Believe it or not, Valarie Jenkins #17495 didn't take to disc golf from the start.

Despite the fact that the three-time PDGA World Champion grew up immersed in the game, she said didn't really begin to enjoy it until she was a teenager, instead preferring to spend her time on the playground or splashing around creekside while the rest of her family collected birdies.

And although her parents were shepherds of the sport, maintaining their hometown course and spending summer vacations at the World Championships, they never pushed her to pick up a disc if she didn't want to.

It was that spirit of freedom, she said, that moved her to toward the game on her own terms.