I’ve come to realize I’ll never be GREAT at disc golf. Hell, I’m not even mediocre. I am better than many of my friends but, let’s face it, I play 6 days a week and they…don’t.
That said, I’m still committed to learning. And through this site I can use the two best teaching tools I know…
A) Talking to people who are actually good at disc golf.
B) Looking at my own approach.
To the first point, I should again thank some of the pros who have answered our questions here. The National Disc Golf Tour is underway again and the first even of 2010 saw two of our “Top Pros” cash in The Memorial. Congratulations to Avery Jenkins who tied for 22nd and Scott Rief who finished 39th.
I was looking for more pro info this afternoon and had to laugh at these pages set up for Disc Golf Superstar Ken Climo :
“What Would Ken Climo Do?” is a Facebook fan page set up by a guy who’s e-mail address is “kenclimoisgod”.
“The Ken Climo Appreciation Club” is another Facebook fansite that seems more like a way for people to use Ken’s name to promote their own crap.
I actually did play with someone better than me just yesterday. Thanks to Jack for showing me a new disc that I think will help with my long-distance anhyzer. Otis is supposed to hit the store looking for a couple of Discraft Stratus ASAP.
Finally, since I’m ranting about people with particular skills, a shout out to my friend Timmy who is absolutely awful at the game of disc golf but is immensely talented as a photographer. I clipped these shots from his website, but his work is always worth checking.
Our Yukon buddy Drizz tries a putt at Timmons. We'll pretend this went in.
I taught these guys how to play! Be prepared for lousy frolf booms in L.A., Atlanta, Minnesota and Chicago!
Timmy says this picture shows just how fat I've gotten. Timmy is a very skinny man. But I like it because I think it shows some pretty good follow-through on the 13th hole at Timmons.
I had several good friends in town this week and many of them knew how much I loved to throw a disc.
One of them, my good buddy Pauly took his video camera with him and he shot the video below.
Enjoy…if you can.
This is the weekend we’ve been waiting for. Get up, get outside and throw some disc.
It’s nice enough that I managed to NOT kick my back across the road after tossing a plus 6 at Century Park this morning.
Otis is spending this weekend in Las Vegas and I’ve mentioned the “Gentlemen’s Club Classic” as a fun activity during his downtime. Sadly, Otis doesn’t actually have downtime doing whatever it is he does when he does his job.
Also this weekend, people who live in the great city of Lexington Kentucky (my birthplace doncha know) can warm up for the Kentucky-Vandy game with an Ice Bowl this weekend.
It’s a little arm for an Ice Bowl in my opinion, but the beauty of Lexington is that everything there is somewhat weird. I’ve always taught my kids that weird is good.
They’re very good kids.
I digress. I’ll see you outside this weekend.
A good friend of mine usually joins me for a weekend round. For the first time this weekend he brought his 4th grader along.
I hope you had a chance to get some snow frolf in this weekend. For what it’s worth, I covered the spread, had a good lunch, and took this picture :
That’s our 4th grade friend on the 18th hole in the late afternoon.
The best part? It was a good and sunny 50 degrees at the time. We’re back baby! See you out there this week.
We deny ourselves.
That’s what we do. We fill our bags full of what we call discs. We call what we play disc golf. We actively deny the world “frolf,” as if it demeans our sport.
And maybe that’s the case. Maybe it’s a good thing to distance ourselves from the beach-throwers and picnic tossers. Maybe we should do all that.
But tonight, at least for this one night, let’s taken a moment to remember Mr. Fred. Morrison. It was back in 1937 that that man came up with the idea of a sort of flying saucer toy during a Thanksgiving meal. It started out as a lid to some popcorn. Then he made a new one out of a cake pan. He flew planes in WWII, then came home and made his first Pluto Platter out of plastic. His little toy got bought out by the the company we know as Wham-O. It made him a millionaire and–over time–led to this little game we like to spend our lives playing.
Morrison died of lung cancer this week in Utah.
He has our thanks.
First, A Note About The Blog
Traditionally the death gurgle of a short-term blog is the standard “I know I haven’t posted in a while but…Golly…I’m gonna do better…soon” post. Sadly, that was my most recent post here.
And it wasn’t that recent.
This winter has been depressing, I think we can agree. I’ve played fewer than a dozen rounds of frolf this year. For me, that’s a decent week. It’s not a good pace for 6 weeks.
For the two of you who read this site from outside the United States, this has been the coldest, wettest, and most miserable winter our region has had in a very long time.
Now, I’m too fed up with not playing..to not play.
(I’ve also spent enough time away from writing to find myself saddled with the sentence above.)
Now The Weekly Journalism Rant
Here’s a tragic bit of writing news from Bakersfield, California :
“Disc golf has become a growing sport in Bakersfield over the past few years.”
That’s the lead sentence in a story that, if the headline is any indication, is about “Thieves Steal(ing) From Local Disc Golfers”.
See? The headline is neat-0! I want to read that. Then, as is required by Federal law, we’re given a lead sentence so gawl-darned lame I almost gave up. Here’s a tip for all you aspiring authors, don’t start a story is a gerund.
Hard to believe a state governed by this guy :
..could produce writing that bad.
Anyway, if you don’t want to endure the awfulness of Bakersfield alone, I’ll be your guide.
Here’s the story with my translation for those with delicate sensibilites :
“Disc golf has become a growing sport in Bakersfield over the past few years. Maybe because the sport, which involves throwing a disc into a basket or target, is known for being fairly inexpensive. But now, thanks to thieves the free sport is costing one disc golf group.”
Disc golf is a thing that is getting larger in the place where we live over a non-specific period of time. I don’t know much about it, but I’m guessing it has something to do with a disc. It’s also popular because it’s cheap. Getting kicked in the nuts is also cheap but somehow not popular. Here’s the thing, thanks to some thieves, a thing that I said in the PREVIOUS SENTENCE was “fairly inexpensive” but now describe as a “free sport” is either more expensive or less free!
“At any time of the day you can find disc golfers practicing their game at the Kern River Parkway on Truxtun Extension.
Players aim to overcome obstacles to make it into each basket, but now there is one more obstacle standing in their way. A few weeks ago, one of the baskets came up missing.”
Players play often. They overcome obstacles. For most, that obstacle is obesity. It’s a regular episode of “Blossom” out there and every hour is a VERY special episode. Then, more drama! At first we thought one of the baskets had come up lame…instead it “came up” missing!
“It definitely isn’t cool for the people that want to come out and play that you steal a basket and we can’t even play a complete game,” said disc golfer Nicole Wiley. “Not to mention, I have to throw it between two trees now and I don’t have the accuracy to do that so it’s pretty crappy.”
This part speaks for itself. The author quotes an actual disc golfer, Nicole Wiley, who manages to get the word “crappy” into the story. Well done!
“The Kern County Disc Golf Club put in the nine basket course with money they raised through holding tournaments and fundraisers. Club member Rocky Brown said because money is hard to come by, it could take them six to eight months to replace the stolen basket.”
Because disc gold is either inexpensive, free, or some odd variation of both money is tight. They held tournaments. Sadly, Tom Joad, Jim Casey, and Rosasharn were all tied up for grape pickin’ season and couldn’t help with the fundraiser.
“This basket wasn’t stolen from the city, which wouldn’t be OK. It was stolen from other disc golfers that care enough about the game to take their own time to do this,” said Brown.
Brown said each basket costs anywhere from $400 to $500 to replace. And with the basket weighing close to 100 pounds, Brown believes it was a two-person job.
Rocky Brown is an idiot.
Aren’t you glad I spared you the trip to read it yourself?
Anyway, somebody stole a basket in Bakersfield. It made the news on the local TV station. ’Nuff Said.
For the record, now that you’ve skipped the story itself, do yourself a favor and check out the comments.
Here’s my favorite :
“Proably got stolen to make into weapons!”
I’m off to Columbia tonight to watch my alma mater play against the Gamecocks. I’d say to wish us luck, but I’m pretty sure we won’t need it.
I apologize for the lack of new content lately but, honestly, it’s hard to get too motivated about an outdoor game when it’s bitter cold, windy, and raining. That said, the weather IS starting to improve and we’re getting out on the course again.
Some great content is in the works here including new additions to our “Top Pros” segments and some previews of big regional tournaments.
I will say that I’m pretty sure I’ll play in the Columbia PDGA event in March. It’s called the Earlewood Classic and, so far, I don’t see any way to register online. I’ll check it out and report back.
I’ll also be playing, if I can, in the Ice Bowl over in Boiling Springs next month.
Finally, stay tuned for the post I’ve been nagging Otis to make. He can’t hold out forever.
A quick note to keep an eye out for a couple of this blog’s favorite “Top Pros”.
Scott Rief and Sarah Stanhope are both signed up for the Savannah Open this weekend.
Check that link for some scores. It’s a really good field and one of the first really competitive tournaments of the season. I counted 6 players with a rating of better than 1000.
By the way, I played a pretty mediocre round out at Century Park yesterday and am going to get one in before the rain today. This is the weather we’ve been waiting for so GET OUT AN THROW.
Finally, what’s best about this video? They guy striking a pose after the ace? The fact that he called it? Or the fact that as soon as it goes in, someone hands him a beer?
An American soldier with Greenville roots named Geoff Whitsett was killed in Afghanistan this week.
Here’s the verbatim report for WYFF 4’s Nigel Robertson aired Thursday night :
Please join us at Upstate Frolfer and everyone who ever had the pleasure of knowing this young man, in taking a moment to reflect on his sacrifice.
eltreedr
Otis
