YORKTON - When it comes to disc golf it is increasingly a worldwide sport.
So when wanting to discuss discs from Latitude 64 and Discmania I reached out to Kristin Tattar, one of their pros.
Tattar hails from Estonia, which I admit I had to Google to fully understand where it is in the world. Situated in northeastern Europe, Estonia juts out into the Baltic Sea, which surrounds the country to the north and west. To the east Estonia is bounded by Russia, and to the south it is bounded by Latvia.
So via email I immediately had to ask how Tattar was introduced to disc golf.
“I was around 21-22 when I first tried disc golf,” she replied. “It was relatively new in Estonia and I had never heard of it before, but I tried it with some friends and immediately liked it. Not necessarily in a competitive way but it was just a fun thing to do while being outside enjoying nature.
“I remember I had just had my daughter and this was a good active way for me to spend time outside while she was in a stroller sleeping.”
As Tattar was developing as a budding star, the sport itself was growing in her country.
“Back when I started, no one really knew what disc golf was, but I think today it will be hard to find a person in Estonia who hasn't heard about disc golf,” she said.
“The sport has grown a lot in recent years and I´m happy I got to witness it. It feels like every town/village has their own disc golf course - opportunities to play the game here are really good.”
While disc golf is a great recreation, there had to be something which made Tattar pursue it to the level of playing professionally around the world.
“I think when I won my first Estonian Nationals in 2014, then I thought maybe there is more to it,” she said. “(The) next year I signed up with the PDGA and started competing everywhere I could. One thing led to another and here I am today.”
Today for Tattar means being number two on the United States Tour, and has 71 career wins on her resume.
Tattar said her career highlight to-date has probably been “winning a major back in 2019, (the United States Women’s Disc Golf Championships). That was the biggest breakthrough at that point in my career and made the push for me to sign a better contract that actually allowed me to travel more.”
It was also in 2019 Tattar topped the Canadian National Disc Gold Championships in Bonshaw, PEI.
So what traits as a player make Tattar a force on courses around the world?
“When talking about the technical side then I think I´m very versatile,” she offered. “I feel comfortable with both backhand and forehand.
“But ultimately I think what helps me the most is knowing that I´m on the right path and this is what I love to do - almost feels like this is what I'm meant to do.”
The sport has certainly turned Tattar into a world traveller spending considerable time in North America throwing discs competitively.
“I guess the first year it was super exciting, now it is more casual and I take it as part of my job,” she said.
“I´m very appreciative that I have had the chance to travel so much and discover all the great courses in the states - of course there are many more to play and I look forward to it in the future.”
Given her resume Tattar could have likely signed with any of the multitude of disc companies out there, so why Latitude 64?
“It all started late in 2016 when a local Trilogy discs retailer - Silver Leetma - fed the idea of sponsoring me to David Berglund. The following year I started playing with Trilogy discs,” she related.
“Obviously for the first few years the contract included just free equipment etc. but this is how I grew fond of the discs and got to know the L64 family and they got to know me. I think we have built a very good and trusting relationship with L64 and signing with them was a very easy choice for me.”
