They Said It: Social Media Reacts to Brodie Smith at 999
They Said It: Social Media Reacts to Brodie Smith at 999
Smith's rapid ascent brought out praise and challengers.
Brodie Smith lines up a shot at the 25th Annual Texas State Disc Golf Championship in October. Photo: Hayden Henry / PDGA
Brodie Smith jumped into disc golf and took the sport by storm in 2020.
Smith made his Disc Golf Pro Tour debut at the Waco Annual Charity Open in March. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen / DGPT
He hit the practice field, the Tour and then the practice field again, all while setting a big goal for himself: Hit the 1,000-rated mark.
So close.
Smith, just under a year since joining the PDGA with an infamous Twitter post, closed out the 2020 season with a 999 rating in the final update of the year on Tuesday.
Social media reacted in a big way:
High Praise
It is crazy how good he got in a year. – Ray Johnson
People blow my mind. A year ago lots of of fellow disc golfers said it was all for show and he’s not any good and ragged on him nonstop. All he’s done is get more eyes on our sport that we all love, and work his butt off and become a good player. And people still hating. Get off your imaginary high horses people. Appreciate the hard work he’s put in. Dude went from a noob to legit pro in a year. I’m impressed. – Zach Melton
It's wild how fast he's improved. Getting to a 1k rating in a year is no joke. He's been polarizing (for largely stupid reasons,) but I can't hate on a guy for working his way into playing disc golf for a living. – Luke Gordon
Challengers
Congrats...come on out to Kalamazoo area and test out that 999. – Adam Dahlgren
Match play me in Massachusetts, we’ll see if you're 999 Brodie Smith – Yadon Stanzione
Or Not
Aight imma quit now. – Edwin Rodriguez
Smith reacts to a shot at Idlewild in August. He would pick up his first PDGA win later that month. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen / DGPT
Inspiration
Ok I'm gonna be honest. When I first heard of you I thought, here's a guy that can throw far but he's no pro. Now I've seen your work and your vast improvement as an inspiration. Keep it up my man! – Nathan Sanford
Keep up kicking butt and being entertaining while doing it! It's fun and inspiring – Nick Mascia
So close but watching Paul and you play on YouTube got me into the sport and now I’m hooked! Don’t get discouraged as someone else said with everything that happened this year can’t be to upset with a 999 rating. You will definitely make it next year! Congrats again. – David Knott Jr.
So Close
"Ok @PDGA I’m ready to be disappointed tomorrow. Don’t make me suffer too long to hit 1000 #998 #999"
— Brodie Smith (@brodiesmith21) December 7, 2020
"If I was the @PDGA, I’d give brodie the first ever 999.9 #trolled"
— Austin Hannum (@austinhannum) December 7, 2020
Just Getting Started
"Everybody wanted to know what I would do after quitting disc golf this year."
— Brodie Smith (@brodiesmith21) December 8, 2020
Comments
Love what Brodie is doing for
Love what Brodie is doing for the sport. A person having a rating of 1000 after only one year in the sport is impressive in its own right. However, I would have to say, that if I was a professional disc thrower (Ultimate) and the apprentice of the world's best player that I most certainly should be able to meet the goal of 1000 rated in one season. Nonetheless, that is not my or many other's reality, most of us did not come into the sport with an existing skill set nor do we have a world-class mentor to guide our development. I believe that many players would have very similar success to Brodie if they received the support that he has (given they have a somewhat refined disc throwing skillset). This is not to say that I do not love watching the story as it unfolds, I am looking forward to Brodie having a top 4 finish in a Major in 2021.