After a 44th-place finish last season, Boise State’s club disc golf team returns to the Division I National Championships with clearer direction and stronger results to support it.
A year ago, the tournament exposed their weakness and made the need for improvement clear. Early struggles in singles play created a deficit the Broncos never recovered from, leaving them near the bottom of the leaderboard.
The storyline has shifted this season, as a more confident and complete group steps forward, ready to compete.
Player ratings across the roster have climbed, reflecting more consistent scoring and sharper execution. Andrew Thompson reached a career-high rating of 933. Michael Collins recorded two rounds above a 1000 rating, including a 1002-rated performance at the MidSouth Collegiate Open, the highest-rated round in program history.
Several teammates followed a similar trajectory. Jack McElwee sits near a 950 rating and is projected to reach a career-best 958 in the next update. Jakob Owen recently achieved a personal best of 916, while Collins currently holds a 952 rating.
Those gains signal improvement in a sport built on precision, where small margins often decide outcomes.
Player ratings serve as a standardized measure of performance, calculated based on how a player scores relative to the field on a given course. A 1000 rating represents elite, professional-level play, while anything in the 900s signals strong, competitive consistency. Small jumps in rating reflect meaningful improvement, especially in a sport where a single stroke can shift standings.
“We’ve seen players hit their new all-time highs,” head coach Zachary Coleman said. “It’s been pretty clear they’ve all improved a good amount.”
Nationals begin with singles play, where each competitor’s performance contributes directly to team positioning. Boise State struggled in that format last year, a reality players acknowledged.
“We all did pretty bad,” Collins said. “We were kind of crumbling.”
Preparation for this season has centered on limiting early mistakes. Players emphasize controllable factors — shot selection, course awareness and composure under pressure — rather than focusing on placement.
“We’ve been a lot more consistent this year,” Thompson said. “We’re not letting one bad shot or stroke get in our heads and turn into multiple mistakes.
Collectively, the team has set a goal to finish around the top 30, with a top-20 finish in reach, while keeping expectations steady and avoiding added pressure/.
The shift became evident during the MidSouth Collegiate Open in Arkansas, where Boise State secured a Division I bid. Strong singles rounds provided a foundation for steady team scoring.
Additional tournaments reinforced the trend. Boise State placed fourth in team competition at the Cascadia Collegiate Invitational and continued to produce consistent individual finishes. At the Boise Collegiate Clash, McElwee recorded a first-place finish in singles play.
Progress this season reflects a clear shift in approach, as the team has moved away from chasing scores and instead prioritized consistency in controllable areas such as shot selection, course awareness and composure in high-pressure moments.
“We don’t have room to be dropping strokes in the controllables,” Coleman said.
Boise State now plays with urgency, where every shot affects both the individual and the team.
Boise State enters Nationals lacking many of the advantages other Division I programs have. Coleman said some schools fund travel, offer scholarships and train in specialized facilities.Boise State’s club team receives little support from the school and operates almost entirely on its own.
“We’re almost entirely self-funded,” Coleman said. “We’re coming out and competing with programs that have been around for a long time.”
Those limitations heighten the importance of preparation. The team studies course layouts, tracks performance data and prioritizes physical readiness to minimize mistakes.
Expectations entering Nationals reflect a balance between realism and confidence. Coaches avoid setting a specific placement goal, instead focusing on performance.
“There’s no expectations in terms of where we finish,” Coleman said. “But I know this team can compete much better than they did last year.”
For Boise State, progress now appears in measurable ways — higher ratings, stronger rounds and more consistent execution. The result is a team returning to Nationals not only with experience but with evidence of growth.
