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Doug Bjerkaas, Dynamic Discs, part 2

Posted on by Pat Melgares

Let’s go to the disc golf capitol of the world. We could travel around the globe looking for such a designation, or we could go directly to… Emporia, Kansas.

Man standing in front of shelf filled with discs
Doug Bjerkaas, Dynamic Discs

Today we’ll learn more about a remarkable business in Emporia which, in many ways, has made its community the center of the disc golf universe.

Last week we learned about Dynamic Discs, the disc golf products company that was founded by Jeremy Rusco in Emporia.

Doug Bjerkaas is the president of Dynamic Discs today. Bjerkaas is an Illinois native who had a career in higher education administration and was playing disc golf for fun.

In 2007, Bjerkaas was living in Denver and attended the disc golf Frontier Open in Hays. He bought some Dynamic Discs t-shirts out of the back of Rusco’s truck. “I was very impressed with how approachable and friendly he was,” Bjerkaas said.

As a player, Bjerkaas was sponsored by Dynamic Discs, as was his daughter in later years. After serving as a tournament director for Dynamic Discs, he joined the company in 2016 and moved up through the ranks to become president in 2021. Through the years, he has seen the remarkable growth of the company and sport.

“Our purpose statement is simple: Dynamic Discs enriches lives through disc golf,” Bjerkaas said.

Continue reading “Doug Bjerkaas, Dynamic Discs, part 2” →

Jeremy Rusco, Dynamic Discs, part 1

Posted on by Pat Melgares

Let’s go to the Super Bowl – that is, the Super Bowl of disc golf.

It’s the Professional Disc Golf Association World Championships in Ogden, Utah. Many of the top competitors are using discs from a remarkable Kansas company.

Portrait, Jeremy Rusco
Jeremy Rusco

Jeremy Rusco is founder and CEO of Dynamic Discs, the business that provides the discs for many top competitors in the sport. Jeremy was a Great Bend native who came to Emporia State to play football, run track and study business. Jeremy also discovered the sport of disc golf.

Disc golf is played just like traditional golf in that the goal is to get to the target in as few tries as possible, except the player is using a round plastic disc instead of a ball, and the target is a metal pan mounted on a post, with chains hanging down to break the disc’s momentum when it reaches the target.

Of course, the player doesn’t use a club, but throws the disc at the target like throwing a frisbee.

However, the player needs different discs just like a golfer needs different clubs. In other words, discs are designed differently for drives, putts, etc. A competitive disc golfer might have 15 or more discs with a bag to carry them.

Rusco discovered the sport as a student at Emporia State. He found it was a lot of fun and figured he could buy more discs and sell the extras to others. He bought discs, put on cool designs and dyed them, and sold them on eBay. As interest grew, he set up his own business. After asking his girlfriend (now wife) Wendy what to name the company, he settled on the name Dynamic Discs.

“I never expected it to be anything more than a college hobby, but after graduating in 2006, it was evident that there was something special about the disc golf community,” Rusco said. Continue reading “Jeremy Rusco, Dynamic Discs, part 1” →