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.

Disc Golf Anyone?

Every once in awhile, I mention that we went and played Frisbee golf--or the politically correct term would be "disc" golf to those who are fans of the sport. (Sparky is a BIG fan! Almost as much as Eldy is a Notre Dame fan!) That might be a little exaggeration...I learned how to play about fifteen years ago. There are several disc golf courses in the South Bend area. Rum Village was my favorite, so I played often when I lived there, at least a couple times a week for awhile. There's a course at George Wilson Park in Mishawaka, IN, and a couple more at the state parks in the area. It's great exercise--walking 9 or 18 holes on a disc golf course, up and down little hills, or in one case last year, a mountain(!) in our travels....The disc golf course is not as big as a regular golf course, but it has all the "trappings" of a regular golf course--trees, piles of leaves in the fall, (good luck finding your disc that has fallen in the leaf "trap"!) and occasionally a water hazard of some sort. We played one course in Florida at St. Pete's Beach, at the Maximo County Park disc golf course, and there, the PALM trees were the "traps" !

Each hole has a "par"--how many shots it should take you to get to the hole....and the rules and scoring are very similar to golf. Sparky and Eldo don't keep a written score when they play, they just walk the course and keep track of who took the lesser number of throws to get to the chain link basket. Eldo has gotten better rapidly with each time they play, so the playing field has gotten pretty even!

The discs look like regular frisbees but they are specifically designed and weighted for the sport. If you know you have a tendency to throw or "hook" to the left, they make discs to compensate for that. If you slice to the right, there's a disc for that. There are a range of weights for each type of disc, as some people prefer a heavier "driver" disc--that's your main, straightaway throwing disc. The "putters" are heavier and designed for a closer throwing or putting range. You throw at a chain link basket, and the vertical chains "trap" the disc as it hits the basket. Sometimes, the disc will appear to pass right through the chains and bounce out of the basket! I HATE when that happens! The number of yards to the basket varies and determines the par for the throw....It's usually about a hundred yards to the basket or under.

There are disc courses all over the country, and we have seen LOTS in our travels. There is a website called Disc Golf Reviews and it tells you about each course and rates them as to difficulty. Here's a link to the official disc golf organization....http://www.pdga.com   Here's another one to find out where to play...  http://www.dgcoursereview.com/   It's inexpensive, a nice way to socialize with friends for a morning or afternoon, and you are helping yourself to stay healthy!

Haven't got the hang of the iphone camera yet!

Speaking of socializing with friends, we had a surprise visit from Barb and Mike Kavas, friends of Eldy's-- over 45 years they have known each other! They spend the summers in Elkhart, IN and winter in Florida. It was great to see them, and after chatting away for awhile, we decided to go eat at Texas Roadhouse during the early bird dinner special. Dinners are 7.99 for a small steak/chicken/ or another choice, potato, salad and the sweetest dinner rolls. Eldy and Mike traded stories about being teenagers and Mike's '52 Plymouth, painted pink with a black racing stripe. Pink was the only leftover paint available at the time. Mike's brakes were so bad in that car that he when he got home from school, he coasted into the driveway and stopped by grabbing the branches of the bushes sticking out! (It's a good thing he drove the back roads to school.) Ah-h-h-h, the things we are glad we didn't remember when we were younger! I didn't know Mike back then, but he's got such a twinkle in his eye, I bet he was very, very ornery as a teenager! AND, having hung out with Eldy, I KNOW he was ornery! (No surprises there! E. says proudly.) Mike's wife Barb is a little on the ornery side because Mike and Barb have been married over 40 years...It was a really great way to end the day.......Tomorrow is a busy day, we're going to SCHOOL! (Be sure you tell 'em it's NOT driving school, says E.) Nope! Not driving school.....