Who the Hell is Ricky Wysocki?
Ricky Wysocki Profile
Ricky Wysocki Celebrates His Sixth Consecutive Texas State Championship
On March 29th, 2022, Ricky Wysocki celebrated his unbelievable sixth consecutive Texas State Disc Golf Championship, continuing a run of dominance at a single event that is almost unheard on the Disc Golf Pro Tour. This should however come as no surprise to those of us who have followed Wysocki's illustrious professional career, one that has now spanned the course of a decade. His longevity and consistency in the era of Paul McBeth is truly remarkable and the dedication to excellence deserves to be better celebrated online and while he is still in his prime. So without further ado, here is Disc Dynasty's first player profile, cheers Rick, hope you see this one day!.
First Tee
Richard Wysocki was born on June 5th, 1993 in Brunswick, Ohio, a city about 20 miles south of the beautiful metropolis of Cleveland. Shortly after birth Wysocki moved to Medina, Ohio, where his love of Disc Golf was conceived at the Roscoe Ewing Disc Golf Course. The young "sockibomb" would wake up early every morning and practice forehands and backhands relentlessly in a field near the Wysocki household, something he recommends to young athletes looking to improve their game and take it to another level. These countless hours of fieldwork show every time you watch him throw a frisbee, as he has the ability to throw a putter over 500 feet!
On top of perfecting hyzer and anhyzer flights, mastering disc angles, and consistently adjusting and perfecting his throwing form, Wysocki understood that the most important part of disc golf (and ball golf) is putting. It is rare for a young disc golf player to understand that and it is especially difficult them to grind through a monotonous putting cycle day after day, but young Ricky Wysocki was different. Through anecdotes from friends and family we know that Ricky was dedicated to mastering disc golf putting to a point where people were concerned! Hours practicing spin-putts, push-putts, jump-putts, and scrambling allowed young Ricky to dominate the amateur disc golf tours.
Much has been written on Ricky's baseball abilities, but from what I can garner he has been hyper focused on disc golf as a career since his early teens. In my opinion you do not do something for 8 hours a day if you don't have a passion for it and are not getting paid and at this point Ricky was getting neither. The lesson we as disc golf players and fans can take from Ricky Wysocki's childhood and origin story is get in the field, practice putting, but most importantly if you are passionate about something stick with it, even if the people around you don't understand exactly what it is you are raving about.
Front 9 2011-2015
Rumblings of a 6 foot 4 inch teenage wiz kid named "Ricky Something" soon began to spread across Professional Disc Golf in 2010, and it would not be long before the young phenom made sure the whole disc golf world knew who he was. After turning professional in 2011 Wysocki went on a rampage, capturing his first PDGA Championship in the same year he turned pro! This would not be the only accomplishment Ricky would rack up in the coming months, for he was named the 2011 PDGA Rookie of the Year. Ricky was a madman during this 2011 season, competing in a staggering 44 events, taking 15 wins and highlighted by the aforementioned PDGA Championship and PDGA Rookie of the year honors.
Ricky Wysocki would go on to win an unbelievable 52 more times in between 2012 and 2015, highlighted by major championship victories at the 2014 Japan Open and 2015 European Masters. Edging out Paul McBeth for victory at the 2015 European Masters would prove to be a milestone for Wysocki, giving him mental victory by knowing he can hang with the undeniable greatest of all time. As well as winning three major in between 2011 and 2015, Ricky Wysocki would go on to win 7 Disc Golf Pro Tour Elite/ National Tour events. In 2012 at the Brent Hambrick Memorial Open Wysocki beat the legend Gregg Barsby by a modest 6 strokes. At the Texas State Championship in 2013, Ricky unleashed hell on the field, destroying runner up and GOAT Paul McBeth by a mind bending 10 strokes! Continuing a scorching hot 2013 Ricky took victories at both the Disc Golf Hall of Fame Classic and the Great Lakes Open, annihilating runner up finishers Nikki Locastro and Garrett Gurthie respectively.
2014 saw Ricky bringing back to his now home base of South Carolina the Texas State Championship yet again, this time edging out disc golfs golden child Simon Lizotte by another massive stroke total of 8. His other national victory this year was the Fort Steilacoom Open beating out the iconic Will Schusterick by 4 throws. As you all can probably see now, when Ricky won, he tended to win BIG, a theme that has changed as the number of elite disc golf players grows. The Front 9 of Ricky's professional career (as of writing in April 2022) concludes with a marvelous 2015 where he won the previously mentioned European Masters, as well as taking home the Vibram Maple Hill Open at the legendary Maple Hill Disc Golf Course!
Back 9 2016-Present
Me and all my expert abilities have determined that 2016 is the year that Ricky Wysocki elevated from dominant young talent to bona fide tour superstar and chief rival to Paul McBeth. Ricky won 50% of the events he entered in this year going 13/26, highlighted by his first of two PDGA Pro World Championships. Wysocki took home the $10,000 grand prize by beating Paul McBeth by 6 strokes, proving to anyone who doubted him who the prince of disc golf is. This magnificent year also saw Ricky Wysocki win 3 Disc Golf Pro Tour Elite and National Tour events! Ricky took home the Masters Cup (-1 over Paul McBeth), the Kansas City Wide Open (-7 over Benjamin Wiggins) and the Beaver State Fling (-3 Philo Brathwaite).
At this point y'all are probably tired of me listing victories, (what am I supposed to do, the guy wins a lot) so I'll abbreviate the next few dominant seasons. From 2017 to April 2021 Wysocki took another 33 victory trophies back to South Carolina! In 2017 Wysocki captured two major championships, the Australian Open (-1 over Eagle McMahon) and the 2017 PDGA World Championship by a brain twisting 8 strokes over Paul McBeth. Other notable wins happened at the Texas State Championship, (he has won the last freaking 6, I'm done typing it!) the Gentlemen's Club Challenge (haha), the Jonesboro Open, the Santa Cruz Masters Cup, the Utah Open, the Ledgestone Insurance Open, and the Preserve Championship.
In summary Ricky Wysocki has won 2 PDGA World Championships, 4 other Majors, and 12 Disc Golf Pro Tour Elite/National Tour Events. Ricky got to this point by practicing relentlessly for up to 8 hours a day at his family home in Ohio before turning pro in 2011 where he has since been a mainstay in the Global Disc Golf Rankings. When we look back at Ricky's career we see how hard work and dedication can pay off dividends, especially if you can combine it with an athletic base. Be like Ricky Wysocki and keep throwing, no matter if you are the best or worst we can all try and enjoy every throw and putt, just like we watch Ricky do!
Notable Facts
- Ricky was Team Innova as a Signature Athlete until January 1, 2022
- On January 4, 2022, Wysocki signed a 4 year 4 million dollar endorsement deal with Dynamic Discs
- Ricky can earn much more with incentives
- Ricky Wysocki was paid a Bitcoin bonus of $250,000, one of the first of its kind in professional sports.
- Ricky was homeschooled, which allowed him to practice frequently
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