The Invercargill 18-year-old could go professional on the American disc golf circuit and earn up to $NZ160,000 a year, but he wants to study physiotherapy at the University of Otago first.
The first year health sciences student is studying hard in Dunedin at the moment, in a bid to make the cut for the physio degree.
"Physiotherapy has always been interesting for me — I’m biomechanically-minded.
"I’ve always liked breaking down how my form looks, all the different components of it.
"And part of that is when it all goes wrong with injuries, physiotherapy can fix it and it is also really easy to apply to myself as an athlete, to help me recover and prevent injuries."
Mr Stout said he started playing disc golf when he was 10, when he and his brother discovered the disc golf baskets in Te Anau while they were on holiday.
"We just bought some cheap plastic Frisbees and started playing," he said.
"It started out as a bit of fun, but it’s a bit like golf — it’s really hard to perfect.
"Arguably, it’s even more infuriating than golf because there’s more trees to hit.
"The problem is, the disc never goes where you want it to.
"I like to be able to perfect things and that’s what hooked me."
When he was 15, he started playing in the sport’s open division and since then, he has worked his way up the ranks to become the highest-rated disc golfer in the country.
He is a two-time South Island champion and the present South Island champion, as well as a three-time New Zealand Disc Golf (NZDG) tour winner.
Mr Stout said going pro in disc golf was not off the cards.
It was something he wanted to explore further down the fairway, but he believed at this point in his life, it was very important to have "a plan B".
"Disc golf is definitely not a guarantee. It is quite difficult to become a pro because at the top level, there’s only a handful of people that can make a decent living off it.
"It means spending a lot of time on the road, living from pay cheque to pay cheque, and getting sponsorship in a game that is not mainstream is not easy."
However, he was confident he could succeed, especially after the year he has had.
He has a handicap equivalent to "minus-one" for "normal golf", and earlier this year, he had his biggest win to date — the 2024 Bottle Lake Open in Christchurch, where he went head-to-head with two professional disc golfers from the United States, and won.
"I’ve still got a lot of work to do, but I definitely could go pro in the future.
"I would love to represent New Zealand at the Olympics if they ever added that to the Games."
