Writing an article about DC - needs suggestions

[Grinder12000]

So Columbus WI has a new 6 permanent hole course (room for three temp baskets) and I'm writing something for our newspaper to tell people about it.

The plan is to have the few of us that know the course have a free "Introduction to Disc Golf" some Saturday. If anyone in the area wants to help out contact me.

ANYWAY - I'm looking for other articles for ideas on how to introduce a small community to what this sport is. I'm SURE many people believe it's a bunch of hippies smoking weed throwing a Frisbee when in reality it's more of a sport throwing a projectile.

I have a general outline(ish) but facts on it's growth and how it makes parks safer and so forth would be a help. Seeing what others have written might make my job easier with more ideas or better ways to explain the sport.

Comments? Links? ideas?

 

[trifocal]

Write a piece called "An Introduction to Disc Golf."
Keep it short. 10 clear sentences will be plenty for a newspaper.
Describe the objective of the game.
Don't explain, you'll end up with an essay and not an informative short piece.
Tell where and when and what equipment is needed to attend your Saturday event.
Provide a link to DGCR and the map browser as evidence of
the sports wide spread availability.
Invite the public to check it out.
The end.

If your event is successful, consider a follow up piece, with a bit of history, maybe writing about
disc golfs beginning and moving to its' recent rapid growth.
Leave out the weed and park safety stuff. That will get very complicated to write about quickly.

 

[HyzerUniBomber]

http://www.heavydisc.com/p/so-what-have-you-been-up-to-friend-asks.html

Feel free to use any of this. (probably want to leave out the part about the woman losing the eye!)

 

[Grinder12000]

trifocal - so true - I started writing a piece and it was turning into an essay of things not needed LOL

I need more of a "why are you using our park" thing to calm people down. Why it will add safety to the park with more people and give kids something to do!

Less about the game and more about why this is good for the community.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Not trying to instigate, but in what way does disc golf improve park safety? Simply through more people enjoying the park makes it safer? I'd stay away from that, all you need is for people to plunk around in the interwebz, find out about Polliwog - credibility shot.

I'm not claiming DG is dangerous, but like any activity where people throw things, there's a chance of a freak accident. The difference is people don't take casual walks on ball fields, golf courses, etc, because they recognize the field of play and the potential risk it presents.

Not so with DG courses. I see people walking up fairways all the time... no clue that players have come there specifically to throw discs in the direction they're coming from. Others are aware we play DG in that section of the park, but don't realize how sharp the edges can be because they're thinking of frisbees. Not to mention some courses are so shoe horned into shared park space and intertwined with walking paths that another Polliwog is bound to happen.

If you want to mention DG can be a nice way to get little exercise and the health benefits of playing a round means you're walking for about two miles (give or take), go for it. But I don't see DG as being any means of making anything safer.

Just my $0.02

 

[trifocal]

Here's another angle... try a first person perspective. You are 61 and have been playing 2+ years.
Describe your positive experiences. Play your AARP Card. If you really need to address safety concerns, find a way of saying that responsible play ( etiquette, common sense, etc.) will be covered in your public introduction at the new disc course.

----Consider what Bogey_No_More said above, and stay away from trying to sell an idea you can't back up, i.e. that disc golf will make the park safer.

 

[Cgkdisc]

Disc golf definitely has a documented benefit related to safety from the standpoint of reducing vandalism and even eliminating unsavory activities in more remote areas of the park where the course may be located. Disc golfers have a random pattern of visiting the course which has resulted in those unsavory activities moving elsewhere. DG presence has also appeared to make it more comfortable/safer for lone women to jog or walk through the park trails.

From the PDGA Course Development page:
http://www.pdga.com/files/WhyDiscGolf_0.pdf

Heres the link to all of the articles on course development:
http://www.pdga.com/course-development

 

[Jay Dub]

The first course in the Greater Cincinnati area was installed because the park had a problem with younger people loitering with nothing to do. Sounds like a potential safety problem. Once the course was installed the loitering stopped because they had something to do. This was Miami Whitewater just west of the city and the year was about 1980.
There was a letter written from the Hamilton County Park Commissioner to his friend in Seattle who was in the same position about how that helped his situation.
Years later Mt Airy was installed because the sting operations they were doing in the park was just advertising the activity. Once that course was installed they either stopped or moved elsewhere.
People get injured playing softball and any other sport in the parks. Disc golf doesn't have that "market cornered".

Good luck!

 

[trifocal]

I get what you've said Cgk.

My point is that although documentation may suggest that (some) parks are safer with disc golfers
in them, our OP here, Grinder 12000, can't actually back that up in the real world of Columbus, WI pop. 4900. He can't guarantee park safety will be improved. He can guarantee that shared use issues would be covered in a public intro.

I'm trying to think of ways to keep his written piece manageable and factual without resorting
to a shaggy dog story of the gilded history of disc golf success stories.

 

[Grinder12000]

I'm pretty sure if a park has a problem with people selling drugs and loitering having people playing DG will help the problem. pretty documented on that one. The more people in a park the safer it is

 

[trifocal]

A few years back, the Village of Maple Bluff, which is somehow located in the City of Madison, installed 6 baskets at Johnson Park. http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=3728

Everybody thought it was great to have a little pitch and putt 6 holer.
Everyone except the folks who lived near the park and used it for years without having to dodge
discs, smell pot and watch 3-5 groups of men invade their park with back packs of discs and beer.

DG actually brought beer and weed to this little park where it wasn't before.
This happened 10 blocks from where I live. The locals were very unhappy.


Here's a link to Maple Bluff Parks.http://villageofmaplebluff.com/vill...ittees/parks-recreation-harbor-commissioners/ Cynthia Johnson is the person I contacted for information on running a DG weekly event in Johnson Park for a group of autistic men. If you want a Village Parks Board chairperson view of 6 innocent baskets in a little park, I suggest writing her.

I'm not disputing data and personal experience by Ckg or Jay Dub who have way more experience then me in the politics surrounding installing a course.
I am saying your little 6 hole rec course may have a different user base than the Twin City parks or the Cincy Parks and adjusting your presentation/ written piece to a small town audience may behoove you. ( I said behoove, yes I did.) My .06 cents.

 

[Cgkdisc]

No question that the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) problem exists in many areas. If a park does not have an unsavory activities problem, then disc golf may be seen as a problem among the landowners who have co-opted the public park near them where some dog owners may be particularly vocal. However, there are examples where the park neighbors (Charlotte) have actually approached the park dept and disc golf community to install a course because they heard that disc golf would drive away the unsavory elements in their nearby park. So it depends on the situation. No cookie cutter answers.

 

[Grinder12000]

Well. Maple Bluff is a LOT more conservative and uptight then Columbus. Plus - Two aldermen on the Columbus Council are disc golfers

I do understand though!

What a tiny little course !!

 

[trifocal]

Grinder, where is this course you speak of? Is there a DGCR review?

 

[trifocal]

Grinder, where is this course you speak of? Is there a DGCR review?

Answers own question... Course is in Columbus, called Firemans Park, not to be confused with the other Firemans Park, 10 miles south in Waterloo.:wall:
Yes there is a DGCR review.

 

[Grinder12000]

I think Waterloo is Firemens Park Columbus is FireMANS park big difference LOL. Don't get me started.

HOWEVER - I am open to a name change! Suggestions are welcome. Pavilion Park? (100 years old next year).

 

[disctildeath]

Something I would think of throwing out is to compare the mechanics of a golf swing to a backhand throw and show it takes much of the same skills, then mention oh yeah there are about 20 more shots to make it more interesting and you can own world class equipment and play world class courses for a fraction of the cost.

 

[DriveCrusher2]

Something I would think of throwing out is to compare the mechanics of a golf swing to a backhand throw and show it takes much of the same skills, then mention oh yeah there are about 20 more shots to make it more interesting and you can own world class equipment and play world class courses for a fraction of the cost.

Mechanics of a backhand throw and a golf swing are no where close... if thats the case you either spike hyzer everything or grip lock everything... I also don't understand why you would bring your hand up by your ear and then take the disc on a U shaped plane when throwing a disc is a lateral movement and a golf swing is a rotational movement... You are also stationary iin a golf swing compared to a throw... I am sorry but, I have no idea where you are getting this. I would advise the person NOT to do what you told them.

 

[onemilemore]

Write a piece called "An Introduction to Disc Golf."
Keep it short. 10 clear sentences will be plenty for a newspaper.
Describe the objective of the game.
Don't explain, you'll end up with an essay and not an informative short piece.
Tell where and when and what equipment is needed to attend your Saturday event.
Provide a link to DGCR and the map browser as evidence of
the sports wide spread availability.
Invite the public to check it out.
The end.

If your event is successful, consider a follow up piece, with a bit of history, maybe writing about
disc golfs beginning and moving to its' recent rapid growth.
Leave out the weed and park safety stuff. That will get very complicated to write about quickly.

Just circling back to this one. Are our attention spans that reduced that 10 sentences makes an article?

I'm not saying to write an essay, but 10 sentences isn't exactly going to jump off the page, either.

One suggestion: Try and integrate some of the statistics about disc golf's recent growth, and highlight how it is a low-cost form of recreation for anyone from kindergartners to seniors. The more mass appeal, the better. Good luck!