Greek professor connects with students in class and on course

Disc golf is Greek to Justin Langford.

Of course, Langford has a Ph.D. in Greek…

Langford, dean of the School of Ministry and Performing Arts, started teaching at Louisiana Christian University in 2013. He also started playing disc golf that same year when a student introduced him to it.

He fell in love with the school and the sport.

“When Dr. Langford came my senior year we convinced him to come and play with us one day,” said LCU alumnus Parker Pearson. “He loved it and was hooked. He came and played many more times that year, and honestly we all thought he was the coolest guy for coming.”

Pearson, who is now the director of student activities at Grace Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, is the alumnus who LCU’s disc golf course Pearson Park is named for because he worked to establish the course his senior year in 2014.

Pearson said it was an honor he wasn’t expecting—and it should probably be renamed the Langford-Pickard course now because both Langford and history professor Dr. Scott Pickard can beat him any day.

“Out of all the professors I have had, both in my undergraduate and my master’s, none have had as great an impact on my life as Dr. Langford,” Pearson said. “In his classes, he taught us how to love and value God’s Word, pushed us to strive for academic excellence, and encouraged us to ask hard questions about our faith. Even though he was working with a bunch of college students, he always treated us with respect and showed Christlike humility as he demonstrated his own wisdom and knowledge. Now that I am a Bible teacher myself, I strive to teach in the same way he taught us.”

Pearson said Langford has become one of his fondest friends since his last year—and Langford’s first year—at LCU.

“When I was his student he would often have a group of Christian Studies majors to his house to play some games, talk about life, and he always showed us that he loved and genuinely cared for us,” Pearson said. “Even though he is no longer my professor, he has never really stopped being someone that I have learned from. To this day I will often call him or drop by his office when I have a question about the Bible, church ministry, or even just for some advice.”

Though disc golf was invented in the 1970s, it didn’t gain in popularity in the United States until the 2000s. And it really skyrocketed in popularity during COVID, Langford said, because it allowed you to be with other people, outside, but from a safe distance.

From 2020/21 to 2021/22, the Professional Disc Golf Association membership doubled from 100,000 to 200,000.

This academic year LCU began a disc golf team. Thus far, the six-member team has played one tournament in Baton Rouge, finishing 16th.

Team members are Andrew Loewer, Jeb White, team president Emma Walker, Ben Shields, Austin Corley and Adam Campbell.

Loewer, in fact, became a professional disc golfer in January 2024.

A senior biology-pre-med major, Loewer started playing four years ago.

“I started playing after class, between classes,” he said. “About a year ago, I knew I could go on the professional scene in Louisiana.”

Langford, who is the team’s faculty sponsor, plays LCU’s course with faculty, staff and students on Fridays at 1 p.m. and encourages others to get out and enjoy the course or play other courses in the area. It’s the No. 2 growing sport in the nation—behind pickleball.

It’s unique in that players throw discs into baskets, but it’s scored like golf.

“For our area, there is a huge amount of participation,” Langford said.

In addition to LCU’s 9-hole Pearson Park, LSUA has a 9-hole course, and there are 18-hole courses at Buhlow Lake and Kees Park in Pineville and a 21-hole course at the Reservation in Tioga.

A bonus, Langford said, is that most disc golf courses cost little or nothing to play.

“I’ve played ball golf before, and the reason I like disc golf more,” he said, “there are more courses. I never knew they were even there until I got this app (UDISC). There are courses all over the world, and 95% are free.”

Langford said when he went with the C.S. Lewis Honors Program students to London two years ago, he played disc golf in the Wembley area of northwestern London on a course overlooking the beautiful city line by the River Thames.

Langford has been playing for nearly a decade with Pickard and business professor David Culp, but he won’t say which of them has the best game.

Pickard, however, readily admits Langford is the better player—except when he is keeping score, he chuckles, in which case, he seems to play much better.

“When I keep score,” Pickard jokes, “I can beat him.”

In all their years of playing together, Pickard said, he believes he has beaten Langford at least once, fair and square, even though he has been playing since Langford was born. He also pointed out that he has gotten a hole-in-one—something Langford has never done.

“With Justin [Langford], when I say good things about his game, it torpedoes him,” Pickard said. “I can be nice and at the same time, I’m messing him over.”

Pickard said the banter between Langford, Culp and himself is also part of the fun.

Culp agrees that Langford is an excellent player, saying he wishes he “could putt half as good as he does.”

The three professors are affectionally referred to by some as the ‘Three Musketeers’ of disc golf.

Langford hopes even more students and staff will take up disc golf, and said LCU has the perfect course for it.

“Our course is very beginner-friendly,” he said. “Experienced players don’t normally play here, but if you’re learning to play, this is the place to start.”

He also plans to continue pouring into LCU’s students inside and outside the classroom—and hopefully do more traveling and finding more disc golf courses to play.

“I came to work here because of how I was impacted as a student,” Langford said. “I wanted to teach and serve at a place like I was taught. The reason I am here is because of the students. The by-products are the colleagues—and the disc golf.”

 

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Media Release | April 25, 2024 | Pineville, Louisiana
Contact: Dr. Elizabeth B. Clarke, Director of University Communications | Elizabeth.clarke@lcuniversity.edu