Marwede is living the dream

ALPENA, Mich. — You may have seen Andy Marwede at Park Arena, helping out Mark Jacobs and the Alpena Community College men’s basketball team. However, when he’s not on the court, he’s spending most of his time outside playing disc golf.

“I started playing disc golf after I completed high school,” said Marwede. “I was just having fun and I got really into it.”

Andy has been playing disc golf since 2015. Fast forward to now, he’s playing on disc golf’s biggest stage as he is currently a member of the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) tour. Out of 131 tournaments, he has 36 victories and has earned over $40,000 for just throwing a disc.

“After I kept winning a few of them, I really got into the sport,” said Marwede. “I realized that there are bigger tournaments out of state. That’s when I started to test my skills against other professionals.”

Andy is not just your typical PDGA player, he has gained popularity in recent years.  Last September, in the Discraft’s Green Mountain Championship in Vermont, he used a cookie as a mini marker. After he made a spectacular putt, he was caught on camera taking a bite out of the cookie, earning the Cookie Monster moniker.

“The day before I knew I was going to be on the feature card with Paul McBeth, I was trying to think of something I can do so I can stand out,” said Marwede. “I looked up the rules and it was legal to use a cookie as a mini. I figured people would like it, so I went with it.”

This Saturday, Andy will be competing downstate in the Jackson Open. For more information on upcoming events, just visit http://discgolfscene.com.