30 Sep 2021 Set to soar

By Becky Bell

Some people have a problem keeping junk mail from scattering throughout the house. But at Thomas Rouse’s house, discs for disc golf are everywhere.

“When you come into our house, they are on the bar, they are on the dining room table, they are on the hearth of the fireplace,” said Kati Rouse, Thomas’ mom. “There are a ton of them in the garage. They are just stacked everywhere. He has a bunch in his room.”

The 10-year-old is a fifth-grader at Heber Springs Elementary. He competed in the Junior World Disc Golf Championship in July in Emporia, Kansas. He placed 20th out of 40 participants. Kati said her son did well for having never been in that type of a tournament before.

“There was pressure, and you had cameras, you had crowds all of a sudden,” Kati said. “At local tournaments, you don’t have a lot of people. It was intense. I mean it was five days and on one day he played two rounds, and this was really the first time he had competition and he was playing in the 12-year-old division.”

Thomas plays disc golf every Sunday locally with the Heber Springs Mossy Bluff Disc Golf Association. He mostly wins every game with other recreational players and sometimes wins against the advanced players.

He became interested in the sport at an early age, he said. His father, Jamie, and his friend Tony Simmons helped that interest to spark into a hobby.

“So, my dad’s friend was probably playing with him that first year we started playing,” Thomas said. “He told us about it when I was 4 and I thought it was amazing. Then I got my first disc at Christmas when I was 5.”

Kati said the Rouses’ home is on 3 acres and her son spends most of his free time outside playing disc golf.

“He just goes out the door and throws discs until dark,” she said. “He kind of has a knack for it.”

And his talent with the game has shown. He won in the local Wildcat Open in Hot Springs in March and the Persimmon Ridge Open in Greenbrier on Sept. 4.

Thomas said he wants to get even better in the sport, and his mother said that will mean the family will need to travel more. He has a 13-year-old sister named Allie, and his maternal grandparents are Wayne and Janet Randolph, who also live in his hometown. His paternal grandparents are James and Debbie Rouse from Southaven, Miss.

Kati said that disc golf has seen a lot of growth in the past year because of the pandemic. “A lot of people picked it up because other sports weren’t happening, and we are seeing more kids around Arkansas and that will give him more tournament experience,” she said.

The boy also enjoys soccer and skateboarding, but if he can find someone to play with, Thomas prefers disc golf.

“It’s just really something that I’m good at,” he said. “In my childhood — well, I’m still in my childhood — I didn’t play a lot of sports and all that, but disc golf stood out to me.”