Dylan Rees, a student in SUNY Morrisville’s technology management bachelor’s degree program, is spreading his disc golf talent to the community.
Instead of a usual internship, Rees launched a startup business, Flying Mile Disc Golf, as part of his entrepreneurship practicum in associate professor Tom Pilewski’s class.
Rees’s business offers course design, individual lessons, merchandise sales and tournament planning and operations, including running events on-location.
Rees recently planned, organized and ran a disc golf event, which drew more than 40 participants from the disc golf community to Meier’s Creek Brewing Company in Cazenovia, New York.
He placed second in the college’s annual Cotton Family Business Idea Competition last year, receiving $700 for his disc golf business idea, which helped him with startup costs.
“So far it is going really well,” Reese said of his new venture. “The Cotton Business competition at Morrisville allowed me the chance to expand my disc golf hobby and focus more on the business aspect.”
Rees, of Oneida, now living near Rochester, is one of the top disc golf players in the northeast and a Professional Disc Gold Association (PDGA) Premiere Pro. He is a two-time New York State Champion, two-time Quebec Provincial Champion and has more than 50 PDGA wins.
SUNY Morrisville added disc golf to its lineup of student activities this year, with a course near Commons II.
Disc golf, also occasionally known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target. It is played using rules similar to golf.