Team members (from left) Mitchell Lange, Kyle Sennett, 2026 recruit Daniel Perry, DI men's hockey player Kal Essenmacher, Head Coach Steve Bowman, Assistant Coach Devin Swartz, and David Perry, Daniel's father, participated in the 11-day sports outreach trip to Finland.
Disc golf players, coaches, a recruit, and a hockey player help run World Championships in Finland
8/8/2025 6:15:00 PM | Disc Golf
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Teaming with disc golf ministry Eagles Wings, the group served as volunteers for the PDGA’s largest and most prestigious event and worked at a VBS in the home church of Operation Mobilisation Finland Director Dave Pike.
A seven-man team that included two members of Liberty University's disc golf team and their two coaches, a 2026 recruit and his father, and a Division I men's hockey player traveled to Finland in late July to work with two ministry organizations and offer volunteer assistance at the July 30-Aug. 3 PDGA World Championships.
That event was held outside of the United States for the first time in several years in Nokia and Tampere, Finland. With its more than 1,000 courses and more than 1 million players, disc golf is the second-most popular sport to ice hockey in the country with a population of just over 5.5 million.
Last August, when the World Championships were held in nearby Bedford County, Va., for the first time, most of the Flames' and Lady Flames' players volunteered with course set-up, crowd control, and scoring the event the weekend before classes started. That was when Head Coach Steve Bowman was offered the opportunity to take a team to Finland — where Liberty's DI men's and women's hockey teams have traveled three times over the past five years — to serve in a similar capacity overseas.
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Essenmacher was welcomed to the team with open arms by Flames players Sennett, Lange, and Daniel Perry, a 2026 commitment.
The team that included rising senior Kyle Sennett, rising junior Mitchell Lange, Fall 2026 recruit Daniel Perry and his father, David, who is a former pastor, DI men's hockey rising sophomore forward Kal Essenmacher, Bowman, and Assistant Coach Devin Swartz witnessed the world's best professional players in their element.
Sennett said in the professional ranks, driving distance off the tee pad isn't always as indicative of success as staying on the fairways and making putts.
"Watching their style of play, the main thing I picked up on from some of the professional players was the mental aspect of the game rather than the physical aspects," he said. "It helped me refocus on the fact that the main difference between high-end professionals and people who are almost there is the consistency aspect of it. There are not many pros that can throw insanely far that also have consistent accuracy, which is more important."
Essenmacher, who competes in disc golf when he's not playing hockey, noticed similarities in the way professional players in both sports approach their respective games.
"We got to go behind the scenes while working the tournament, to see how professionals carry themselves and how composed they are," he said. "Professionals always seem locked in, and are never seen messing around, very similar to how I try to carry myself before (hockey) games. You get into a zone and know what you're playing for."
The tournament featured a field of 200 men's and 88 women's players and representatives from a record 48 countries, including 117 from the United States and 129 from European countries, with 57 from Finland.
"It was cool to get to see the Fins playing, and the Finnish players were close to the top of the leaderboard, so that made it more exciting for many of the fans on hand," Bowman said. "The biggest stars in the sport are from that country, and they had live coverage from Disc Golf Network and Finnish TV."
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Justin Rosak ('22, shown putting on the Monster course, above) and Matt Anderson narrowly missed the cut to advance to the finals.
 Two 2022 alumni of the Flames, Matt Anderson (tied for 110th at even-par 260 through four rounds) and Justin Rosak (tied for 123rd at 3-over 263), both made the first wave of the tournament field and posted strong showings, narrowly missing advancing to the final round. (Complete scores are available online.) Daniel Perry, from California, just missed the cut to compete in the tournament.
Liberty's players and coaches had a couple of opportunities to play on the courses after competition concluded for the day.
"That was like a dream," Lange said of the practice rounds on The Beast, in Nokia, and The Monster in Tampere. "I never expected to be able to play on the same course the pros were playing on. They were extremely challenging."
"A lot of pros saw The Monster as one of the top courses they had played that year, so it was an amazing opportunity and a really cool experience to play it," Sennett added.
"That might be the last time anyone will be able to play on The Beast, which is on property that is being developed," Bowman added. "The Beast was more open and spectator friendly. The gallery was massive on the last two days."
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Daniel Perry holds a scoreboard and Bowman and Sennett quiet signs for the crowd.
Sennett said working the tournaments, including following the top two men's and top three women's cards around the course to display players' scores on sign posts, was as much of a highlight.
"Volunteering is always something I enjoy doing at tournaments, where it is sometimes hard for directors to gather the amount of help that is needed," Sennett said. "On Sunday, the final day when there were around 10,000 people there, I mainly did crowd control. I also got to help with the scoreboard and got to see a lot of the tournament. To go out and serve as a volunteer and representative of Liberty was fantastic."
"The Worlds is a hectic event, being held there for the first time, but we jumped in and had enough tournament experience from playing to help out," Bowman said.
On the night of July 31, as many as 20 professional players in the tournament took time out of their schedules to participate in a praise and worship service led by Eagles Wings, a disc golf ministry designed to help players grow in their faith, find community, and become disciple-makers. Liberty's representatives had the opportunity to meet and fellowship with many of the players for 45 minutes after the service.
"It was really inspiring to see pro athletes in another sport sharing their love for God," Essenmacher said. "The 20 or so pros that were there seemed to really enjoy the time of worship, and the chance to get outside from the competitive environment and refocus and remember Who they were ultimately playing for. It really gives me encouragement to see how Christ unites everyone in different sports through Himself."
Sennett noted that Finland is a secular nation and a mission field for Christian players.
 "In Finland, people don't really associate competing in sports as a way to serve God, but through our example, we showed there is a way to praise God and do work through disc golf, while getting the Word out of what our faith is all about," he said.
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Team members taught disc golf to around 50 children in a VBS at the church of Operation Mobilisation Finland Director Dave Pike.
What left the most lasting impression on Lange, more than the tournament itself, was the opportunity to serve in a Vacation Bible School and teach the sport of disc golf to children ranging in age from 5-12.
"The most impactful part of the trip was working at the kids' camp, which was great," Lange said. "A lot of those kids looked up to us, which I didn't expect considering we were random college students from the United States. It was exciting to lead and to coach them, and we shared with them the faith aspect of why we were there."
He said while the youngest kids required a translator to interpret for them, those who were 10 or older could mostly understand English.
"Disc golf is a good sport to be able to talk to people, because you're not running around and can hold a conversation while you are playing," Lange said.
He had been to Europe once before with his family as a tourist, but this time, he felt more like a resident.
"We were not going from sightseeing spot to sightseeing spot," Lange said. "This time, actually being in the culture and living normally, how they live, was a much more immersive experience."
That VBS was held at the home church of Operation Mobilisation Finland Director Dave Pike, Hämeenlinna Internation Christian Fellowship and Freechurch, which has hosted Liberty's men's and women's hockey teams for Christmas and New Year's celebrations and sports clinics in recent years.
"(Pike) was excited to have another layer of ministry, to see the sport of disc golf growing there, and the kids were really excited for it," Bowman said. "We gave them a vision, taught them how to play, and brought them some discs and gave away bracelets that talk about the whole armor of God. We also had some hats and tried to outfit them in some disc golf gear rather than hockey gear."
Bowman and Essenmacher had an opportunity to share their testimonies with the main body of the church with the help of a translator app that interpreted into several different languages spoken by the international congregation.
"That was a little nerve-racking, but when I'm pushed outside of my comfort zone, that's when I'm able to grow," he said.
He said the team worked together to communicate God's love to the kids during the disc golf clinic, held on a short temporary course set up for the camp.
"Obviously, we went there with a mission to serve and give glory to God," said Essenmacher, who will return to Finland with the DI men's hockey team in January. "Everyone was interactive, and everyone truly wanted to serve, and it's a really cool thing to be a part of a group that just wants to serve and to put others before themselves."
The overall experience left Sennett and Lange eager to return to Liberty to play with their collegiate teammates, sharpening one another as iron sharpens iron.
"I am excited to come back for my senior year," Sennett said. "We lost a few seniors, but we've got a pretty strong team that has played with each other for a while now and will be able to compete at (College Disc Golf) nationals."
As it did with the World Championships last August, Liberty's team will help the PDGA put on the Oct. 16-18 Pro Tour Championship at the Ivy Hill Golf Club and New London Tech courses in Bedford County.Â
By Ted Allen/Staff WriterThe World Championships will return to the United States the next two years, in Michigan in 2026 and Portland in 2027, before possibly returning to Europe after this year's event drew record numbers of spectators in Finland, where many of the top players are from.
