(Photo focus will run every few weeks or so on Rattling Chains. The idea is to focus on disc golf photographs submitted by staff members and readers. To see the guidelines for submitting a photograph for this feature, click here.)
Disc golf hide-and-seek (photo by Brian Bell)
I am an older (master’s age) disc golfer who has been playing since the late 1970s. I admit my eyesight isn’t what it used to be.
On this particular day, I was playing at Kinslow Disc Golf Course in Sunbury, Ohio. I had played the course once before, but was still fairly unfamiliar with the layout. On the first round I played there, I managed to throw and lose both of the drivers that I had packed for the day (a blue blizzard Katana, pictured, and a yellow champion Monarch).
Being out of work for a good while (I am taking care of my wife, who has rheumatoid arthritis, and is recovering from several related surgeries and conditions), I was quite disheartened as I could not replace the discs. I searched for more than 30 minutes for each disc before giving up.
I had my name and phone number on the disc and would have to trust to the honesty of any player who found the discs later.
Still, I was determined it would not ruin my day! I was out in the sun and playing a sport I love! I played the rest of the round using my mid-range discs (DX Cobra, champion Super Stingray, and DX Stingray).
After finishing the round, I looked in my car to see if I had any drivers laying around. I was in luck! I had an old, first-run, Typhoon hiding under a blanket.
I started a second round. I found that I enjoyed the way that the old DX plastic felt in my hand. I also took joy in the way that the slower discs just seemed to hang in the air, with long, graceful flight paths. I didn’t even mind when the Super Stingray decided to play tree-pinball, bouncing from bumper-tree to bumper-tree on one of the holes (triple-bogey).
I got back around to hole 10 (where I lost my Katana). Determined not to lose another disc, I aimed wide of the thorn brambles. The Typhoon sailed in a lovely “S” pattern, graciously landing in the open “neck” of the course (between the brambles on the right and the trees on the left). My second shot passed the basket, but not by much allowing me to finish on the third shot. I decided to take a moment (since there was no-one behind me) and look one last time for the Katana. I went back to the tee, lined up where I had thrown it the last round and made a direct course for the place the disc entered the brambles. After climbing into the brambles I looked up in the branches (as I did 20 times before) and I found the disc! Ten minutes of work later, I had it down and was back on my way.
Later, on 14 (I think), I teed-off and when I went to make a second throw, I found my missing Monarch! This was a good day indeed!
On the next throw, my Katana caught some wind and ended up in the “rough”. When I later found it, I laughed out loud and took the picture. My only thought was “Disc golf — hide-and-seek for grown-ups!”
— Brian Bell
Techie info:
- Camera: Samsung SCH-I200
- Aperture: f/2.6
- Exposure: —
- Focal Length: 2.8 mm
- ISO: 50
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 and like us on Facebook!
rattlingchains.com 