Disc Golf Nation

Disc Golf is kind of like Willie Nelson: it brings together rednecks, hippies, and everyone in between. Other than discs, you don’t really need any special equipment, although a six-pack of Bud or Tecate (cans please) is always a good idea.

I was introduced to the sport during my leisure-filled freshman year at Montana State University. There is a wonderful park in Bozeman, just beyond downtown, and adjacent to a cemetery. At the time, there were no baskets–just ribbons tied around trees and the object was to throw the frisbee between the ribbons. Everyone called the activity “folf,” instead of disc golf– a term I have not heard used since then. After returning to Lexington I recruited some friends to try to get a course going at Woodland. We tied ribbons around trees and played at night but the ribbons would be removed after a few days. With no place to play, I eventually lost interest in disc golf until moving to Austin. Austin must be the disc golf capital of the Southwest. There is Zilker and Pease Park in the central city. Bartholomew on the East Side. Veloway and Mary Searight down south. And supposedly there are some really good courses in some nearby small towns. Time to add one more course to the mix: Texas School for the Deaf.

I noticed a basket the other day while driving down South First at the bottom of the hill, just before Barton Springs Road. I spoke with an administrator this morning to find out the scoop. “Unfortunately, the course is not open to neighbors of the school yet,” she said. “After the beginning of the next school year we’ll probably open it up.” She said that a student activities director had been taking a group of kids to Zilker to play and they decided to look into their own course. “The group raised $2000 along with some donations.”

May 26th, 2003