Disc golf

I shared with a new acquaintance that I had taken up disc golf.  His response: “Isn’t that a stoner sport?”  Well!  I admit that a couple of 11-year-olds and I had some discomfort with a gentleman of about 50, as he held forth on the merits of various Chapel Hill disc golf courses, while holding forth a beer, at 8:45 AM.  But c’mon, he wasn’t stoned.

I suppose it’s appropriate to denigrate sports associated with controlled substances.  You know this rogues’ gallery:  skateboarding, snowboarding, weekend (ball) golf, fishing, Olympic swimming…nothin’ but stoners.  I’m much more comfortable with the nobler sports:  American football, global football, cycling, baseball…you know, the ones where the drugs are a lot more genteel.

Apart from the mind expansion benefits, here is what I like about this game.  1) You can play 18 in under an hour if you hustle (30 min for speed golf), 2) woods are cool in summer,

3) it is cheap (even if you throw over the big pond before you’re ready, it’s only $8 for a new Boss driver),  4) cool names for throws: Hyzer, Anhyzer, Tomahawk, Roller, Thumber, Scooby, 5) kids and spouses can play together happily, 6) you can develop mad skills if you try, 7) there is a disc designed for every permutation of wind, skill, distance, and flight path…with cool Dungeons & Dragons names like Wraith, Banshee, Beast, and Valkyrie.

Truthfully, my version of the game does involve a lot of weed.  Like Poison Ivy.  The closest course is loaded with it — good motivation to stay on the three foot “fairway” path through the woods.  But much like ball golf, one great shot will bring you back.  I threw a thumber around a tree with a Classic Roc 172 the other day and janked it.  I was stoked.

Update:  The course right next to my neighborhood has taken care of the Poison Ivy — with goats, of course.  In Chapel Hill, one can apparently procure the services of a hungry tribe of goats, with a fondness for unwanted plants (yeah, I looked up the word for a gaggle of goats).  Since Poison Ivy literally requires medical intervention for me, I am much impressed with this trip (another word for a group of goats).