u/gehntholt

Anyone with even a basic understanding of Cold War era flying disc geopolitics knows that the famous 38-under round was NOT golf. It was a perfect round of DISC GOLF, and the fact that both the DPRK and the CIA agreed to cover this up should tell you how deep this conspiracy actually goes.

Think about it. Why would North Korea want the world to believe their Dear Leader played golf instead of disc golf? Simple. Disc golf is a fundamentally anti-hierarchical sport. The concept of a citizen throwing the same disc as the Supreme Leader presents an existential threat to the Juche power structure. Golf, with its country clubs, exclusivity, and class barriers, was much more ideologically compatible with maintaining domestic control.

Now ask yourself why the CIA went along with it.

Because by the late 1970s, American intelligence analysts had already concluded that a verified 38-under round would permanently shift the center of competitive disc golf excellence to the Korean Peninsula. Internal assessments reportedly estimated the round would receive a rating somewhere between 1378 and 1417, effectively ending all future GOAT debates before they even began.

Think about the implications. How do you market Ken Climo as the greatest player ever when Kim Jong Il had already shot a sanctioned 38-under on a wooded par 71 course in the mountains outside Pyongyang? How does Paul McBeth build a legacy? How does Gannon Buhr explain his dominance? The entire professional disc golf economy would collapse overnight.

This is one of the few known examples in modern history where the CIA and the North Korean state apparatus independently arrived at the exact same disinformation campaign for completely different reasons.

And before anyone says “there’s no proof,” ask yourself why the round has never been officially rated by the PDGA.

SANCTIONS.

A round rating is, by definition, an exportable sporting commodity. Under current international sanctions, Kim Jong Il’s estimated 1378-1417 rated round cannot legally be exported from North Korea into the international disc golf economy. That’s why McBeth’s 1132 remains the official record. It’s not better. It’s simply sanction-compliant.

Also ask yourself why there have never been DGPT events in North Korea. Why has the PDGA never formally denied the existence of the round? Why does nobody know what mold Kim threw on hole 17? Why did Gannon Buhr release discs called “Summer Breeze” and “Winter Breeze” immediately after declassified weather modification documents became public?

Exactly.

The saddest part is that history will continue to ignore what was unquestionably the greatest round of disc golf ever played until peace is finally achieved on the Korean Peninsula.

And when that day comes, the first act of reconciliation between our nations should be the immediate posthumous induction of Kim Jong Il into the Disc Golf Hall of Fame, the retroactive certification of his round, and the recalculation of every professional player’s legacy to account for the fact that the true GOAT has been under sanctions for nearly half a century.

Anything less is geopolitical cowardice.