Before we move on with the poll, the Rattling Chains staff would like to thank everybody who made women’s week so successful. We’ll continue this annually as long as the site is up and running.
We’ll also write women’s stories throughout the year, so if you have ideas, feel free to e-mail.
And now on with the show.
One of the other writers on the site, Jack Trageser, sent a whole heap of poll questions to use a few months back. One of them seemed really interesting because it shows the difference between ball golf and disc golf.
He noted that sometimes, a disc golf course is located a bit from parking. So how far will somebody walk to play a course?
Yes, it may seem a little odd to some, but consider one course in upstate New York. It’s not the greatest of courses and, unless you really were looking, most wouldn’t know it existed. There are baskets, but it’s not the easiest to navigate. And to get to it? A good half-mile hike around a pond.
But we’ll get back to all of that in a few moments. First, let’s check back with our last poll, when we asked if you had helped in the growth of the women’s game.
Despite being on the site for two weeks, the poll garnered a disappointing 73 voters. Of those, 81 percent (59 votes) said they had helped the growth. The other 19 percent (14 votes) said no.
Let’s see what some people had to say:
Kevin King said:
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.
That’s a great way to get a woman involved and even better that it’s your wife and somebody you can hopefully have become a playing partner!
Ben T said:
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.
This seems like a definite yes. You are helping to grow the women’s game and even better that you want to shield them from any negatives. Plus, your oldest asking for a disc golf bag is definitely a good thing!
Johnie said:
A female friend took me out for my first disc golf experience last week. Three-hour wooded hike with a pretty woman playing disc golf ain’t 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!
And this shows how the women are just as into as the men and can fully help the sport’s growth!
And now back to this week’s poll.
So how far would you walk to get to a course? It might be a great one. Maybe a bad one. But there’s an unknown if you haven’t played it. Even if you’ve read reviews on the course. Maybe it’s a mixed bag.
Most courses seem to have parking somewhat close to the first tee pad. And others a longer hike. So how about you? How far would you hike to play a course?
Vote in the poll below and drop a comment and let us know your thoughts.
[poll id=”63″]
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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One local course used to be a nine hole course with a 0.3 mile hike between the parking lot and the first hole. That hike never kept me from playing the course. Now it’s an 18 hole course with the first hole very close to the parking lot. Walking out through the wilderness used to freak out my girlfriend, but I would tease her, telling her, “You don’t have to outrun the wildlife, you just have to outrun me.”
I see getting out to play a round as an opportunity to get exercise, so if I were to add a mile or two to the amount I walk, I think it would be a good thing.
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I’d walk a half mile I think. But it really all depends. What’s the buzzz about the course. Is it one of those “must plays?” Am I traveling especially abroad, and its the only course within my travel plans? Time of day might also come into play, or time of year. I voted a half mile. A bit of a hike before you even start, but not unreasonable if its “the” course I thought it was.
Of course I prefer to drive right up to an empty course.
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On a work trip I played Beaver Ranch/Conifer Park in Colorado and it claims to be a 1/2 mile walk to the first hole. I remember that being a pretty far walk but that was a desitation course, one of the top rated courses on dgcoursereview.
It was well worth the walk, but a walk like that once a week to play might get tiresome. I could see myself wishing it was closer…
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I say a quarter mile… Seems like a easy/light warm up before the round.
I might walk a mile for a sweet-a** destination course or if I was out camping and there was a nearby course. Anything further than that might be a little too much. I definitely wouldn’t want this to be my home course.
As I typed that last sentence I went into Lala-land… I imagined a mile+ hike though a beautiful jungle, that opened up to tee box one, at the foot of a waterfall. Yeah! That’s just hole One.
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I don’t think that I’ve ever played a course that didn’t start right by the parking lot, so I’ve been spoiled. I’d probably find it pretty annoying to have the need to walk any further than a quarter mile to play.
As for how long I *would* walk to play – I’d probably walk to the moon if there was a course there.
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About three miles would usually be OK. More than that, and the walk (both ways) starts to take such a significant amount of time it would make me reconsider. In any case, the nearest good course is five and a half miles away, and I’ve walked that.
Actually, in most cases – and I’m not just talking about disc golf courses here – if something’s about three miles away or less, I’ll generally just walk unless I’m in a hurry. Of course I’ll walk longer if walking/hiking is the main activity 🙂
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