When he’s not studying quantitative finance on West Campus, Josh Mueck ’25 can be found spending sunny afternoons at Research Park, tossing discs and piecing together rosters, policies and competitions with the same precision he uses to read a fairway. Friends may see him as another student-athlete with a bag of discs slung over his shoulder, but Mueck has quietly become the driving force behind Rec Sports’ newest Sport Club.

As president of Texas A&M Disc Golf, Mueck has transformed what began as a student organization into an officially recognized Sport Club. Since taking over from his brother, who founded the group in 2019, Mueck has grown the membership to about 25, implemented a two-tiered team system, added officers and secured a spot in Rec Sports. Along the way, he has led the club to multiple regional championships and three straight conference titles—while making sure players at every level have a place to belong.

“Last year was kind of our first year to implement a new team system,” Mueck said. “Prior to last year, we had just one main travel team, as opposed to this year. We switched it to where we have the main travel team, but then we also have more of a recreational side team, and that’s allowed us to have a lot more people involved, so we’re super excited.”

The competitive side is capped by event rules. Regionals and nationals each limit schools to three teams, so Disc Golf’s travel roster is set at 12. The recreational side has no fixed size; members join by paying dues and can attend optional practices. 

Officers run tryouts and evaluate performance data from on-course rounds and field sessions to set lineups. As president, Mueck takes the lead on these responsibilities while encouraging other officers to provide input.

“We have six officers now,” he said. “[The] first year, I did a lot of the managerial and organizational stuff, and it was a bit overwhelming, but we definitely got more people involved now, so it’s more spread out. And then with that, we’ve been able to do team decisions based on multiple people’s input. We have a voting system across all of our officers, so it helps to spread out the weight of team decisions.”

Mueck moved into leadership after first helping behind the scenes when his brother launched the Disc Golf organization. He later took over the presidency, added policies and procedures and eventually led the club to its current status as an official Sport Club.

“Once he graduated, I took over the role of president,” Mueck said. “There’s a lot of logistical, administrative things that have to be taken care of. There was a transitional year, and then from that, just was able to implement some more advanced policies and procedures and things where, like the second team we now have, the 12th Man team. I was able to do that. It was a journey, but it was fun.”

Competition volume was a key hurdle in the Sport Clubs process. College Disc Golf’s regional events are concentrated on the East Coast, and Texas schools have long drives to reach additional qualifiers. Mueck answered by organizing in-state conference events with other programs.

“I would say one of the biggest challenges was finding enough competitions to play in,” he said. “So, Texas A&M Disc Golf and I started the conference events for teams around Texas, so we’ve been able to grow that.”

Those conference stops—often hosted in Waco, Dallas, Austin, Houston or College Station—are one-day events open to all members. Regionals typically include Louisiana and San Marcos in the fall and Arkansas in the spring. Nationals are in South Carolina.

The club’s competitive level has risen alongside its structure. Using player ratings defined by the Professional Disc Golf Association and College Disc Golf, Mueck said the A team’s average improved from roughly 920 in earlier seasons to about 990 last year, with B and C teams also gaining around 30 points. The program has multiple regional titles and three straight conference championships, with team and singles top-10s at nationals.

“We have won multiple regional events. We’ve won the conference the last three years,” he said. “I would say that nationals is an experience like no other. You basically get to go miss a whole week of school and just kind of compete and play disc golf with your friends. So it’s a ton of fun, and it’s an experience that you don’t forget.”

Off the course, the club worked with Texas A&M Rec Sports staff and the Sport Clubs Executive Committee to navigate requirements.

“Keith [Joseph] and Jessica [Konetski] helped answer all our questions,” Mueck said. “They were great.”

Looking ahead, Mueck’s goals center on depth and access – growing the recreational pipeline, raising the performance of B and C teams and expanding in-state competition opportunities.

“It would be fun to win a national championship,” he said. “But, I think growing our consistency across all three teams, getting those second and third teams to that higher level, it would be really cool to see and then also, just another thing would be to see people improve over the years. We’ve had a few guys who have improved a ton, but just to continue to see that growth.”

Written by: Claire Frazier