Dave Feldberg was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, just outside of Washington D.C. At ten years old, his family moved to Delton, MI. He was a very bright student, excelled at sports from basketball to soccer, and played saxophone in the band.
While in High School, Dave was involved in a serious car accident and injured his left foot to the point that the doctors said he would never play any sports again. Stubbornly, he continued to pursue soccer, and in college he broke his ankle badly. After those surgeries, they said he would never walk right again.
While attending college in Western Michigan, he was introduced to Disc Golf for the first time. He was 20 years old. One of his friends who took him out to play said, “we took dave to play one day, and then next thing we knew he was playing tournaments”. Born with a love of competition, Dave went on to play over 500 professional events over the next two decades.
Traveling with the first groups of players that played for a living, he absorbed many techniques from the game’s first great players, such as Climo, Russel, Schultz, and Al Schack. He continued to travel the world playing professional disc golf, until 2005, when he and his current touring partner, Avery Jenkins, decided to complete their degrees at University of Oregon. He graduated cum laude with a bachelors in Japanese and Business Management.
While in college, he won his first major title: the USDGC in 2005, and claimed a check for $11,000 dollars. By the time he graduated, he had emerged as the #1 ranked player in the world. That same summer of 2008, he claimed his World title in Kalamazoo, MI, and won by a record-tying 15 strokes.
Over the next few years, Dave toured off and on, flying back and forth to the University of Oregon. He had started a disc golf program in the PARs department, and added disc golf to the permanent curriculum. He was a great teacher and was offered the opportunity to start similar programs at other colleges. He branched out and help start Lane Community College’s disc golf program.
During this process, he became aware that he would need more than an undergraduate degree to pursue other schools. With the help of the Dean of Lane Community College, they put together an impressive curriculum vitae of Dave’s experience in the field. The state awarded him a masters level accreditation in sports education with a focus in disc golf. He also coached and helped start the University of Oregon disc golf team. They went on to win the College National Championships in 2010.
Now living in Scottsdale, Arizona, Dave is ranked second in the world. He travels to all major events, International championships, and US National Tours. He is sponsored by Latitude 64 golf discs, VooDoo golf bags, Keen Footwear, Huk Lab Gear, Frisbeepoint, and Onnit Labs. He has recently undergone surgery on his foot to extend his career.
Dave’s career highlights are 7 time major champion (second all time), 17 national tour wins (all time leader), two time player of the year (2008, 2010), 3 time PDGA points leader, 3 time national series champion, winner of 11 country titles, and over 100 professional wins. His media highlights are appearances on the Conan O’Brien show (2007 cbs), Criss Angel Mindfreak (2010 A&E), and countless daytime tv talk shows and news broadcasts. He has been featured on USA golf, New York Times, and most recently on Beach sports network’s Disc TV.
As one of the games great ambassadors, Dave donates to Disc Golf Non-profits yearly, runs professional tournaments, and was formerly the PDGA Board of Directors Vice President and Secretary (2009-2012). He has many other passions other than disc golf, but rarely finds the time to enjoy them. Dave Feldberg is committed to taking disc golf to the next level.
Photo Credit: HawShen Tan Flinchum
