INDIANOLA, Iowa – It’s been a work in progress and last Sunday Ezra Aderhold completed the task.

The former Aberdeen resident won his first Disc Golf Pro Tour championship, winning the elite Discmania Challenge in Indianola.

“It feels great,” Aderhold said. “Throughout my career, I always kind felt like I could win and I was the guy that would have wins under my belt, so it’s nice to finally accomplish that.”

Aderhold, who is currently rated fifth in the world in the DGPT standings, defeated some of the top disc golfers at the elite level tournament on the way to earning the $12,500 first-place prize.

“It was the best feeling I’ve ever felt in my life. It was insane,” said Aderhold. “So many emotions that I’ve never felt before just kind of all hitting me at once. The journey and how long it took. I had to work so hard to get to this point.”

The fact that his initial championship came in such a big tournament in his sixth year on the tour made the moment even more special.

“This had everybody in it except for maybe two of the top 10 guys. … It’s pretty sweet,” Aderhold said.

It comes on the heels of a disappointing finish to last season when Aderhold failed to make the DGPT championship tournament. Naturally, doubts started to creep in.

“Ideas pop into your head like, oh man, why am I even out here if I’m not going to play good and I’m not going to be winning tournaments?” Aderhold said.

However, he stuck to the course and was rewarded in a major way this past weekend.

“I’m glad I didn’t believe those thoughts too much and I kept with it,” Aderhold said, “and here we are today.”

Aderhold had held leads before heading into the final round of smaller events, so he had experience with the field chasing him. But the Discmania Challenge was different.

“I’ve had leads in those small events,” he said, “but nothing this big.”

Aderhold, who golfed for Aberdeen Christian from 2011-2016, said he tried to stay aggressive until the very end.

“The way most disc golf courses are set up you just try to birdie every hole no matter what,” Aderhold said. “My game plan didn’t really change at all throughout the week on any hole until the very last up shot when I could lay up and not gun for the birdie.”

Not that Aderhold needed any validation after a solid start to his disc golfing career, but winning a major title and accomplishing that elusive goal brought an exhilarating mix of relief and euphoria.

“It’s like a huge weight off of my shoulders. It’s a big relief as far as, if my career ended right now, it wasn’t a complete waste,” Aderhold said. “Now that I’ve got the win I can feel like I succeeded at this job and I wasn’t just a failure, which is kind of how I felt until it happened.”

The win also gave Aderhold a shot of confidence to as he heads into the back half of the 2025 season. He is currently spending six weeks in Northern Europe competing at tournaments in Norway, Estonia, and Finland.

“I intend to have a long career. I intend to stay healthy and keep working hard, and try to chase the feeling again, because it was incredible and I want to pick up as many wins as I can get,” Aderhold said. “Hopefully, it just instills more confidence and helps me play better.”

What made the moment even more memorable is that Aderhold’s brother Judah served as his caddie during tournament. Judah was a former standout golfer for Aberdeen Christian, winning the Class B state championship in 2018 after a runner-up finish in 2017.

“It was so special to have him on the bag. … I feel like we won it together,” Aderhold said.

The victory marked the first time that anyone from South Dakota has ever won an event on the Disc Golf Pro Tour.

“This is the first time someone from South Dakota has gotten a dub,” Aderhold said, “so it’s cool to kind of put South Dakota on the map.”

The 27-year-old Aderhold, who still claims Aberdeen as his home residence, will continue to keep grinding in search of more tour wins in the near future.

“I do need to try to refocus,” Aderhold said. “I want to enjoy this win and feel those feelings and stuff, but I also have a whole season ahead of me.”

No matter what happens in the future, though, Aderhold will never ever be able to forget the complete joy he experienced in winning his first major championship.

“Definitely a dream come true. I feel like any kid watching their favorite sport on TV or whatever it is, always dreams of being the guy that gets that top spot, gets to hoist the trophy and have a celebration and party with friends afterwards, just the entire experience,” Aderhold said, “so to actually live that from a first-person view and experience that, it was incredible.”