The Making of Stokely Discs!

In this post we will give a full review of Stokely Discs and we will also dive into how and why Scott Stokely took on such an undertaking. In addition, we will give some insight into Scott Stokely’s relationship with Ching Discs. There’s a lot to get to. Let’s begin!

Note: This post Stokely Discs and Ching Discs contains affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, we get a small percentage of the sale, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting our disc golf passion project!

Stokely/Ching Discs – An Introduction

If you talk to Scott Stokely, like I had the pleasure of doing, he’ll pass out enough hot takes to last you a lifetime.

This is not one of those takes: Without Scott Stokely, there is no Stokely Discs. There’d be no Ching Discs either.

On the surface this seems like the most obvious statement ever made. But what I really mean by it is this:

Scott Stokely is an unstoppable force of nature.

Scott Stokely is the figurehead, the spokesperson, the advertising department, president, CEO and so much more for his recently launched Stokely Discs and his somewhat recently purchased Ching Discs.

And while he certainly has assistance along the way, Stokely is an unrelenting advocate for his lines of discs all the while making sure to be a true ambassador for his beloved sport of disc golf.

So let’s see why he chose to wade into the seemingly bottomless pool of disc manufacturers, how he’s doing it differently from others, and how he’s a betting favorite to keep his head well above water.

Stokely Discs – A New Line Is Launched

At the time of this posting Stokely Discs has produced four unique disc molds with four more slated to be released in 2025. They also have 4 different plastic blends with more in development.

In keeping with this theme of fours, Stokely anticipates releasing about four discs per year for the foreseeable future.

Starting his own line wasn’t necessarily the original plan. At first, he planned on re-launching the once popular Ching Discs. But then Covid hit, plastics were impossible to get ahold of, and he had to chart a new course.

This is when the idea for his own line of discs took shape. Stokely, along with a long-time business partner began taking steps to beginning this process.

“During Covid, we were in a holding pattern. While we were in this holding pattern and started wondering ‘What if we started a new company?’” Stokely tells me.

From there it was two years in the making. Two years of visiting countless pro shops, talking to the owners, and gathering information about how to launch his company effectively while still preserving what Stokely recognizes as one of the most valuable assets disc golf has. The disc golf pro shops.

“Nearly every pro shop in the world is putting courses in the ground. They are running leagues. They teach classes. Putting the right discs in the hands of the beginners. They build community. They are key to the growth of the sport.

Scott Stokely

Yes, he decided to launch his own line. But he was hell-bent on doing it the right way.

Disc Golf Comes First…

One of the central questions Stokely pondered while going through the process of starting his own line of discs was how to do so while still uplifting disc golf.

“We did research with the question, what is something we can do differently?”

And while he was talking to so many pro shops, he got some concerning information from them.

“Virtually every pro shop will tell you that their biggest competitors are actually the manufacturers whose discs they are selling.” Stokely informs me. He heard this repeatedly on his information gathering tour. Whether it’s new stamps, limited time only discs, special plastics, or just lowering prices, with online sales that are below cost for the shops, the manufacturers make it very hard for these foundational pillars of disc golf to stay afloat.

“And every time they go under, we lose a promoter of our sport. Or every time these folks have to scrap and scrape 70 hours a week just to keep their heads above water, the chances that they are finding time to teach classes, for example, goes down significantly. How can they when they’re trying to pay their bills! I just don’t think that’s good for the sport.”

So, Stokely wondered, how could he do things differently?

Getting this part right was non-negotiable…

Stokely Discs is Doing Things Differently

*This image is captured from stokelydiscs.com.*

If manufacturers are a pro shop’s biggest competitor and pro shops are a foundational piece of the disc golf pie, how then is Scott Stokely helping his beloved disc golf by becoming a manufacturer?

A reasonable question, but he explains.

“You cannot buy a first run Stokely Disc from my website,” says Stokely. “You want a first run Stokely disc, you’ve gotta walk into a pro shop, you’ve got to go to a store like Infinite, but you ain’t gonna get it from me.”

He doesn’t undercut the retailers. He doesn’t release products that the pro shops don’t have access to. In that way, the retailers can share in the pie.

If you go to his website, his Instagram, or any other platform Stokely uses, this is a consistent message that he puts out into the world: Buy Stokely discs from your local retailer.

Stokely, for the record, understands why manufacturers try and sell direct. The profit margins are significantly higher when you cut out the middle man. The same is true if you buy from him directly.

And while Stokely does take a financial hit, he’s happy to do that. He might just be cut from a different cloth…

Not Everything is about the Money

Why is Scott Stokely so happy to lose money?

“I’m very strange,” Scott Stokely tells me. I have a very different approach to money. I’m fine. I’m more concerned with the long-term growth of the sport.”

Scott Stokely

“I’m going to die poor,” he tells me with a chuckle. “I guarantee I’m going to die without money.”

To be perfectly clear, he’s not looking for sympathy. Quite the opposite. He was almost giddy about telling me this. He also knows that he’s more than able to provide for himself. He’s a nomad and just not motivated by accumulating the stuff and he’s all-too-happy to put the extra money back into disc golf.

If you’re reading this with a touch of cynicism, I wouldn’t blame you. I’ve usually got a healthy dose of it myself.

And if you do doubt me, go ahead and read his book where he credits disc golf and the good people of disc golf for saving his life. Then, watch his Disc Golf Hall of Fame Induction Speech. Do those two things and then tell me he doesn’t put disc golf over money.

I’m convinced and I’m confident you will be too…

Stokely Wants to Emphasize Quality

As you might expect, Scott Stokely has strong opinions about what kind of disc quality some manufacturers put out into the market.

He’s played a whole lot of years, and thrown some really bad discs in his day. Why, you ask, does a manufacturer put out a bad disc in the first place? Wouldn’t that be counterproductive?

It always comes back to money doesn’t it?

For the most part, these disc molds cost $25,000 just to create. This is before you even know if the disc is any good. So, a lot of times, even if the disc is bad, the manufacturer will market it so they can recoup their losses.

This, to Stokely, is bordering on criminal.

“People spend their hard-earned money on these discs,” he tells me with heavy tones of incredulity.

Nevertheless, when talking about creating new molds, you can see how the pricing can cause a bit of a dilemma. $25,000 is a big chunk of change in disc golf.

It’s all part of the process though…

“My business partner and I decided that we will ultimately make more molds than we use, but the trade-off is, you build your reputation. When a new disc actually comes out, people can trust in it and are more willing to buy it.”

Scott Stokely

Let’s now take a look and see if the years of market research, the emphasis on quality, and a lifetime of disc golf experience is paying off in the form of good discs.

Early Returns Are Promising!

If you scan through the lineup of Stokely Discs on Infinite’s website, and read the reviews while looking at the ratings, you’ll see that Stokely Discs is doing something right.

5 star ratings permeate the page with a few 4.5’s and one 4 star rating as well. Nothing lower.

Then, when you dig into the written reviews you can really feel the appreciation for each disc shine through. You can also preview the discs that are coming down the pipeline as well.

Here’s what they have so far.

The Wren!

If you like a beadless, low-profile putter like I do, you are going to enjoy The Wren. Interestingly, Scott Stokely himself told me he prefers the feel of a beaded putter. But when he and his partner did hours upon hours of data collection, the beadless putter was the clear winner!

The Strato plastic (the Stokely Discs base offering) has a very nice tack to it that will serve you well in many weather conditions. It’s also got a nice durability for a base plastic when throwing it.

Off the tee, this disc flies nice and straight with a touch of fade at the end. You won’t have to worry about burning it over!

Find it on Infinite here!

The Owl!

The Owl (flight ratings 4, 3, 0.5, 3.5) is an overstable approach disc that works with your forehand or your backhand. It can handle plenty of torque and can also get you out of jams if you need to release it on anhyzer and rely on it to flex back into play.

It comes in Meso (clear/durable), Thermo (durable/tactile) and Strato (base) Plastics to fit your personal preferences.

Find it on Infinite here!

The Cardinal!

If you give The Cardinal a rating below five stars, you will be the first. With flight ratings of 5, 4, 0, 2.5 this disc has found that perfect balance of stability. You can rely on it forehand or backhand. Whether you throw it into headwinds, or with no wind at all, it has a very consistent pure flight with a reliable fade at the end.

When Scott Stokely was telling me about it, he told me he probably should have released his excellent straight midrange (coming soon) first. But he loved this one so much and needed this slot filled in his bag, that he just went with it.

You can fill a similar slot in your bag by getting it on Infinite here!

The Lark!

The Lark is a reliable, user-friendly, straight-flying disc with a reliable end-fade. It’s flight ratings were just voted on by the disc golf community to be 7, 5, -1.5, 1.5.

It’s a super dependable disc that players of all levels can use. Not only is it beginner-friendly, but I have it on good authority (Scott told me) that a well-known pro will be bagging it this season as well!

Find it on Infinite here!

And What of this Ching Business?

Scott Stokely’s original intention was to simply buy Ching Discs and put it back on the market.

For those wondering why he would buy a manufacturing company that went out of business, Stokely is very quick to point out that “Ching was actually successful and profitable when the previous owner shut it down. He shut it down for personal reasons…”

Stokely continues.

“If the company shut down because people didn’t like the discs, obviously I wasn’t going to buy the discs and release them… That would be really dumb. They were popular…”

Scott Stokely

That was the original plan, but circumstances change things a bit for them.

“Me and a partner purchased the company right before Covid. We hadn’t started Stokely Discs. We were going to relaunch Ching Discs.”

Now, in conjunction with his own line of discs. Stokely and his partner are slowly incorporating Ching Discs back into the market with their own. Right now, they have begun with the popular putter, The Juju, but others will come as well.

Ching is Actually Made In The USA!

if you buy a Ching disc, you will see “Made in China” conspicuously written on the back. So what’s with the “Made in USA” headline?

“All the molds were over in China when we bought the company,” Stokely explains. “The first thing we did was to ship the molds from China back to America to run in our facilities. They are all American made. That is why it says “Made in China”. They are the actual original molds.”

Let us have a look at this now American-made disc from Ching…

The Juju!

The Juju (3, 4, -1, 1) is a very straight-flying putter that is very user-friendly and excellent for beginners. As you can tell from the image it has a series of indentations that are spaced at variable distances from the rim to accommodate different hand sizes as well as different types of throws.

Stokely appreciates using this disc in the meso soft plastic as an approach disc that sits where it lands.

Get it on Infinite here!

New Discs On The Horizon (as of 3/5/25)

Scott did not divulge to me which of the Ching Discs he’d be releasing next. Stay tuned for that.

He did, however, drop a few clues as to what’s on the horizon for his lineup of Stokely Discs. If you look at the lineup of Stokely Discs, you see that they have 2 distance drivers, a fairway driver and a putter coming out.

For the distance drivers, Stokely spoke very highly of both.

About The Peregrine Stokely told me that “The Peregrine is phenomenal and people are going to love it.” He hinted that it flies just as well as one of the most popular distance drivers in disc golf.

For The Magpie, he told me this: “The Magpie will probably be my primary driver.” He thinks very highly of it and can’t wait to unveil it.

The Finch is a beaded putter that he’s very proud of as well.

Lastly, I have no information on The Robin, but based on the trends so far, I’d wager that it’s good! We’ll all have to stay tuned and see what it is…

Stokely Teaches Disc Golf as well!

Between playing on tour, launching his own line of discs, re-launching Ching Discs, walking into countless pro shops and also talking to hacks like me, you might think Stokely’s plate is already overflowing.

That would be inaccurate.

He also has his own online disc golf course. It’s a 6-month course where players get actual feedback from Stokely and his team of instructors. You send in unlimited videos and, little by little, they tweak your form until you are throwing farther and more accurately.

“It’s not just a series of videos. That’s YouTube,” Stokely tells me (Add that to his list btw. Here’s Stokely’s YouTube Channel).

This video below gives some nice insight into Stokely’s teaching method.

Scott Stokely, Stokely Discs, Ching Discs – Summary

Scott Stokely, on a video call from Cambodia, was very giving of his time and information. It was a true pleasure having had the opportunity to talk disc golf, one on one, with one of the legends of the sport.

After having read about how Stokely has woven himself so irrevocably into the disc golf fabric I’m going to go ahead and quote myself (a first!) from earlier in the post and you’ll probably agree: “Scott Stokely is an unstoppable force of nature.”

And after combing through his impressive catalog of content, talking to him first hand, and observing how he engages with people in his path, one thing stands out above all else. Nothing comes before the health of disc golf.

Stokely entered the manufacturing side of disc golf with the intention to do things differently. He is constantly telling anyone that will listen to buy his discs and others from your local pro shop. In addition, he makes sure not to sell any of his coveted first run discs on his own site. Nor will he undercut shops with price gauges or limited edition discs that you can only get on his site.

The health of disc golf comes first.

And many years from now, when Stokely, tatted knuckles and nary a dollar to his name, looks back on his glorious career, he’ll know he left it all on the course. His passion for the game burns with the fire of a thousand suns.

Disc golf gave him his life back, and he never forgot it.

In turn, he gave his life right back to disc golf, and disc golf is unequivocally better for it.

And neither disc golf, nor we, will ever forget it…

Thank you sincerely for reading! The whole process was a true pleasure. If you have thoughts on Scott Stokely himself or his lines of discs I invite you to leave a comment below (Comments turn off after 30 days. The Spam I get is real!). You can also contact me/subscribe (infrequent newsletter) any time.