This upcoming Sunday (May 12) is Mother’s Day.
In conjunction with that, we’re going to be doing our second Women’s Week on Rattling Chains. We’ll have a more in-depth post this weekend about what to expect and such, but it’s our way of helping to try and promote and grow women’s golf.
There won’t be a poll next week, so it seems to be a good idea to run a poll that deals with women’s golf and can run throughout next week.
But, we’ll catch up with that poll in a moment.
First, let’s go back to last week’s poll, check the results and see what some people had to say.
We wanted to know what type of disc golf was your favorite? This one wasn’t even close and, honestly, we wouldn’t have expected anything different.
A good mix won easily, garnering 89 (79 percent) of the 112 votes. It’s good to see golfers want that mix and challenge of having to deal with different obstacles, terrains and everything in between.
Wooded came in second, gathering 14 votes (13 percent), followed by doesn’t matter, as long as there are baskets! (7 votes/6 percent) and open courses (2 votes/2 percent).
Variety is a big part of life though, and it seems like it is true in disc golf.
A lot of people didn’t chime in this week, but we had some good responses, so let’s see a few of them.
Bocephus Moonshine said:
From my home, I have a choice between two equidistant courses; a mixed course and a wooded course. Playing the mixed course is fun, but playing the wooded course has made me better at the game because it is much more challenging.
I sometimes fantasize about building my own course here in Florida. It would have to be in a wooded area with no water (I HATE losing discs – yes, I’m cheap), but it would have some O.B. areas marked off to create virtual bodies of water where you can get your disc back without swimming with alligators.
When I was a newbie, I used to complain about difficult courses, but now I think the harder a course is, the better the course is, especially if the course has short and long tee pads. Some of my local courses have nothing but long unobstructed holes, and those courses are boring to play. I’ve even gotten to the point where it angers me to see unauthorized disc golfers altering the landscape to make particular holes easier. Seriously, if you hit a particular tree branch too often, step-up your game. The tree isn’t the issue. The issue is your skill.
There’s definitely two sides to that coin, but in general, this is probably true. Harder courses will help you refine your game, but the easier courses are probably better for newer people so they don’t get discouraged as easily! Wooded courses are great for learning because many don’t have the arm for those long, open courses and it can be frustrating to players when a par is 3 or 4 and it takes them 6 or 7 — without hitting any trees.
Simpletwist said:
It looks like I’ll go with the masses on this one. Give me a good mix. Something that tests all parts of the game. I like to thread the needle and find that perfect line in the trees. And I also like to air out a bomb. Well as much of a bomb as this noodle arm can get. Its nice to play with the wind and space.
Another thing about a good mix is if you’re getting frustrated by the wind you can take some cover in the trees. Or if you’re getting a little tired of chopping trees and winding up in jail, then letting a good open rip can be just the tonic you need.
That’s probably what many disc golfers like. You get to see some open space after banging around in the woods for a bit, and then when you don’t want to just air it out, some woods save you.
TimJ said:
I have few chances to play wooded courses, but I have liked them best. The ability basically to hike with discs is pretty cool. To play a course on a piece of land that I would enjoy being on anyway is a bonus. Finally, I think the chance of memorable holes is greater on a wooded course than the other types. Looking from the tee across a gully with a creek at the bottom and a basket at the top of the hill on the other side (for example) is something I will remember for a long time.
That’s a great point with wooded courses — being able to feel like you are out for a hike and can throw discs.
Ray E said:
Disc golf definitely helps me unwind! Another of the perks.
Variety is the quality I covet the most in a course. The better I get, the more interested I become in the mental game of choosing discs and lines. On a course with static qualities – be they distance, obstacles, angles, what have you – I find I start to lose engagement with one of my favorite parts of the sport. Having variety helps keep me on my toes! Not to mention that it grows my game – nothing better when playing a new course than being forced into devising a new shot or utilizing an unfamiliar one.
Some good points here, too. The mental game is definitely helped when one has variety on the course.
BentT said:
I wanted to vote “anything as long as it has baskets” but the longer I play the more I value the variety of a mixed course. We had a bucket course here for a while but I couldn’t justify the drive until the course was finalized.
The other courses here have multiple tee and multiple pin placements. There are 2 courses that have some slight elevation changes to the terrain, and the new one (after all the Vortex baskets went in) is somewhat flat on the bottom 9 and all up and down in the top 9 (hence the deviation from front/back). The holes range from wooded to open bombs to anhyzer to tunnel.
Variety is the spice of life and we have it all here with 3 great courses within 15 minutes of each other. And those are only the public courses, there are multiple private courses that have everything from short “putt & approach” to windy, open grassy fairways. It’s great to live in the Inland Northwest.
If you have all those choices so close, many disc golfers may be jealous of you. But having something like that seems like it definitely would help one appreciate diversity and variety!
Thanks to all who voted and commented. Now on with this week’s poll.
Men’s disc golf is obviously a bigger part of the game right now. But the women’s game continues to grow. Last year, the PDGA held an extremely successful Women’s Global Event. Some of the top pros can hang with many men. More daughters are playing the game to spend time with their fathers.
So have you helped grow the women’s sport?
Let us know if you’ve helped with the growth of women’s disc golf and drop a comment letting us know what you’ve done. It can be anything. Maybe you’ve showed a daughter and her friends the game. Or talked to friends or co-workers. Or saw a hiker in the park and told her about the game. Maybe you’ve helped at a tournament for women? There are so many ways of growing the sport among women.
As is true with courses, diversity and variety are best in disc golf. So having more women playing the game isn’t a bad thing — it’s a great thing and it helps this sport continually grow.
[poll id=”62″]
If you have any comments, questions, thoughts, ideas or anything else, feel free to e-mail me and the crew at: pj@rattlingchains.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter andlike us on Facebook!
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I participated in a tournament last year and each player was given an Innova Sidewinder (a good disc for beginners) in the player’s pack. We were all given the instruction to give that disc away to help grow the sport, so I chose to give it to my wife (I made sure to pick out a pink disc for her). She loves it and plays with me every once in a while.
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I’ve taught my wife to play and now we are teaching our young daughter. I’m hoping for family disc golf road trips in the future.
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I’ve gotten my girlfriend to play the game, and it helps that there is a local weekly women’s tournament where she can learn from more experienced players.
Playing in local tournaments in the recreational division, I’ve shared a card with a few women. I make sure to encourage them the same way I would men who are new at the game.
I’ve also encouraged my female coworkers to try playing, but I just can’t get them to come out onto the course.
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If I could vote yes and no, I would.
I have 3 daughters I have introduced to the game but can’t get them excited about playing much. It doesn’t help that I am very selective about who they hang around with, and then there’s the problem of activities I tend to discourage in my kids like smoking and drinking. I won’t mention what is being smoked or who is drunk, but when one of your kids sees a person smoking and asks quite loud “why is that man’s lollypop on fire?” It’s a bit disturbing to one’s game. Mostly from laughing too hard to make the next throw with any accuracy. Then there’s the embarrassment when you see the person a couple of holes later lighting up again prompting another round of questions (again, very vocally).
I will continue to work on the girls to get them playing more. The oldest is only 12 and has asked for her own disc golf bag, so maybe there is hope.
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Pingback: Poll 57: Growing the women’s game | Keystone Disc Golf
A female friend took me out for my first disc golf experience last week. Three hour wooded hike with a pretty woman playin disc golf aint a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I am absolutely hooked. Went to Disc Nation in Austin the next day and bought three discs. More women can definitely help grow disc golf! Lol
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I have been teaching my girlfriend how to play since we have been dating. She enjoyed playing right away and has been hooked since. She just registered for the PDGA and we are looking in to a good fist tournament for her to go to later this year.
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