With gas prices out of sight and food prices not far behind it's been hard to justify the expense of driving across town and paying $11 a pop to play a round golf. So lately I had pretty much stopped. I have played once in the past month.
But if I stop playing golf then what am I to do for exercise? How will I to replace all the walking I do on the golf course? I still need the quality outdoor time to burn off the calories and keep my weight down. So what is a monkey to do?
As if by magic one day an email appeared in my inbox from my friend Keith. He emailed me toinvite me to join him and his sons over at the disc golf course near my house. Unfortunately for me I got the email too late to meet them that day but Keith invited me to come out the next day and he would teach me the basics of disc golf on his lunch hour. I happily agreed.
I met Keith the next day and after a few practice tosses with a disc golf disc, we began our round. Of course Keith kicked my ass that day, he's been playing for year and years and it was my first time after all, but I was immediately hooked. I went out that afternoon and bought a disc and I went out the next day and played a round all by my lonesome. If I had known how much fun this whole disc golf business is I would have started playing years ago and I would have taken it up after my heart attack instead of regular golf.
As far as I'm concerned disc golf is far superior to regular golf.
You rarely get to see trees as big as the one pictured above on regular golf courses, they usually cut them down. (All photos in this post are from my local disc golf course. I took them earlier today when I played a round around noon.)It costs $11 to play a round of golf at my local municipal golf course, that doesn't sound like much but it adds up quick if you go more than once a week. It's free to play disc golf at our local park which is only a few miles from my house.
Regular golfers are uptight religious asswipes who are politically conservative and I despised most of them. Disc golfers have a great sense of humor, as evidenced by the sign modifications above, and they are more progressive irreligious folks, well Keith and I are anyway.
Regular golf courses are a drain on the environment. They are full of insecticides and pesticides and the mowers they constanly use to keep the fairways and greens manicured use gallon upon gallon of gas. Disc golf courses are laid out in the woods where constant mowing is not necessary.
They might cut this grass in this fairway once or twice a month, not every other day.
Groundskeepers would cut all these trees and vines down so that rich white guys and gals wouldn't lose their balls in the woods. Disc golf courses usually don't have groundskeepers and part of the fun of disc golf is playing around and through trees, vines, and brush.
You'd be cussing like crazy if you had to hit a regular golf shot through this section of the woods. But you'd be smiling like crazy if you managed to toss your disc through those two trees in the center and up close to the basket on this disc golf hole.
Regular golfers are uptight religious asswipes who are politically conservative and I despised most of them. Disc golfers have a great sense of humor, as evidenced by the sign modifications above, and they are more progressive irreligious folks, well Keith and I are anyway.
Regular golf courses are a drain on the environment. They are full of insecticides and pesticides and the mowers they constanly use to keep the fairways and greens manicured use gallon upon gallon of gas. Disc golf courses are laid out in the woods where constant mowing is not necessary.
They might cut this grass in this fairway once or twice a month, not every other day.
Groundskeepers would cut all these trees and vines down so that rich white guys and gals wouldn't lose their balls in the woods. Disc golf courses usually don't have groundskeepers and part of the fun of disc golf is playing around and through trees, vines, and brush.
You'd be cussing like crazy if you had to hit a regular golf shot through this section of the woods. But you'd be smiling like crazy if you managed to toss your disc through those two trees in the center and up close to the basket on this disc golf hole.Disc golf connects me with my stoner days from college when my friends and I would throw the Frisbee for hours and hours in the spring time and in the warm days of early fall. I also get more exercise from disc golfing than regular golfing and it doesn't take forever and ever to get fairly decent at it. I had my first birdie in disc golf today, about a two weeks after learning how to play, it took me almost two years to get my first birdie in regular golf.
Free rounds versus paying $11 to play regular golf, a course crowded with uptight assholes versus one that is virtually empty in the late morning/early afternoon, a playing field that is loaded with stuff that is slowly killing our planet versus a playing field that is as environmentally friendly as can be, yep, I think I'm gonna stick with disc golf for awhile and put regular golf on the back burner.
I'll leave with you with a view of the forest and the mountains in the background. I took this shot from the fairway of the 15th hole. Nice view huh.
13 comments:
Hey Monk,
We know what a fun sport this is. For those who don't, here's a little electronic sample of the sport. Just remember, no full nudity, when swinging that disc down at the park. He He.
http://www.allfunnypictures.com/pages2/discgolf.html
Disc golf rules! Municipalities are often able to build courses on the periphery of parks - in areas which would otherwise not be used. I played a park in Wisconsin where the disc golf course doubles as a cross country path in winter. It involves no pesticides, no fertilizer, no expensive upkeep of grounds and no taking up of valuable land. All you need to play is an $11 frisbee. Of course, you can buy drivers, mid-range discs, putters, and a nice bag to carry all those discs. If you want to find a course near you, go to pdga.org and look at their course directory. See ya on the course Monkey.
There's a nice course on a college campus here in town. Perhaps it's time to give it a try.
I have never heard of disc golf! But it sounds way cool. And just plain better.
MNMom - I don't know if you live in the Twin Cities or not, but I remember there being a nice disc golf course along Victory Memorial Drive in North Mpls. There are others, I know, but VMD is such a pretty area. My sweetie and I used to bike there all the time - it started a few blocks from our house and we would take it 30 miles or more at a crack. I remember seeing the disk baskets along the way and people playing the course all the time.
So, Monkey - when you gonna pass this wonderful experience to Snad and Mr. Dewey? We have mornings free, you know! (hint, hint)
Both types of golf are fun.
Is there a liquor cart on disc golf?
Where? I can't see any mountains... oh, you mean those hills there?
Just kidding Dr. Monkey. (I'm one of those assholes on the golf course.) Actually, I stopped playing golf for the expense reason you noted, but also because the amount of time it takes to shoot 9 or 18 holes is ridiculous for the amount of calories you burn in return. I resigned myself to accepting that golf is NOT a workout. So on the rare occasion that I do play anymore, I work out beforehand, then get a cart to hold my beer while golfing and all of a sudden, the assholes are much more tolerable.
Disc golf is fun - do you have all the different weighted discs? Driver, putter, etc.?
Beautiful!
As for calling them hills...well. They're much older, and more dignified, than those young upstart mountains out west. These hills have history.
That's neat, Dr. M. I never much liked bigtime golf courses for all the same reasons as you, so I usually go to little par-3 courses that are more like goat ranches than golf courses. But disc golf has none of the assholery of regular golf -- I just wish I could throw a frisbee better. Maybe I can't because I was never a stoner?
Disc golf is awesome. The course on Shoal Creek near my house in Austin was gorgeous (check it out Austin people). It was definitely a stoner sport there, I always saw people lighting up between baskets.
I play with my kid now in Bellingham. We ride to the park, then throw-and-run the course. Super great exercise. The only problem is it is too popular and it's crowded at certain times.
Dean - people are always sipping beers while playing.
I really want to get the weighted discs. I figure if we can play with the cheapo frisbees, by the time we get the good ones we'll be pros.
If I can get a new camera I'll post shots of the course.
I should take my husband disc golfing. Last spring he taught me chess, this could be the summer of disc golf.
Some people I know are very obsessed with it, I do not like to play with obsessed people. I like to have fun and get lost in the brush and laugh it off!
I had no idea there were weighted discs....lots to learn!
Congrats on your find!
Lovely pictures. There are worse ways to spend an afternoon than looking at such sights for free.
Post a Comment