You have probably seen his videos and have heard his voice doing commentary. You may have seen him play disc golf against Paul McBeth. Here is our 10 Questions interview with Ian Anderson of Central Coast Disc Golf.
When, how, why did you start CCDG? What are the beginnings?
I was really starting to geek out on disc golf, and the Santa Maria Open had some big names show up (Will Schusterick, Eric McCabe, and Joe Rovere) because 2011 Worlds was happening the next week in Santa Cruz. I asked on r/discgolf if anyone would watch if I went out and recorded it. People said yes so i did it. I had some editing and youtube experience from running a Battlefield Bad Company 2 channel (rdtTeamAwesome if you’re curious). I was playing on the AM side and I finished before MPO lead card teed off so it was easy to do. I did commentary because the camera I used was so bad, you couldn’t always see where the disc went. In retrospect it’s terrible, but enough people watched and said nice things that I kept at. I quickly upgraded to a decent Panasonic camcorder and just kept doing it. It really helped that my buddy Kevin Estrada was always down to film with me. He had the idea of joining me for commentary, and off we went.
EVERYONE is going crazy over the Philo Albatross, with good reason. What would you think is the best shot or moment caught on CCDG cameras before that one?
Ooo good question! I’d say Paul McBeth’s drop in eagle on 17 at Blue Lake during 2014 Worlds. My friend Juha Alkkiomaki (lcgm8), actually was on main cam for that, but I was on 2nd cam. That’s another history maker. No one has ever had a drop in 3 like that, and no one has ever 2’d 6W at Milo like Philo did.
Being on the course, means you have seen a ton of rounds first hand. What is the best round of disc golf you witnessed and potentially caught on video?
Gotta be Paul’s course record at Moraine State Park during 2015 Worlds (round 5). Either that or the course record he shot the day before at Deer Lakes. I can also answer this for Alex Olguin as he is the one that filmed Paul getting back to back eagles during the final round of 2015 BSF, and forcing a playoff from the chase card. Sorry/not sorry to answer Paul again but I can’t help it. He does crazy things.
What is your absolute “go-to” disc currently in your bag?
This S-Line / C-Line DDX my man Eric Oakley hooked up at the WTO. That thing just goes. Straight and for days. Also gotta give my Buzzz a shout out for hole 8 during champ vs chumps 2 lol.
What is the hardest part of your job while on the course with the players?
Getting good angles! It’s tough when they’re spread out all across the fairway, or all over the putting circle. Gotta hustle! That and when there are 2 rounds in a day. O man so much walking. I’m pretty sure I walk more than the players as I have to go to everyone’s lie. For Champ vs Chumps and Starter Pack Challenge we filmed 2, 24 hole rounds at DeLaveaga in a day. My dogs were barkin’.
Do you have a favorite player to follow and get video of?
I mean if I can film Paul McBeth it’s a good day. Not only does he get more views than any other player, but he’s incredibly nice. If you take the views out of it he would still make my list of favorite pros to film along with too many other people to name. I could try, but I know I’d forget someone. 99% of pros are so incredibly nice.
Would you rather capture an Ace on video or hit an Ace while playing?
Film an ace and it’s not close. The answer might be different if I’d never hit an ace though.
Do you and the crew do any other filming? Non DG material?
Peter Mares works in LA as an assistant camera operator. He works on TV and Movies. Ben Baker shoots some commercials here and there. We all got into filming for the love of the game I guess.
What do you like most about doing the work you do at CCDG?
Feedback from the fans and players. It’s by far the coolest part of it. Going to a tourney and having all these people come up and let me know they appreciate our work is so rewarding. It’s what keeps us going. I’ve even run into some fans in the real world! It seriously makes my day. I read Kyle Crabtree’s FB post the other day, and when he got home from Beaver State Fling this week his daughter said “we saw you on TV daddy!”. We made that possible! How cool is that? After not seeing my kid for 5 days, it melted my heart.
Support Ian and Central Coast Disc Golf at the links below. Also be sure to check out his sponsors below that.
http://www.patreon.com/CCDG
http://www.centralcoastdg.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Central…
https://twitter.com/CCoastDiscGolf
Love to thank my sponsors! Pound Disc Golf (Octothorpe = best bag there is), Visionair Disc Golf dyes, Hark Digital Designs (hit them up if you need a website!), Black Ink Discs, Pac West Disc Golf, FoxTower DNA, and our newest sponsors MarinDiscSports, and DiscGolfShops.com (DGCR for disc golf shops).
The crew includes (north to south):
Matt Mangini in Bozeman Montana
Daniel Germain in Seattle
Alex Olguin in Portland, OR
Anthony Vandenheuvel in Portalnd, OR (he also has his own channel where he does great disc reviews – DGweekly)
Paul Fraser (2nd cam on Philo’s albatross) in Eugene, OR
Tobiah Orin Moshier in Eugene, OR
Cory Murrell in San Francisco
Ben Baker in Santa Cruz
Jaimal Hanson in San Luis Obispo
Peter Mares in LA
Derek Kurtti in Orange
Stu Dunn in McKinney, TX
Ian Anderson in San Diego
Thanisha Totemwongse (Our social media manager)
Honorary CCDG love to Juan Luis Garcia of Overstable Studios in Santa Barbara and my Jomez Pro buddies in Texas.
We’ve also had tons of filming help from too many people to name and not forget some. I’ll try though: Dave Laugesen, Keenan Dalton, Steven Winslow, Steven Webb, Nate Fincher, Tim Olson, Jacob Pangburn,