Disc Golf

How many putters did you try before you found “the one?”

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Being a successful putter is like being in a successful relationship. Both require dedication, commitment, and sacrifice. It isn’t always easy, but in the end, if you are willing to work hard enough, the rewards are worth the struggle.

But finding that special putter that you want to settle down and spend the rest of your disc golf life with can be quite the journey.

When I first started playing, I picked up an Innova DX Aviar, and we got along OK, but I just wasn’t that into it. That spark just wasn’t there, and we parted ways.

Shortly thereafter, I found a Discraft Magnet, and I was in love. The way it felt in my hand, how it hit the chains so gently. We just connected. I thought it was the one.

After a couple of months, though, something went wrong. I don’t know if it was me, or the putter, but we just weren’t clicking anymore. I was missing five-foot putts, and it was a strain on our relationship.

Plus, my eye started to wander. I saw a sexy MVP Ion in a shop, and I took it for a spin. The look, the feel … this baby was hot. I left my Magnet, and was swept off my feet by the Ion.

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A card for your collection? Let’s find out…

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Who is the winner?

Last week, I shared a story about the Avery Jenkins card.

This card played a part in me getting interested in the sport. Though I imagine I would have found the game again without this card — but who knows when?

It’s funny how things like this happen. I’ve since talked to people who have tried to find these cards, only to not be able to get one in a pack. And though the base cards can be found on card collecting sites, there’s still the cool feeling of finding a card you want when you crack a box and few packs.

Some of the cards I’ve pulled from packs over the years (Cole Hamels jersey card; Torii Hunter bat card; Jim Thome jersey card) mean more to me than some of my favorite cards that I’ve had to scrounge through eBay auctions or card shows.

So, yes, it was cool to pull Avery’s card.

And it’s even cooler to give a few of these away knowing some people are going to really enjoy them. Especially that they are autographed. And, another cool point is he signed these for these giveaways.

Anyway, reading the comments on here and on Facebook showed that Avery is, indeed, a great ambassador of the sport and earned his spot on a card.

I know, you are all wanting me to announce some winners. But give me some slack here! I wanted to show a couple of people’s comments from the original story.

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A friendly reminder: Showing etiquette on the course

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In the world of disc golf, many players are unfortunately not even aware of the “etiquette” concept.

I’d guess that many players have had no exposure to ball golf prior to discovering disc golf, and everything about our version of the sport is more casual. Most courses have no pro shops, no marshal, no tee times, and feel much more like what they are: a public park where people can come, go, and do as they please.

However, anyone familiar with ball golf knows that etiquette is a big part of the game. Golf is a self-officiated game, with no referees, umpires or the like to point out when a player has broken a rule or committed an infraction. But “golf etiquette” is specifically concerned with the unwritten rules that have less to do with the scoring part of the game and more to do with respect for the other players in your group and on the course.

According to Merriam-Webster, etiquette is defined as “the
conduct or procedure required by good breeding or prescribed by
authority to be observed in social or official life” In the ball-golf
world, this translates to a universally-understood group of social mores that all serious competitive or even learned recreational players observe.

The more laid-back nature of disc golf means that the rules of etiquette for our sport will differ accordingly. However, the reality that it’s still golf — a game that calls for intense focus to play well, mixed precariously with interactions with groups of people both familiar and unfamiliar — requires us act within unspoken but generally agreed-upon mores.

I personally enjoy a disc golf setting that simulates this aspect of ball golf as closely as possible, and if you’re reading this, odds are that you also treat your rounds of disc golf as more than just tossing plastic for a couple hours. If that is the case, please read my non-exhaustive compilation of disc golf etiquette guidelines and let me know what you think. Tell me if you agree or disagree, and if there is anything I overlooked, which I’m sure is the case.

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Taking disc golf to the streets (and anywhere else you can set up a basket)

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One of the ideas a couple of us had when we initially started this disc golf blog was to do some urban disc golf.

We thought it would be fun to take a portable and explore, and to see if we could come up with some fun video.

It might be around here. Elsewhere. Travels. Whatever.

But urban disc golf is new to a few of us. We’ve tried a few things and screwed around with some videos. And there’s going to be more, hopefully. Especially now that the weather is turning good.

But what makes for a good urban disc golf video?

A few months back, four of us got together to do a little testing of the urban disc golf idea. We have ideas on how to expand it and such, but we wanted to do a few things to see what kind of reactions we could get.

We started in downtown Albany (N.Y.) and wandered around. It wasn’t the busiest day, so that made it nice to be able to move around and see what we could get away with.

And get more ideas.

This is one we did. The lady in the bus stop definitely seemed to wonder what the heck we were up to.

Is this the best urban disc golf video? Of course not. But we are working to try and make things better. Maybe get some more people. Maybe try a couple of crazy spots. Maybe things can get better.

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Poll 8: Rounds per week

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It appears disc golfers don’t overdo it when it comes to PDGA-sanctioned tournaments.

In last week’s poll, when we asked our readers how many PDGA tournaments they would play in this year, the winning answer was 3-6.

It makes me wonder if we should have just said tournaments? After all, there are doubles tournaments, non-sanctioned local tournaments and other ideas. But, it’s also interesting to see how many PDGA tournaments, because one pays the membership fee to be part of the organization.

Maybe we’ll re-visit this later in the year and make it overall tournaments and see how many tourneys people actually played in.But for now, let’s see how the vote turned out. A total of 86 people voted.

The winning selection of 3-6 tournaments received 29 votes (34 percent). In second was 1-2 tournaments with 19 votes (22 percent). Third was 7-10 with 13 votes (15 percent), followed by none (11 votes/13 percent).

It’s interesting to have the “none” vote that high. Is it that people are not playing in PDGA tournaments or none at all? Either way, it’s intriguing to me as I think it might show the more casual side of this sport and how beneficial it can be etc.

Let’s see what some people said for last week’s poll.

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Weekly disc golf wrap: News and notes

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Another week gone by as we get deeper and deeper into the 2012 playing season and the news is seemingly blooming.

In our neck of the woods in the Northeast, the weather has been fantastic. That, of course, means more playing and more chances to get disc golf in the mainstream media.

April 21

  • Disc golf gains popularity in Saskatoon (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada)
  • Former PDGA World Champion McCabe started career in Emporia

April 20

April 19

  • Disc golf course ?to open in Lake in the Hills (Lake in the Hills, Ill.)
  • Charting a disc golf course in Riverside Park (Grand Forks, ND)
  • Fishing, Disc Golf Possible Parts of Park Grant Application (New Lenox, Ill.)
  • Drought forces disc golf course to close (Georgetown, Texas)
  • You may already have a franchise in the ICBA (Hillsboro, Ohio)
  • Student aces competition in disc golf (Western Carolina Univ.)

April 18

  • Williamson County disc golf course closed for six months because of dead trees (Georgetown, Texas)
  • Disc golf course founder Ben Barton honored for dedication (Laketown Township, Mich.)
  • CSU team captures national disc golf title (Coloradan.com)
  • Dog park, disc golf course now open (Grand Chute, Wisc.)

April 17

  • Disc golf’s popularity soars (Omaha, Neb.)
  • Emporia can place a bid to host Amateur Disc Golf World Championship (Emporia, Kan)
  • CSU takes home men’s disc golf national title (Fort Collins, Colo.)

April 16

  • Disc Golf Contractor Renegotiates Agreement with City (story about pay-to-play course; also has update for April 18; Inver Grove Heights, Minn.)
  • Colorado State wins disc golf crown (Augusta, Ga.)
  • A Warm Day for a Round of Disc Golf (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.)
  • PTC disc golf course to close for renovations (Peachtree City, Ga.)
  • Glass Blown Open gets high praises (Emporia, Kan.)
  • Colorado State outpaces the field for Collegiate Disc Golf title (Augusta, Ga.)

If you have any comments, questions, thoughts, ideas or anything else, feel free to e-mail me and the crew at: pj [at] rattlingchains.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook!

April 21: What’s in your bag?

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Kevin Morrow's bag, filled with his orange discs!

This week’s What’s in your bag? feature shows us the contents of Kevin Morrow, who keeps his discs easy to find with them all being orange.

Morrow, of Fredericksburg,Va., calls Loriella DGC his home course.

Now let’s take a peek at his bag contents (in Kevin’s words) …

I began playing in 1986. Around 2002, I stopped playing and began playing again in 2010. So much had changed in those few years.

First, I ended up cracking all my old DX plastic and needed to replace my discs. Then I went online and discovered all the disc golf sites and e-stores selling everything you could ever want.

It’s not like the old days when you had to wait for the local pro to show up so you could buy your plastic out of his trunk. They still do that but now you go online and the latest plastic can be at your door the next day. So, I had to learn discs all over again and the different plastics. I have bought just about every mold and tried it out to see how it fit my throw.

My bag:

It is a little different than most. I got the idea from a member a DGCourseReview who found this backpack on Cabela’s website. It looked like a great option and I always wanted to find a backpack style that didn’t cost an arm and a leg.

Kevin's bag and discs.

My bag is a Cabela’s XPG Pro Series angle tackle backpack. It lists for 69.99 but I was able to get it for the online sale price of 49.99, with free shipping.

I had to make a few modifications. I built a half-inch PVC frame to keep the bottom compartment that held the tackle boxes rigid. With the frame, I can carry about 19 discs. Without the frame, even more can be stored. I only carry 14 discs.

The top compartment has plenty of room for my extra stuff. I also drop an orange or some kind of snack, too. The top flat pocket, behind the sunglasses case, makes a great putter pocket that can carry two putters, but it can’t be zipped up with discs inside. So I put the putters in the top compartment when I’m traveling. I like personalizing my stuff. Most of the patches were given to me by friends and family.

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Noodle-Armed Review: Discmania FD Jackal

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Rattling Chains writer Steve Hill takes on Discmania's FD Jackal in his first Noodle-Armed Review column. (photo by Kelly Hill)

The Noodle-Armed Review is intended for those players, like myself, who aren’t power arms and don’t quite hit 300 feet. Sure, it would be nice if you could throw longer, but let’s just hope you have a solid mid-range game to make up for it.

Disclaimer: If you throw more than 300 feet, please disregard the following review and assume that the disc in question flies like a mighty Pegasus on wings made of platinum and pixie dust. Or, keep reading and give it a shot for yourself.

In short, this one’s for the little guys.

The Reviewer

Name: Steve
Experience: 13 months
Favorite disc: DX Teebird
Throwing style: Lefty backhand
Max Distance: 280 feet
Preferred driver weight: 164-168 g
Aces: 0
PDGA Rating: Unknown
Summary: Just your average player who is happy to get a few rounds of disc golf in a week, but can’t seem to build up a cannon arm yet.

The Disc

Name: FD Jackal
Manufacturer: Discmania
Weight: 168 g
Color: Orange
Plastic: S-line (opaque premium)
Other available plastics: D-line (base), C-line (translucent premium)
Manufacturer’s Ratings: Speed 7 Glide 6 Turn -1 Fade 1

Manufacturer’s description: “Discmania’s first true fairway driver is also known as the Jackal. The FD is (such a) controllable low-speed driver, that once you learn its magic you’ll never leave it out of your bag. Packed with gigantic glide, this bad boy is also sneaky long if thrown accordingly. The Jackal is at its best when you need to make an accurate drive and land smoothly on the fairway.”

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Creative Corner: Making a portable basket personal

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Darren Dolezel's lit-up basket at the local Relay For Life event in 2011.

I recently came to the conclusion that I have an addictive personality.

When I get involved in something I like and enjoy, I usually jump in full force and take it to another level.

When I first got into disc golf, the first thing I purchased, besides many discs, was an Innova SkillShot portable basket. It was a good starter basket, but I didn’t think it caught discs as well as a real basket. Next came an Innova DISCatcher Sport, which turned out to be great.

However, even though it was great, I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I wanted to find a way to modify the basket to make it better.

Cue the music and let’s hit the garage!

The first thing I did was get rid of the chains that came with the basket and replaced them with stainless steel chains. It’s not a cheap investment, but when you are blinded by the possibilities of what can be done, I tend to forget how much things cost. Not only did I replace the outer chains, but I also added inner chains.

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‘Priceless’ mission trip brings disc golf to Haiti

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Trent Solomon, right, plays catch with a child during his mission to Haiti. During the trip, he introduced disc golf to many members of the community. (photo courtesy of Trent Solomon)

Like most disc golf courses, the one Trent Solomon designed and installed evolved from an idea into an arduous task. Filled with setbacks, delays, and even injury, Solomon’s course finally came to fruition in March, joining the numerous other disc golf courses being installed each year.

There is, however, one exception that makes this project stand out from the rest — Solomon’s course is located in Haiti.

Open Door Haiti Disc Golf Course is the first of its kind in the Caribbean island nation. Comprised of four portable baskets, it sits on land that also hosts a church, a mission house, and a medical clinic in the city of Bois de Lance, about a half hour outside Cap Haitien.

Solomon, 24, built the course while on a mission trip to work at an orphanage in Haiti. The orphanage houses children who were displaced by the magnitude 7.0 earthquake, which devastated the country in January 2010. The mission trip was facilitated by Open Door Haiti.

Originally, the plan was for Solomon and his father to do electrical work for the facility, but it became much more.

“The thing that really got me was the orphanage was actually built specifically for orphans from the earthquake,” he said.

Being an avid disc golfer for nearly four years, as well as an assistant manager at retailer Marshall Street Disc Golf, exporting the sport to Haiti came naturally to the Winchendon, Massachusetts native.

“I came up with the idea to bring some Frisbees, or discs down there,” Solomon said. “You know, whatever I could bring just to give them something new to do.”

Solomon planned to gather discs from whomever would donate them, reaching out to fellow players, disc retailers, and even some of the top manufacturers in the sport. Despite striking out with most of them, he found success with Vibram, who donated five discs; Marshall Street, who donated a box of 30 lost and found discs; and Maple Hill Disc Golf Course, who also donated lost and found items.

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