April 8, 2024

Ferris State Sophomore Wins 2024 Disc Golf Singles National Championship, Team Places Fourth Continuing Tradition of Excellence

Sophomore sensation Benji Zorn further bolstered Ferris State University’s tradition of excellence in disc golf as he fired a three-under-par 28 in the final round to win a singles national championship in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

The Grand Rapids native, majoring in Business Administration with a minor in Professional Sales at Ferris State, stood tall atop a hotly contested leaderboard at Winthrop University. Only three singles competitors ended under par, and two others even. Facing tough competition, Zorn understood he had little room for error and elevated his play accordingly.

“It was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life. I was feeling a ton of pressure,” Zorn said, thinking back to the year before when he earned All-American status but missed out on a national championship as a freshman. “I wanted to stay focused on doing the best I could for my team, Ferris and myself.

Zorn did that, noting the extremely windy and wet playing conditions as he locked his focus during the final round.

Ferris State professor emeritus and former associate provost Leonard Johnson, advisor for the Disc Golf team, couldn’t be prouder of the highly recruited Zorn, who first rose to prominence as a freshman in 2023 when he earned All-American honors at the Collegiate Disc Golf National Championship in North Carolina.

“When Benji joined the team last year as a freshman, he made an immediate impact. He is one of those incredibly gifted athletes who comes along once in a blue moon,” said Johnson, who retired from Ferris State in 2022 but remains highly involved with a team and program that mean a lot to him. “His leadership guiding weekly team practices has been instrumental in helping to develop and hone the skills of players on both our men’s and women’s teams.”

Johnson admired Zorn, who elevated his play when it mattered most.

“His hard work and dedication came together during the final nine holes of singles play when he came from three strokes behind to capture the 2024 men’s singles national collegiate disc golf championship,” Johnson said. “The last time a Ferris player won the men’s singles title was when Bryan Murphy crushed a field of over 100 competitors to win the title in 2014.”

Zorn expressed his gratitude to Johnson.

“Leonard sold me on coming to Ferris, and it started when he took me on a campus tour and showed me the course. That was when I really started to buy into Ferris, the disc golf team, and Leonard,” he said. I love this team and its commitment to success. I always want to go out there and do my best for my teammates.”

Zorn added, “We’re so happy to have Leonard continue to be part of this program, given everything he has done to help get it to where it is now. He could be off somewhere, retired, but he is still with us and loves being part of this program. We love having him with us.”

Johnson noted that the team battled to a fourth-place finish – ahead of 44 schools. The team finished at -23, behind the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, the University of Cincinnati and North Carolina State University.

The Ferris State Disc Golf Men’s Team was previously crowned national champions in 2015, 2017 and 2019. The Women’s Team won its first national title in 2021.

Click Disc Golf Club at Ferris State for more information about the team and club sports.