Disc Golf

Weekly disc golf wrap: News and notes

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It seemed somewhat quiet in the world of disc golf this week, at least in regard to traditional media.

Maybe it’s because the eyes of the golf world are watching that other type of golf in Augusta?

Nah!

There were some interesting news items this week, however, so allow us to share them with you! Check ’em out for some good reading!

And for those who celebrate it, Happy Easter!

April 7

April 6

  • Hidden Sarasota: Park transformed by disc golf (Sarasota, Fla.)

April 5

April 4

April 3

  • New Saginaw Township disc golf course adds to sport’s growing popularity (Saginaw Township, Mich.)

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 7: What’s in your bag?

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Aaron Cronk's bag -- A Fade Crunch

This week’s What’s in your bag? feature shows us the contents of Aaron Cronk, who starts with his banana-colored Fade Crunch and builds from there.

Cronk, of Lutz, Fla., calls USF Riverfront (Tampa) his home course.

Now let’s take a peek at his bag contents…

He’s been playing for about a year. Discs 1-11 are drivers, 12 and 13 are mid-ranges, and 14 and 15 are my putters.

1. Innova Katana (Star): This is my top distance driver. I get more distance and more speed out of this than my other discs. This has also become my favorite roller disc for big distance.

2. Innova Wraith (Echo Star): Great for distance and skip shots. The wraith was the second driver I ever owned.

3. DKG Tempest (Cu plastic): All DKG discs float in water. When I started using this disc, I was landing closer to the basket than I had before. These discs beat in pretty good and this has become one of my most flippy distance drivers

4. Innova Wahoo (R-Pro): Floats in water. This is an older disc that has been beaten in pretty good. It flips over real easy so if I throw it flat, it’ll go right. This is also one of my roller discs.

All that plastic...

5. Innova Archon (Champion): This disc flies straight for me. If I put some anhyzer on it, it will fade back and land flat.

6. Innova Sidewinder (DX): This disc is beaten in to the point where if it’s thrown flat, it’ll fly to the right with little fade at the end. This is another one of my roller discs. When I want to throw a roller with less distance than my Katana, I’ll use this.

7. Innova Roadrunner (Champion): This is relatively new to my bag. I got it from the Tour del Sol Triple Crown Series at Pine Oaks in Ocala, Florida. I’ve used it for straight shots so far. Roadrunners are supposed to be great roller discs, but I still need to test it out.

8. Innova Viking (Champion): The viking was the first disc I ever owned so it holds a special place in my bag. Needless to say, this is also one of my top discs. The Viking holds a great line with a nice fade at the end. It’s a slower driver so I use it when I need less distance.

9. Innova Viking (DX): This is another disc that is beaten in. When I need more high speed turn than my champion Viking, I’ll throw this flat and it will turn right for me.

10. Innova FL (Pro): This a Pro Plastic Firebird with less fade at the end. I like to use this mainly for tomahawk throws to get out of trouble.

11. Innova TL (Champion): Basically a TeeBird with less fade at the end. This feels better in my hand than a TeeBird, and I use it for straight shots.

12. MVP Axis (Proton): This is my straight flying mid-range. It’s similar to a Buzzz SS but seems to get a bit more glide on it. This is also good for turnover shots.

13. Discraft Zone (Pro D): I use this for an over-stable mid-range. It’s great in the wind. I like the Zone for short skip shots and flex shots.

14. Gateway Wizard (Super Stupid Soft): This is my back up putter if my putts are a bit off. I also use this for windier conditions. I like my putters to be on the heavier side and this is 175g.

15. Gateway Voodoo (Super Stupid Soft): This is my main putter. Out of all the putters I’ve tried, this feels the most comfortable. This weighs 174g.

Also in the bag…

1. Birdie Bag: Everyone should get one of these. Florida gets pretty humid and muggy so when my hands get sweaty, I bust this out.

2-3. Fruit snacks and peanut butter sandwich crackers: If I’m going to play more than one round, I like to throw snacks in my bag.

4. Water bottle: I always carry water with me no matter how short of a time I’m going to play

Other goodies...

5. Gateway Dual Stash Mini: This is my main mini. It’s great to keep extra cash in it for handicap or to pay the occasional squid.

6. Innova Mini: This is my back up mini that I hope to never use (don’t want to lose that cash). It’s great to have in case a friend needs to borrow a mini though.

7. Sharpie Mini Marker: Fits in my bag better than a normal sized marker. You never know when you’ll buy a new disc or get that ace.

8. Pencil: just a standard golf pencil. I also carry a mechanical pencil as a backup.

9. Nail File: Sometimes I forget to cut my nails before I play. I used to carry clippers, but I would cut my nails too short and end up bleeding. If anyone had this happen to them, get a nail file.

10. Marshall Street Reusable Scorecard: Even though I use my cell phone and Easy ScoreCard Pro to record my rounds, this is a great backup. The cards are erasable so they’re great for handicap rounds. Also these are waterproof so they can handle bad weather.

That’s what’s in Aaron Cronk’s bag.

What’s in yours?

Want to submit your bag and contents? Here’s what we need: A couple of photos of your bag and discs. Put together a list of everything you carry in the bag — from food to discs to anything else. Then maybe give a paragraph or two about your bag and if there’s anything you do between casual and tournament rounds etc. Finally, don’t forget your name, location and home course! Cell phone photos are fine, but please try and make it as high quality as possible. Grainy shots might not be able to be used. E-mail all of these things to pj [at] rattlingchains.com with the subject “What’s in my bag.”

Rattling Chains with Avery Jenkins: Getting aggressive at the Memorial

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With my first PDGA-sanctioned tournament of the year behind me, it was time to leave Las Vegas behind and make the six-hour ride to Phoenix, Ariz..

Nate Doss, Val Jenkins and I set out early in the morning to travel the six hours to Phoenix, Ariz., for the Memorial Championship, an event on the National Tour. In the back of the Sprinter Van, I took naps and watched movies. That’s how you travel!

The Memorial is a four-round, four-day event, beginning on Wednesday and ending on Saturday. That gives players two days to practice. It really only gives one day to practice if you stay the night in Vegas and use Monday as a travel day.

Arriving at Fountain Hills at about 4:30 p.m., we met with Discmania stars Jussi Meresmaa and Seppo Paju. I looked forward to rooming with them for the rest of the week.

The Holiday Inn were stayed at was conveniently located across the street from the course. It’s one of the main reasons we have stayed here the past two years. That means we only have to travel to the Vista Del Camino course twice and the other days we just have to walk across the street. We were less than 400 feet from the basket on hole 15. The final round and awards were also held at this course.

I grabbed my bag as Val, Nate, Seppo and I headed out for a quick practice round in limited daylight. It was less than two hours until sundown. This is a course I have played for the past 10-plus years. They have altered some of the holes throughout the years, but it’s basically the same layout that we play each year.

With winds gusting at more than 35 mph, it made for an interesting round. We avoided many of the approach shots to the baskets near the water as it wasn’t worth it to lose a good upshot disc a few days before the event. I still ended up losing a Star Teebird and a Power Driver 2 on hole 17, which is one of the longer downhill holes. The wind came from the right and carried them left and sent them into the water. I didn’t want to lose those crucial discs before the tournament, but I always carry backups for each of my go-to discs.

Avery Jenkins putts during the Memorial Championship. (Photo courtesy Marble Jones: http://www.marblejones.com)

The Fountain Hills course is gorgeous and it’s in my top-10 list for courses. It has a great layout with rolling hills surrounding a lake. In the center of the lake is a huge water fountain. It’s the fourth-tallest fountain in the world. It can reach heights of 560 feet, which it does on select holidays and celebrations.

The course is challenging because there’s a chance to throw out-of-bounds in the water on nearly every hole. It’s especially difficult when the winds are ripping. On the other hand, nearly every hole is reachable in one shot, so when the wind is down, the scores can go really low on this par-56 course.

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Creative Corner: Need a bag for your minis?

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Darren reverted back to his home ec classes to make a bag for mini disc golf.

As a disc golfer, I have slowly developed my skills by playing on a regular basis and learning all the discs in my bag and how they fly.

Nobody told me I’d have to do the same thing with minis.

Minis?

As if it wasn’t enough to play disc golf with regular discs, now I have to learn how to throw my mini?

These shorts made for good fabric to make a mini bag with.

I was recently invited to play some mini disc courses in Pennsylvania. After doing some YouTube research, I found some short movies on how to throw a mini. I also received some helpful advice from New Jersey-based professional Bob Graham.

Add those things together and I was able to throw the minis exceptionally far.

As a bit of a disc junkie, I have accumulated quite a few different minis. And they all seemed to do different things, so I got wondering — are there mini bags? I searched the internet and found some bags for minis, but most of them were plain and simple.

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Helping disc sports grow: Take your disc to work this Friday

/ P.J.

Give yourself a chance to win!

Have you participated in something where you brought something to work for one day?

A child?

A pet?

Something or someone else?

Now you have that chance again. This time to hopefully help spread the word of a sport you play and enjoy.

This Friday — April 6 — Discraft is sponsoring an event called Take Your Disc To Work Day. The idea is simple — take a disc to work or school and get someone interested in a disc sport, be it disc golf, ultimate or something else.

Do it creatively and you could win a spending spree in the Discraft store.

Get creative with your photos and you could win a spending spree! (Photo courtest Discraft)

The idea isn’t just to spread the word of disc golf, but to make it a way to talk about all disc sports.

“It’s a concept we had tried briefly years ago, before my time,” said Brian Sullivan, Discraft’s marketing director. “It’s a concept that’s brilliant. It’s a concept Pete (Chumas) came to us with and said we should take it globally.”

Chumas said he saw the idea as when Ultimate Canada did it the past few years and he thought it could work on a much bigger stage.  A former ultimate player with ties to the disc golf community, Chumas said he wants to keep seeing disc sports grow and maybe appear on television some day.

Ultimate Canada has been running something similar to this and Chumas said he had participated in that event and thought it could go global.

“I have some old friends at Discraft, and they were immediately on board when I pitched them since they had tried something similar way back before social media,” Chumas said. “Now, thanks to (Discraft) we had some prizes and celebrity judges, and could get the word out quickly with the power of social media, so we jumped in with both feet.”

Sullivan said getting involved with this was an easy decision for Discraft.

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Poll 5: How many discs do you carry during a round?

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The world of disc golf bags seems to be quite large.

There’s not just a few you can look through to see which one you like best — there are so many! That showed in last week’s poll when we asked our readers what kind of bag they used.

A total of 228 people votes in this poll with the winner being an Innova bag with 59 votes (26 percent). Fade was second with 46 votes (20 percent), followed by Revolution (29 votes/13 percent) and GripEQ (27 votes/12 percent).

The fifth spot went to other brand — so 22 voters use a brand we didn’t list.

There were some interesting bags mentioned, too. Reader Chris Leo talked very highly about the Mystery Ranch Golf Mahal bag. If you haven’t seen one of these yet, follow the link. Wow. Talk about being able to pack a lot of stuff. I’m sure this bag wouldn’t be for a lot of people, but it could be used in a lot of situations!

There also seems to be some love for the GripEQ bags. In the research I’ve done, they seem like a great backpack bag.

At least one reader mentioned being ready to downsize their bag — and I’m on the same page there. Though I love the revolution bag I carry, the reality is I don’t need something that size all the time. So I might be looking to find a good, rugged bag for casual rounds so I can carry fewer discs and have a lighter walk.

One other thing I noticed with some of the responses were people saying they had more than one bag they used. I assume that it’s the difference between serious and casual play. Either way, it seems to be a logical choice for some to have this sort of a setup.

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Weekly disc golf wrap: News and notes; Discraft to release new discs

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All sorts of things are happening in the disc golf world.

Sorry for the late weekly news wrap on this but shoddy internet hookups while away this past weekend made for a tough time to get all the links together!

Before getting to the weekly links, there’s some news to announce from Discraft.

The company is announcing Monday a new plastic — and, according to Discraft, the new name in premium plastic is Titanium.

The plastic is very durable and grippable. On top of that, Discraft says Ti is nothing disc golfers have seen before.

Starting with an enhanced engineered base polymer for superior performance, Discraft says it then combines it with special additives to boost the appearance to a new level.

On top of it all — there’s a three-dimensional World Champion signature stamp on each model. The signature, instead of being embedded into the disc, is slightly raised from the surface, which, according to the company, provides and additional  grip assists those players who want a more tactile throwing experience.

The initial releases are the Buzzz, a mid-range driver with the signature of three-time World Champion Nate Doss. The second is the Stalker, an extra long range driver, with the signature of 2011 World Champion Paige Pierce.

Doss will, in the future, also have signature discs of the Ti Force and Nuke.

Discraft also noted that 2010 World Champion Eric McCabe will eventually endorse a Ti disc as well.

The rest of the weekly wraps of links is below!

March 31

March 30

March 29

March 28

March 27

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!

Rattling Chains Photo of the Week: March 31

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Image by Kevin Morrow; at the Hawk Hollow Open (October 15, 2011).

The photo is of Tom Edwards, throwing a Wraith with a chicken-wing throw off the No. 1 tee. Hawk Hollow No. 1 is a 429-foot open shot from a highly elevated hilltop with an out-of-bounds creek 10 feet behind the basket.

Tom threw the wraith low and hard, in a high crosswind. The disc flew straight to the pin and landed about five feet from the basket for an easy birdie.

Kevin says:

My process for this image was in my head and I had to practice it a lot in my back yard since I would not be looking through the viewfinder.

I used a Nikon D2x with a 10.5mm lens. I mounted the camera on a 4-foot scissors tripod with a remote trigger. The camera was set at 5000th shutter and f4.5. I wanted to get as much depth of field as I could with a shutter speed high enough to stop the disc in flight. I placed the camera about 6 feet in front of the end of the tee. I covered the camera with a towel to hide it and muffle the sound a little.

When a group of players arrived, I would fire off a couple of frames to make sure the noise of the camera would not distract. I had to stand off to the side so I would not be in the frame or in the view of the player. When the player began his throw I would press the remote trigger and began firing off frames until the disc was down range. I averaged about 30-40 frames per player. Out of the 30 or so players that I shot this way, only about 10 had the disc in the frame coming off the throw. Of those I was only able to get two that were good. Tom’s throw was the reason behind this image looking so good. His chicken-wing style threw the disc down the middle of the frame combined with my timing on his throw to get a great disc golf image.

Techie info:

  • Camera: Nikon D2X
  • Shutter speed: 1/5000
  • F-stop: F/4.5
  • ISO: 400

Why we chose to use this photo:

If you take photos and appreciate photos — especially sports action photography — there are images that make you drop your jaw and scream “Holy crap!” This shot is one of those.

Knowing how tough it is to capture the “shot,” makes this even better. Sports photography is extremely tough and it’s a business where sometimes you don’t have time to set up and really get what you want. But Kevin captured something here that shows the beauty of how awesome a shot can be when you are given enough time.

This shot works in so many ways — editorial, feature, personal — showing how amazing it is. The fish-eye lens really works well here and the colors are dynamic. The orange disc with the blue sky in the background is really wild. The burning sun in the corner of the shot is simply awesome. But it’s the little things that really sold us, too. The farm all the way in the background, with the silo standing tall and proud.

Overall, what a great image! Thanks for sharing, Kevin!

Have some great images you want to share with the Rattling Chains readers? Please e-mail pj [at] rattlingchains.com with the subject “Photo of the Week.” Please note that we can’t guarantee all images will be used. Send as many as you would like as if the photos are top notch, we’ll use more than one from you!

When sending in images, please remember to send the story about the photo, the location and any technical information possible! The story can be as long or as short as you like, but please make sure you give some details!

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook!

Rattling Chains with Avery Jenkins: The 2012 season gets underway

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My 2012 PDGA tournament season started like it usually does — with a trip south to Las Vegas for the Gentleman’s Club Challenge.

The event is considered a season opener as many of the top players come out to the desert in search of warm weather and some top-notch disc golf. Plus, it’s in the great city of Las Vegas. We’re always looking for an excuse to get back to Sin City as often as possible. We’re usually here in the spring for the GCC and in the fall for the Las Vegas Halloween Classic. Sometimes, we get the chance to come back if there’s the “Big D in the Desert,” the Distance World Championships in nearby Primm, Nev.

I arrived in Las Vegas three days early for the 2012 PDGA Spring Summit, an event to discuss issues and topics concerning the Professional Disc Golf Association. The sport continues to grow and expand with more people playing every year. We, as an association, try to put ourselves in position to adapt to the massive growth.

I’m a member of the PDGA Board of Directors and have been for the past two years. I do my best to increase the quality of standardized, competitive play, while representing the voice of our membership. We discussed many subjects and topics at this year’s Summit, including information technology, website advancements, social media integration, strategic planning, prioritizing the future of disc golf, the PDGA Women’s Committee, PDGA Leagues, and international disc golf relations.

Two of the biggest projects the PDGA has going on now are information technology and the Woman’s Committee. The implementation of these programs will help gain more exposure for disc golf in the future.

Many of us have been directly affected by the lack of performance from the PDGA website. This situation has been made a top priority by the PDGA and we have the man for the job. The website is crucial to the growth of the sport and it’s the hub for all our communications, course directory, player statistics, event schedule and tournament results. It’s a go-to website for people looking for more information about the sport and how to become more involved. More than 96,000 visitors account for 1.1 million page views each month.

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One round. One disc. What’s your choice?

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One disc for one round? This would be my choice. What about you?

One disc.

Do you know what yours would be?

Just one.

One glorious piece of plastic to carry for 18 holes.

Drives. Up shots. Putts. In and out of trees or wherever else.

One simple disc.

Backhands. Forehands. Flicks. Overhand shots. Rollers.

One.

Oh how life could be so simple, eh? No need for a bag full of discs. Just that one piece of plastic.

One.

Could you do it? Could you survive? Would you get the cold sweats when you had a certain shot and you didn’t have another disc? Would you panic?

Or would you just deal?

This idea came to me recently after a lackluster round at a St. Patrick’s Day tournament. Though I didn’t play awful, I knew I could do better. There were times I went with one disc, threw it and wondered if I was better off using something else.

After that round, I swore off disc golf for a bit. I needed to re-focus. Until the next day that is.

With the idea of doing some photography of the older baskets at the Rutgers course in New Brunswick, N.J., I set out with Rattling Chains staffer Darren Dolezel. We opted to play some sort of round, but with me toting my camera — I didn’t want to carry many discs.

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