#Sexton firebird driver
#Sexton firebird pro
#Sexton firebird professional
#Sexton firebird series

#Sexton firebird professional

“He’s a professional that brings talent, humility, and engagement: he is obviously a fan favorite. “He’s both an enigma and not so much of an enigma,” said Panis. His sharp wit crackles in the commentary booth, and it makes him feel like a friend. Nate is both an elite disc golfer (a prerequisite) and an approachable, friendly guy. “I think that stuff is vital to building your brand, especially if you’re not McBething it, winning every tournament around the world,” he said.Īnd perhaps that’s where we start to see why the Sexton Firebird has blown up. “The fact that people feel like they get to know me through my commentary is immensely helpful,” said Sexton, who has also been a frequent presence on Central Coast Disc Golf’s channel as a commentator and player, doing things like the Starter Pack Challenge and Champs v. The goofy intro didn’t hide his natural broadcasting talent for long: he got more and more commentary duties before joining up with Jeremy “Big Jerm” Koling to form the “Big Sexy” duo in April 2017, which catapulted him into stardom as a personality, not just a disc golfer.

#Sexton firebird pro

That fall, an even bigger break: his first appearance as a commentator on the Jomez Pro YouTube channel, covering the second round of the Hall of Fame Classic. Sexton started getting more press, including an Ultiworld Disc Golf profile of him that April. Innova suggested that the two go on tour together, though, so they gave it a shot. “We were friends but I didn’t have his phone number or anything,” said Sexton. It was from world #1 and three-time defending world champion Paul McBeth, telling him about the brand new RV he had just bought and did he want to come on tour with him? Photo: Keith Steinmeyer.įollowing his 2014 season and promotion to the Star Team, Sexton got a message. “I can’t point to one specific thing that makes the magic of the Firebird, and specifically the Sexton Firebird, so big,” he said. “If you had to pick a super popular mold, would you just off the cuff pick the Firebird?” asked Innova Marketing Director Jeff Panis.

It’s a very specific mold that was truly designed to be maximally useful for Nate Sexton and his forehand. “I geek out about it just like I did with basketball cards when I was a kid,” he said.īut what exactly has made them such a phenomenon? It’s not a putter. He says that the discs are made to be collectable. Keith Steinmeyer is an avid Sexton Firebird collector: he’s got nearly 100 of them. An over 2000 person Facebook group for Nate Sexton collectors is thriving – as are the prices for Sexton Firebirds. Sexton loved the disc right away – “It’s without a doubt my favorite disc I’ve ever thrown,” he says – but nobody, even Nate, could have foreseen its explosion in popularity, to the point where particular rare and prized versions of the disc have sold at auction for over $1000. Thus was born the Sexton Firebird, a disc that has taken on a life of its own and transformed Nate’s career.

#Sexton firebird driver

“I’m looking for an every day fairway driver with reliable fade but that’s not going to break your arm off,” he told Innova, and asked for his signature disc to be a Firebird in their new color glow plastic with “a little bit of dome, a little bit of flex,” more in the style of the 11x. Since 2005, he’d been bagging KC 11x glow Firebirds, but the new run of 12x Firebirds were very overstable, too much so even for a powerful forehand thrower like Sexton.

#Sexton firebird series

That promotion meant that Sexton got to choose a signature Tour Series disc. He played well in 2014, finishing 15th at Worlds and 5th at USDGC, and accomplished his goal of getting bumped up to Innova’s Star Team, the company’s highest support tier for their sponsored athletes. Little did he know that it would be the start of a massive career shift. With his wife entering medical school and a move to North Carolina in the works, he decided to ramp things up. To that point, he’d dominated the local Oregon scene and thoroughly established himself as one of the best players in the world, but he’d dialed back his participation in recent years, dropping from playing 19 tournaments in 2011 to 12 in 2012 and then 11 in 2013. “I want to make the Star Team,” he told them. He quit his part-time job and emailed his sponsor, Innova, and said he was going to play 30 tournaments in the 2014 season and commit to full-time disc golf. Six years ago, Nate Sexton decided to go for it. To get access to future editions of the newsletter, subscribe to Ultiworld Disc Golf!

This article was first published as a part of Ultiworld Disc Golf’s new monthly business newsletter, Cash Line.

Augby Charlie Eisenhood in Profile with 0 comments Nate Sexton logged his second straight hot round at Winthrop Gold yesterday.