Perfect Play, Positive Personal Life: Climo's Formula for Fifth USDGC Title
While the rest of the disc golf community searched desperately to describe the performance of Ken Climo this week at the United States Disc Golf Championship, the now five-time winner used just one word: "flawless."
After his first round, Climo put together an incredible run of 53 straight bogey-free holes to essentially turn this year's USDGC into a contest for second place. With the inevitability of adding a fifth Championship ring to his collection, the only question on the 72nd hole was whether Climo would break the Winthrop Gold course record that he had just set the previous day. And though his second throw found the yellow string on the 560 feet South Carolina hole forcing him to settle for back-to-back course record 56's, it did not diminish Climo's dominating performance during the last three rounds.
After opening with a 5-under par round on Wednesday, Ken found his comfort zone with a 10-under par on Thursday to take a lead he would never relinquish. And while it seems ludicrous to even suggest otherwise, Climo relishes playing with the lead. It is not a role that all players can handle, but it is one with which he is very familiar.
"I feel like I'm more in the moment when I'm leading," Climo revealed during a phone interview Saturday night. "I can put pressure on other people when I'm making my shots." But instead of just putting the pressure on the rest of the field, Ken also knows how to extend his lead and finish off the work at hand when he is in that position.
That was clearly the case this week in Rock Hill, as well as throughout most of the National Tour this year, as "The Champ" seems to have found a renewed sense of purpose in his disc golf exploits. He is enjoying his superb play on the course, and is in a great space with the rest of his life away from disc golf, as well. A thriving relationship with his girlfriend and fathering a teenage son are aspects of Ken's life that have a very positive affect on him. When asked about how off-course relationships affect his play, Ken explained that it did drag him down a few years ago. But he was quick to follow, "Now, I'm definitely at ease with my life. I have the best woman in the world," he said, drawing a link between the positive energy he has on the tour, and the joy his current girlfriend brings to his life.
In fact, Ken even cut his USDGC celebration short Saturday night, enjoying a Mexican dinner after the awards ceremony with about 40 other disc golfers in Rock Hill, before embarking upon an eight and one-half hour drive back to Clearwater, Florida to get home. He has been on the road for the last 19 days and is ready to get back to his loved ones.
"The Champ" has always considered his son a top priority, since he helps keep the disc golf side of Ken's life in perspective. And while Climo's work on the course is a legacy that will be hard to match, Ken does understand how his disc golf career fits into the bigger picture. When asked what he thinks his off-course legacy will be after such a storied career, Climo defers judgment, saying, "I think that has yet to be written." After a brief moment though, he wisely adds, "I'd like to think that my legacy is how my son views me."
If his son gives Ken half the respect that he has deservingly gained from the disc golf community, then both his professional and personal legacies will be nothing short of exemplary.