COLUMBUS — Columbus native Clayton Nash might be known best to his neighbors as a Postal Service worker, but he’s also a professional disc golfer with almost two decades of experience playing across the country.
Nash has 20 career tournament wins at Professional Disc Golfers Association events, including six so far in 2024. He first became a member in 2006 after he picked up the sport in college.
From 2008 to 2013 Nash estimates that he was competing 20-30 times a year at tournaments, including several notable official PDGA events. One of his big career highlights was placing 65th in the 2009 US Championships, a qualification-only tournament featuring some of the best in the sport.
“I’m pretty competitive, and that’s one thing that led me to compete in tournaments, and it’s taken me all over,” Nash told The Dispatch. “It’s allowed me to travel as far as Kansas City, Florida and South Carolina for the national championships, and it’s just fun to be a part of something like that.”
The travel and the opportunity to put more time into the sport was something Nash really appreciated about disc golf, and he has been able to pick it up with his Saturdays free once again. Nash began working for the Postal Service, which initially took half of his weekend away and prevented him from playing and traveling as much as he used to.
“When I first started working for the post office I was working Saturdays,” he said. “That kept me from playing tournaments, but since I’ve been full-time I’m able to play again.”
Additionally, with the sport’s new popularity in the Golden Triangle, Nash has been able to increase appearances at local events, with courses and a new store in Starkville just a short drive away.
“The last five years or so, Andy Hunt opened a store in Starkville and the Starkville Disc Golf Association has done a lot of great things in the area,” Nash said. “Lowndes has had a course since 1999 but it’s so secluded most people didn’t know about it.”
Nash is happy to be back in the game, and he’s also happy with how much it has grown over the last few years.
There was a Covid boom in disc golfing, and as a result Starkville, Columbus and Tupelo have experienced a surge in participants at local parks. The cities have more players, local organizers and clubs to keep the courses in use and well-kept, and as a result more tournaments have been held for both local and traveling players. He sees the work in Starkville as a model for maintaining the sport throughout the Golden Triangle.
“Starkville has really taken off in recent years, but we ran some big tournaments over in Columbus in the past. I recently became president of the association in Columbus again, and we ran some big tournaments back in 2010-2012, but what Andy is bringing to the table is a lot more notoriety, and he has a good reputation because he treats players well.”
When he became a full-time letter carrier, he got his Saturdays back and took full advantage.
He plays in the Mixed Pro 40+ division now, but his game hasn’t slowed down.
Nash’s first win came in April at the Lake Lowndes Spring Fling, kicking off a series of wins in six tournaments since. His last win came in June at the Lakeside Luau in Starkville.
The wins keep coming for him as a player and an organizer, with club play in the area at an all-time high. Nash has rediscovered his passion for both the sport and the community within it.
“It’s something I really like about disc golf,” he said. “It was something I could play every day without breaking the bank, but what led me to it was that it was such a volunteer community. Somebody has to set those courses, and somebody has to put those posts in the ground, and I really appreciate having some skin in the game. People care and it breeds camaraderie.”
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