Who Knew Frisbee Golf Could be This Much Fun?

Boy, did we have a good time with friends the other day!....the Kurfis's, from Vermont, who are snowbirds at Sun 'n' Fun RV Resort, where we used to spend a couple of seasons and where we got to know them, took up our invitation to go play disc golf (the more official sounding name for frisbee golf) at the Tocobaga Disc Golf Course in Pinellas County. It's right outside St. Pete's Beach, about a 25 minute drive from Sarasota and is located inside Maximo County Park. It's a fabulous, 18 hole golf course in a fabulous park. Their friend, Delaware Sue, came along to play, too, and graciously drove her van to transport the five of us to the park. Disc golf is a blast...You get good exercise, each hole has a chain link basket that you are aiming for with special discs designed to throw for certain types of shots, there's par and similar golf names for getting under and over par, there are even handicaps figured in for the serious players who play lots. There are water hazards and there are plant and tree hazards. Disc golf has an association and a website, http://www.discgolf.com and courses are rated. We played some marvelous ones out west. They are all over the United States!

There are other certain essential things you need to know about disc golf as well. When you know you are going to play a rather challenging course, you need to bring at least one or two extra discs in case you lose one. And here's the first hint that you are going to need extra discs at Maximo County Park.....We (Sparky and Eldo) usually each use two--a driver and a putter, but lots of serious players travel with beaucoup discs in a shoulder bag while trekking the course.

Here's a second and third hint you might need extra discs....Sparky was the only one whose disc dropped below the surface of this awful smelling crick but she gamely retrieved it.

When you play frisbee or disc golf, there's a lot of skill involved (or not) and a lot of luck for less skilled players, (not necessarily us, guys) and a lot of determination helps, too. Here's Delaware Sue demonstrating nice form....

Biting your lip is optional......Suzette says it helps....

Larry likes the three finger form....

And Eldo likes the "offering to the disc golf gods" form....He's praying the disc doesn't go into the thicket.

It's great to have more than just the two of you playing as it usually is in our case...Lots more eyes to spot where the darn disc went.....And stimulating conversation, too..."Where is the basket?"   "Over there."  "Where?"  "OVER THERE!"

Extra people are good for helping you aim in the right direction....

                                                  "Naw.....she can't hit me from there......"

And just as in regular golf, you have to play the disc where it lands. "Yep, gotta play it from there, Sparky!" Although you can take a penalty shot, Sparky likes the challenge and took the shot from here.

"Sure hope there aren't any chiggers in here!"

We got very silly after awhile...."Bet you can't hit me, nanh, nahn, na nah nah..." Or the guy with the camera....

We took a break after watching some VERY good throwers, a trio of guys, get the disc to the basket in two to three throws, (our average was 4-5) so we let them go ahead....Does this look like a motley crew or what?

As Sparky is a little ADHD, ( a LITTLE???? asks an incredulous Eldo), she got sidetracked with the occasional flora photos....And straggled behind the group a bit at times...

Disc golfers have a WONDERFUL sense of humor...At least the ones do that are not hitting trees constantly. Near the end of our play, we came upon this upon a picnic table.....

After hitting several trees, Larry and Eldy seriously considered trying this "machine". What you don't see is underneath the table there was a cup very carefully taped so as not to fall over, for a coin to drop into. See the slot? There was even a fake coin laying on the table!

After 18 holes, we were hungry! We all had brought a picnic lunch for afterwards. Maximo County Park has some beautiful views of Tampa Bay with lots of picnic benches, an observation tower, and just plenty of wonderful places to relax and enjoy the beautiful park. We certainly did today! It was great to be with friends on a perfect weather day to play one of our favorite sports, disc golf.