Eiko Kocher of Bloomington recently placed fourth in her division at the US Women’s Disc Golf Championship in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The score was enough to catapult her into the top 100 world amateur ranking.
Though Kocher was competing in an amateur division, the experience and result would never have occurred to her three years ago.
In fact, playing disc golf was not something that even interested her.
“My husband and friends, they had been playing for a while, and they had been trying to get me to play for about a couple of years,” Kocher said. “I'm not a fan of golf, and I couldn't throw frisbees, and so I'm just like this combination is not good for me, so I never went.”
Kocher said that exchange went on for some time.
However, everything changed when her husband bought a practice basket for their backyard.
“I played it in my yard just to be like, ‘Okay, I'm gonna throw it and be done with it, and we don't have to do this anymore.’ And I got addicted right then,” Kocher said.
After playing casually at local courses for a year, Kocher started to compete in tournaments. She registered as a member of the Professional Disc Golf Association in 2025.
Right away, she realized a glaring issue within the disc golf community.
Kocher struggled to consistently find women to play with in the area. That, she said, is part of what made her experience in Utah so special.
“It's a unique experience for women disc golfers because you usually don't get to tournaments that are really geared towards women,” Kocher said. “So for a major, it's just such a different experience compared to a local tournament.”
The novelty of the tournament was not all that Kocher enjoyed, however.
Kocher’s third round finished with a rating of 795, the highest of her career. The round rating adjusts for the difficulty of various courses. Strokes determine placement in the event. The round rating determines global rank.
After earning her place on the lead card for the final round, Kocher held her spot in a tight race to finish fourth.
Conditions were not easy for Kocher, though.
Kocher has a rare sun allergy, and she is allergic to sunscreen, meaning she covers up from head to toe when she plays to avoid harming her skin.
“My skin got damaged out in Utah because it was just a little bit different sunshine, and so it was sort of hard on that,” Kocher said.
Now sitting at 98th in the world, Kocher says her mindset is always about improvement.
“Well, I'm still a beginner, but I do practice,” Kocher said. “I'll maybe work on certain skills that I'm weak on, and so I just sort of have a plan every week, and I have practice.”
Kocher, a member of the local Bloomington Disc Golf Club, also has bigger goals in mind for her community.
“So last year, I started up a women's disc golf club in Bloomington,” Kocher said. “It's a male-dominated sport, and I've been very fortunate that all the clubs and leagues in the area, they've been very, very nice to the women and very supportive.”
BDGC hosts doubles nights on Monday, and league singles nights every Wednesday.