Ashley Collins spends her days grooming and maintaining the landscape of Oglethorpe as head of grounds. She even affectionately refers to it as “my land.” Collins takes pride in her work on campus, especially when she is able to incorporate her other passion: disc golf.

Disc golf is essentially played the same as traditional golf, with a Frisbee (disc) replacing the ball, and a basket with metal chains acting as the hole. Thousands of disc golf courses dot the country, including dozens in Metro Atlanta, but Collins uses her knowledge of Oglethorpe’s terrain to stage a temporary 18-hole layout through campus to hold a two day, three round tournament, the Urban Smash.

With the help of the Atlanta Women’s Disc Golf Club and assistant tournament director Derek Hollis, more than 80 players of all skill levels and ages are able to throw discs across the quad. The Urban Smash also raises funds to purchase an EDGE (Educational Disc Golf Experience) curriculum and equipment for the Piedmont School of Atlanta, and to provide discs and baskets to Oglethorpe Campus Life.

While 2017 was the first disc golf event held at Oglethorpe, and the inaugural Urban Smash, Collins hopes to continue hosting disc golf events on campus in the future.

Ashley Collins is an Innova Champion Discs and Friction Gloves sponsored disc golfer, and Grounds Supervisor at Oglethorpe.