DG is one of the friendliest sports around.

[Donovan]

In another thread ERicJ wrote: The disc golf community has been very nice in welcoming a newbie like me and I'm just glad I can give back where I can.

I notice this tremendously, but never thought to put it into words that just spelled it out for others. Disc Golf could possibly be one of the most Newbie (NooB) friendliest sports around. I can't think of many sports that just about anyone you meet on the course is willing to take a minute and help out other like this one does. We, as DG participants, do let new people play with us, give advice freely, and encourage great shots as good if not better than most other sports.

THIS should be part of a Disc Golf Tag Line. Disc Golf is one of the friendliest sports around.

How do you guys feel about that? Maybe we could throw this thought to the PDGA as an idea coming from this site as a group? Heck, maybe I am just being silly...let me know what you really think either way, I don't hold grudges and take criticism poorly. GRRRR! *just kidding* ;)

[mobster]

I've run across really nice disc golfers over the last year. I've also run into real douchebags, but there haven't been many of them.

[ZMan44]

I am with mobster 100%. I play in a lot of different places and most people are fantastic. At my home course we have about 40-50 regulars that you see all the time and we play rounds with all these guys. There is one guy that is a pure a-hole but everyone else is awesome.

The only bad part is, I really believe that every course has one local "douchebag", but only one is not so bad... tell me if you know a guy like this...

I take a newbie out for a round (his second round and he has 3 discs and no bag). In the dead center of a wooded fairway we find a disc. It has a name on it and a PDGA number. Nothing else. No big deal, I tell my buddy 'I know this guy and we'll get it back to him'. My buddy carries the disc because my bag is full. We then find another disc about 4 holes later, another local guy's name on it, PDGA number and phone number. My buddy calls him up hoping he hasn't left the park and he hasn't (this guy is an awesome guy and a great player). We tell him we'll meet him in the parking lot and give it back to him. Well, we go to meet him and he just happened to be playing with "A-hole" man. He sees my buddy carrying his disc and he goes berzerk and he goes "why didn't you call me". Well, we didn't have your number because it was not on his disc. He then screamed for about 5 minutes about how we were supposed to go to the PDGA website, look up his PDGA number, get his phone number from there, and call him...well, unfortunately I left my laptop out of my bag for that round. My mistake. Anyway, in a nutshell he tiraded for about 5 minutes about how newbies should learn to give stuff back, and then he stomped away cursing. But according to others this was not the first occurrence of this same behavior. This guy "forgets" to pick up his disc in the fairway quite often and expects people to pick them up and seek him out to give them back. He also thinks that because he has a PDGA number, that he is entitleled to extra respect and admiration. In the midst of his tirade he actually tried to give us a crash course on what the PDGA was. Sorry chief, but I have a PDGA number too. (and mine is lower so I've had it longer). The bottom line is that I put my name on my discs and my phone number. If I lose it, it is more than likely my fault and I have lost a lot of discs over the years. If someone contacts me, it's a bonus, not an expected privelege.

[ERicJ]

[...]He then screamed for about 5 minutes about how we were supposed to go to the PDGA website, look up his PDGA number, get his phone number from there, and call him...Hmmm... I've never seen phone numbers for players listed on http://www.pdga.com/members.php. What site was he screaming about?!?

[...]The bottom line is that I put my name on my discs and my phone number. If I lose it, it is more than likely my fault and I have lost a lot of discs over the years. If someone contacts me, it's a bonus, not an expected privelege.+1 :)

[Donovan]

Hmmm... I've never seen phone numbers for players listed on http://www.pdga.com/members.php. What site was he screaming about?!?


Me either! LOL

ZMan44,
AND no brother, I don't know a guy like that. If I did, I would be sure to set him straight and if he was too dumb to understand, I send him home looking stupid for trying to battle with wits he obvioulsy doesn't have. ;) Those kind of idiots are just not worth the time. Sorry you even had to go through that ZMan44.

[Midnightbiker]

I enjoy meeting new players and helping out. Last Sunday at our local course, we were warming up at the practice basket, when a guy came up just carrying three discs. We invited him to join our group of 3 and he said he wasn't that good of a player and was new to the sport. We asked him to come along anyway. ( I hate to see new players playing alone). He played a round with us and had a great time. So, if you see someone playing alone, invite them to play with you. I know some of the "Pros" like to play alone, but some of the loners are people who are new to the sport and don't know anyone yet who plays.

[Doktor John]

I agree that it is a great community in the Disc Golf realm...I've played over 180 courses all over the place and am always running into locals who invite me along to play and show me the ropes of their local course.
I've received calls from people who have found my discs and I have called a number of people when I find their disc on the road and find a place to hook up with them and return it.
Fortunately, there are only a few asses out there, but hey--you can't live life without running into them somewhere :)

One of the joys of traveling so much and playing so many courses is the fact that I always meet friendly and interesting people.

I went on a disc golf cruise Dec 07 and only knew my friend who came with me and by the end of the 4 days I had a number of new friends and phone numbers and look forward to hooking up with them at their local courses...

[Donovan]

I went on a disc golf cruise Dec 07 and only knew my friend who came with me and by the end of the 4 days I had a number of new friends and phone numbers and look forward to hooking up with them at their local courses...

Wow, how did you find that one? That sounds amazingly cool! You got pictures? Where did you go? Sorry for all the questions, but that just sounds fantastic.

[Doktor John]

I found out about it online... www.discgolfcruise.com
Mike from Sun King Discs in Florida hosted it and Jay Reading and his wife were there and so was Shawn Sinclair and his wife (all pros who put on clinics)
We went on Royal Caribbean cruise lines and they own a private island called CoCo Cay not too far from Nassau.
Mike set up an 18 hole course on the island...it was amazing (and even a PDGA sanctioned tournament)
We had special clinics on board the ship and DG parties...it was an amazing time.
They are working on something for early 2009 (so I've been told)...maybe a cruise, maybe DG in some exotic location...I'm signing up for whatever it is...Mike did a great job, the pros were very available and helpful and playing DG on the white sand, beer in hand is OK too, I guess :)

I'm going to put more pics up of the whole course (I mainly just have shore pics on there now) on my MySpace page

[Doktor John]

I put up some pics of the Caribbean course that a couple of the other golfers sent to me...

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=3560953&albumId=1704806

[ZMan44]

Yeah, most people that I run into are fantastic. My buddies and I travel a lot and we met some really nice guys in both Rochester and Cincy. It is very important to treat newbies well. We want and need the exposure. The thing I find most interesting about disc golf is that if you take someone out once or twice, it is pretty easy to get them hooked. I know that's what happened for me. I made fun of my buddies for about 2 years and I kept playing rec league softball and basketball. I finally went out one day about 5 years ago and the rest is history. Started with 3 discs and had 6 and a bag within a week.

[Marv Vega]

It seems like when it comes to disc golf everyone's out to have fun. One of the reasons that I started playing dg was that it was a nice break from overly competitive when it shouldn't be Softball and Flag Football. Everyone I've come across is relaxed and just wanting to have a good time, perhaps I've been fortunate not to find one of the few a-holes on the course.

[humchris85]

I run into noobs or out of town'ers (sometimes both) all the time out at the course where I play. I usualy allways take the time to show them around (as the Redwood Curtian can be one of the most difficult courses to find your way around on without a guide), and I have met bunches of cool people that are usualy very happy for the help and usualy give me contact info so if I'm in thier neck of the woods I have a guide to show me around and sometimes a place to sleep. There's also the plus of getting to hear people OOOOOoooo and Aaawwwww as I rip through the woods with a power drive. Most recently I met a couple from Colorado and a guy from Eugene OR. The couple played the front 10 with me then had to leave to get somewhere, on their way I recomended some easy to folow courses that they could play that wouldn't throw off their timeing too much. The Guy from Oregon I met after playing 18, I met him in the parking lot and talked to him for a little bit. I riped through another 10 with him, but before we could get through the sun was way to low so I ran him through the back 8 so he could play it the next morning. Then before I left I told him where to go to camp, get some food, and kicked him a few bucks for a beer (he hit the beer hole on his first time out). Both sets of people gave me their contact info to pay them a visit if I made it out thier way.

I love disc golf!