Maid quits S'pore job and moves to JB just so she can play disc golf

Can’t play your favourite sport where you are? Just move to another country.

That’s exactly what Filipino maid Joanna Guzman did and she has since been invited to compete at the World Championships level.

In 2018, she and her Singapore employer’s family stayed in Johor Bahru for six months while their house in Singapore underwent renovation.

The athletic woman, who was into running, could not find events to take part in, so her friends in JB introduced her to disc golf.

Disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, is a sport in which players throw a disc at a target, using rules similar to golf.

"My first impression of disc golf was that it's boring. It looked really boring to me and it was a boring game to play," Ms Guzman, 37, told The New Paper.

“I played disc golf again during the pandemic as there were limited options for socialising for my friends and me."

Ms Guzman played disc golf with her friends every Saturday and her love for the sport blossomed.

“I love everything about disc golf, it’s a great stress reliever for me,” she said, with a grin on her face.

As her passion for disc golf grew, Ms Guzman wanted to play the game as much as she could. So she moved to JB in 2023.

"My current salary is the same as what I was getting in Singapore but I have much more freedom to play disc golf in Malaysia," she said.

“In Singapore, I had only Sundays off and my first employer gave me only one day off per month. Here in Malaysia, I’m off from Friday night until Monday morning."

When her employer does not need her, Ms Guzman even gets to play disc golf on weekdays.

Her employer's house has a large garden, giving her the space to practise disc golf.

"There's so much space in Malaysia that I don't have to worry about my frisbee hitting someone in the head!"

What sounded like a joke was no laughing matter to Ms Guzman.

She recounted how her frisbee had struck someone's neck when she was playing in Singapore.

“There’s enough space to play disc golf in Singapore,” she explained. “But if there’s a passer-by walking or cycling nearby, I had to wait until they’re gone before I could resume playing."

competitive disc golf

Ms Guzman said she could never forget her first disc golf competition, which was during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I was so nervous as I clutched the frisbee in my hand. I was playing against competitors from Japan," added the competitve player who came in third.

“It was my first competition and everyone had way more experience than me.”

To date, Ms Guzman has participated in 28 competitions, often completing with a podium finish including 12 wins.

She is among the first females from the Philippines to play disc golf competitively.

Ms Guzman proclaimed the third place she won in the 2023 South-east Asia Disc Golf Championship to be an achievement she was proudest of.

Although she had played disc golf for about three years by then, she was up against much more experienced professional players in the competition.

“I couldn’t believe I competed and beat almost all of them. Everyone there had a wealth of experience compared to me,” she said.

In 2022 and 2023, Ms Guzman was invited to compete in the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) Amateur Disc Golf World Championships in the US. 

However, she did not play both times as her visa applications were rejected.

Ms Guzman has not given up. She is eyeing a spot in the 2025 edition of the championships and hopes to get her visa approved.

“Winning isn’t my priority. I just want to have fun, enjoy what I’m doing, and meet new people.”