insane how far pros can throw,” Shannon said.

Top professional players can throw discs nearly 600 feet—the equivalent of about two football fields.

Corban already throws more than 500 feet himself.

That combination of power and control is part of what has allowed him to compete at such a high level at a young age.

Still, the sport requires much more than distance alone. Wind, terrain, shot selection and mental focus all factor heavily into success.

That complexity is one reason Corban remains drawn to the game. Every course presents different challenges. Every round requires adjustments.

And every shot matters.

Corban said he would be interested in eventually competing on the professional tour, a path that has become increasingly realistic as disc golf continues expanding nationally.

Closer to home, he has already seen examples of what that can look like.

He pointed to Abilene native Emily Weatherman as an example of how far the sport can take someone. Weatherman has become one of the top professional women’s disc golfers in the country, competing on the Disc Golf Pro Tour and winning professional tournaments around the United States. The Abilene player was named the Disc Golf Pro Tour’s Female Rookie of the Year in 2024 and has continued climbing the professional rankings while competing internationally.

For now, though, Corban remains focused on improving one day at a time.

That means more practice rounds. More tournaments. More travel weekends with his dad.

And more pressure—mostly from himself.

“I give myself the most pressure,” he said.

It’s a mentality that has helped take Corban from a first-time player in 2022 to one of the top junior disc golfers in the region only a few years later.

And with Junior Worlds ahead and college opportunities beginning to emerge, his rise in the sport may only be getting started.