Mike Schweitzer

IFA and the early Florida years, 1974–1976

Mike Schweitzer traces his serious involvement in flying discs to throwing with Robert Browning in 1974. He joined the International Frisbee Association in 1975 and began developing freestyle throws, catches and twirling skills, including the Buzz Saw, Butterfly, Magic Trick and Knockers. He also recalls devising a game called Jousting in Mike Morrison’s living room.

The IFA Masters list names Michael T. Schweitzer of USF in Tampa as a Frisbee Master. His own account places him among the founding members of the Suncoast Frisbee Club in 1976, sharing skills with the community, recruiting Ultimate players and helping create an obstacle Disc Golf course at the University of South Florida. He dates his USF Ultimate involvement and DGA/PDGA affiliation to that same year.

USF, Sunflight and introducing others to disc sports, 1976–1985

Ultimate became a substantial part of Schweitzer’s early career. He recalls serving as captain or co-captain of the USF/Sunflight team from 1977 through 1985. In 1978, he played Rutgers in Tampa during the New Jersey team’s Florida Ultimate tour. Rutgers had played the first intercollegiate Ultimate game against Princeton in 1972, making the Tampa match an early Florida encounter with one of the sport’s founding teams. His regional tournament history includes Atlanta’s Southern Regionals on November 7–8, 1981, and the Southern Regionals in Mobile on November 6–7, 1982. A 1984 Ultimate directory names him as the Tampa/USF Sunflight contact.

He remembers a first-place finish at the 1982 Tampa Invitation Ultimate tournament, where he also served as tournament director and co-captain. He joined the Ultimate Players Association in 1982; his sporting affiliations also include the Freestyle Players Association.

His influence at USF appears in another player’s history. Steve Kohman’s Pennsylvania Disc Golf Hall of Fame biography credits Schweitzer, Nick Hart and Brian Colleen with introducing Kohman to freestyle, Ultimate and Disc Golf as a USF student in the late 1970s. That teaching connection places Schweitzer within the community through which Florida players encountered several disc sports together.

Freestyle, demonstrations and the Sarasota festival, 1978–1986

Schweitzer recalls performing with Peter Bloeme’s Jammers demonstration team from 1978 to 1982. His account describes appearances at fairs, malls, universities, beach radio promotions, Pratt Whitney and Daytona Spring Break, including the Rowdies’ July 4, 1979 show at Tampa Stadium. He also remembers helping create an obstacle course at Lowry Park in 1978 and placing sixth in a 1980 North American Series freestyle competition with Nick Hart.

At the Sarasota Frisbee Festival, held August 8–9, 1981 at the YMCA’s Camp Hamilton, Schweitzer and Hart won freestyle. Schweitzer also finished second in amateur golf. The contemporary newsletter records his double-disc-court partnership with Calvin Adair, alongside a field that included Jeff Watson and Tim Willis. Schweitzer recalls another golf podium with third at the 1982 USF Open.

His public demonstration work continued at Tampa’s Hacky Sack/Frisbee festivals on July 20, 1985 and June 7, 1986, where he served as staff and presenter. His festival work belongs to the Tampa events.

Keeping the disc in flight, 1988–2008

Freestyle remained part of Schweitzer’s life during the years away from regular tournament golf. He recalls playing from 1988 to 2008 at the Holiday Inn on Clearwater Beach, Ben T. Davis Beach, the river lawn at the University of Tampa and Lettuce Lake Park.

His account also describes creating a nine-hole obstacle course around Fire Station 4 in Ybor City in 2000, using 165 High Rigidity discs. He dates his return to Disc Golf to 2006, around the opening of Limona, and his return to tournament play to 2008.

Back to tournament golf and two Worlds runner-up finishes, 2008–2014

Schweitzer’s renewed competitive career brought sustained success in Florida and beyond. He recalls a Moccasin Lake win in 2008 and the Fabulous Florida Tour points title in 2009. Official results separately record his Advanced Grandmasters victory at the Moccasin Lake Open on November 7–8, 2009. His community work included organizing a handicap league at USF Riverfront.

At the 2013 PDGA Amateur and Junior Disc Golf World Championships, July 6–13 in Emporia, Kansas, he finished second in Advanced Senior Grandmasters, behind Jim Banbury. He returned to the podium at the 2014 championships, July 22–26 in St. Paul, Minnesota, again finishing second in Advanced Senior Grandmasters, this time behind Mark Hauser.

An Amateur World Championship at home in Florida, 2021

The 2021 PDGA Amateur Disc Golf World Championships brought Schweitzer’s long competitive career to a world title in Orlando. Across August 17–21, he won MA65 by eight strokes over joint runners-up John Kimball and Karl Molitoris.

PDGA’s final recap describes a close early contest, a three-stroke advantage entering the last day and a birdie on the final hole of the semifinals that extended his lead to five before the final nine. He finished the week as the champion of the 21-player division.

A second world title in Flagstaff, 2023

Two years later, Schweitzer won MA70 at the PDGA Amateur Masters Disc Golf World Championships in Flagstaff, Arizona, July 11–15, 2023. The 28-player division gave him a second amateur world title in a different age division, following his earlier Worlds podiums.

Competition was one expression of a much longer attachment to throwing. Schweitzer recalls creating the Chase the Rabbit game in 2022, continuing the playfulness of his early freestyle years. In his own words, throwing has been an affordable source of fun and exercise and a lifelong obsession.