Disc Golf?
Posted July 8th, 2012 @ 09:04pm by Erik J. Barzeski
Anyone know anything about disc golf?
It seems like a reasonably inexpensive, fun little thing to do. We played nine holes down here in Kiawah Island and had a blast. We would have had more fun if we had figured out how to "draw" the discs (curving right with a right-handed throw, which I realize is the opposite from golf, but we also stand on the opposite side of the ball or disc).
Where do you buy discs? What do you want to look for in your discs? The nearest course is a 20-minute drive, and while that's not terrible, it's not super convenient either. I wonder if I might be able to convince a local park to build a course or something.
There don't seem to be any disc golf retailers within a fairly large radius around here, or I'd travel to one to see what they had to say.
Resources I've Found Useful
- http://www.discraft.com/dghelp.html
- http://discraft.com/vid/html/mediaplayer.html
- http://www.pdga.com/rules
- http://www.innovadiscs.com/home/disc-golf-faq/glossary-of-terms.html
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_golf
- http://www.innovadiscs.com/home/disc-golf-faq.html
Donate Life
Posted 15 Aug 2012 at 4:59pm #
I've been playing disc golf since the early 90s and even ran some tournaments here. I went to the world championships as a spectator in 1995 (Port Arthur, TX) and as a staff volunteer in 1997 (Charlotte, NC) and for a while I hosted the 1995 worlds tournament results on my work web server before online tournament results (or the web for that matter) were even really a thing. Anyway all that just to say that it's a great game and as you've found, really inexpensive to get into.
The terms you're looking for (and probably already found by now) is hyzer and anhyzer to describe the flight path of the disc. Hyzer, for a right-handed backhand throw, is when the disc curves to the left. Anhyzer, for a right-handed backhand throw, is when the disc curves to the right. Getting a disc to "turn over" into an anhyzer shot can be done in a number of ways. You can use a different launch angle (tilting the outside edge upwards). You can use a certain disc type that is prone to turn over. You can use a disc that has been beaten up (this causes discs to become less stable). Or a combination of those things. Heck, just hit up that link for what is probably a better explanation of stability than I can give you here.
I haven't bought discs in years because I don't play much anymore due to a knee injury, but when I did, the absolute best place to get them is from people selling them at tournaments. I did a quick search on the PDGA site to see if there's any tournaments coming close to you and unfortunately don't see any. The couple of A Tier events even remotely close to you before the end of the year aren't even really that close (Warwick NY and Newton, PA). My best suggestion would be to try local sports equipment stores. Down here in FL, they're sold at Play It Again Sports. However, without a local course, they might not carry them.
Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying it and if you look into getting a course in Erie, I wish you the best of luck. Check out the Course Development section of the PDGA site. http://www.pdga.com/course-development
Posted 15 Aug 2012 at 11:24pm #
[quote comment="70750"]Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying it and if you look into getting a course in Erie, I wish you the best of luck. Check out the Course Development section of the PDGA site. http://www.pdga.com/course-development%5B/quote%5D
Thanks. I think Innova has a good PDF and says you can get tee marker signs and 18 holes for about $6k. One of the local golf courses was shortened from 9 holes to 4 holes (they still have a short game and full swing practice area, and a putting green) due to airport runway expansion, so I'm going to try to convince some local politicians that they should put a disc golf course in there.
I got a portable goal, so in the meantime, my kid and I can practice putting and maybe even doing some goofy shots in our yard, or take the goal to the local fields and play over larger distances.
I played Roscoe Ewing Park in Medina, OH recently with two skeptics and we had a really good time!