How did you start playing?

[fritothedog]

Hey all, I poked around on the forums and never saw a thread like this. I feel like there has to be one though...

Anyways, I started playing in Tulsa, OK when I was 12. I went to Hunter Park with Lake Country Christian School to play in the splash park and we saw a guy tee off. We found a regular frisbee (a bad one at that). We asked our teacher if we could play and she said that we were going to leave soon but would come back the next day. None of us were smart enough to bring any more frisbees so six or seven of us took turns with one frisbee. On hole 7 we were trying to fish our one frisbee out of the creek and some DGers came over and said "Well, that isn't even the type of disc to use" and they tossed us a few discs. I caught a Discraft MRV with "Boone" written on it. Boone is my last name so I took it as a sign from God that I was to play Disc Golf. I have since glorified Him through playing and thoroughly enjoy doing so.

If anyone of the guys who tossed us the discs that day are on here, Thank you again for the introduction to this great sport!

So, how did you start playing?

 

[tbird888]

I had a friend suggest it as something different to do. I picked up a couple starter sets on my way to his house. I was instantly hooked.

I'd been playing catch/fetch with my dog for several years since it was the easiest way to wear him out (took two hours of it a day) so I had already worked out a ton of initial flaws in the field with him. I just wish I'd learned a backhand back then instead of going with the easier forehand.

 

[turkey67]

When I started college the dorms my buddy and I stayed in were across the street from a park with a 9 hole course so we picked up a couple of cobra's from academy sports and would play drunk late at night after the bars closed. Did that for about 2 years casually, then slowly started moving to daytime play and different innova discs that we were either gifted from generous players or found. We weren't very good and never took it seriously.

Once we moved out of the dorms I would play maybe once every two months as a day date with the ladies. Eventually moved to Yosemite national park and played a tone pole course in tuolumne meadows with a fellow employee. Loved it. Moved back to Louisiana were I started playing with another Yosemite 3-4 times a week at an 18 hole course. Thats when I really got hooked.

 

[Halcón]

My brother (who I work with) started playing with one of our coworker friends. They would always talk about it at work and want me to go play a round. I finally caved in, thinking it would be boring. It's funny, because I distinctly remember telling my wife, "I'm only gonna play once and probably never play again."

 

[New013]

met some new peeps, they played. i started playing, they beat the crap out of me. i got tired of that so i got better and beat the crap out of them. they quit and i'm addicted.

 

[DavidSauls]

A cousin discovered it---Lord knows how---and introduced my brother to it, who immediately introduced it to me. The cousin didn't stick with it, but the rest of my family.....

This was back in the mid-90s when there were 2 courses in the state, and there was only one other group that we ever saw at Earlewood. For a while, we had the impression that disc golf was unique to our town.

 

[Ballingerj44]

Couple of buddies in high school played and sounded interesting so i went and bought a leo and aviar. Didnt play much my first year but that next year it was all over i was hooked

 

[iacas]

My family and another were on a vacation on Kiawah Island. While two of us played the Ocean Course, the others played some disc golf there at Night Heron Park (a dinky nine-holer). We heard about the fun they'd had so we played after that. Gambling was involved, and I lost by a throw after my wife made a comment about my two-throw-through-four-holes lead. :doh:

That was almost exactly a year ago today.

 

[NOStheBOSS]

Friends took me out to play, I took a 3 on the first hole at Lover's Lane (420'+) and I was hooked. I shot somewhere around a 71 or 72 that round though.

The buddies that introduced me to it have sinced stopped playing, unfortunately

 

[DavidSauls]

What do you reckon the average rating of everyone's first course would be?

1.8 ?

Lots of people started out on dinky 9-holers.

 

[tbird888]

What do you reckon the average rating of everyone's first course would be?

1.8 ?

Lots of people started out on dinky 9-holers.

2.46 for me. Dinky 9 holer indeed, but it was the first Hamilton County course Steady Ed installed in the city.

 

[ian.]

my old boss "Sadjo" was getting ready to run a tournament and had a pile of inventory... i had never even really heard of it before even though we had courses close by :doh: .. i snagged my buddy and i a set of DX Sidewinder, DX Shark, DX Aviar .. was hooked instantly and havent looked back... thanks again Sadjo!!

 

[Halcón]

The buddies that introduced me to it have sinced stopped playing, unfortunately

This seems to be a common theme. My bro and friend who first introduced me almost never play, and what little they do play is because I'm always bugging them to get out on the course.

 

[brian j]

i first started playing disc golf in the neighborhood with the rest of the kids. it was the late 70's/early 80's and we were using lids and road signs for targets, playing "frisbee golf." i stopped playing when i got a little older and didn't really play again until five years ago when some friends camping on my farm asked if i wanted to go play Sherando Park in stephens city, va. being a generous host i said "sure" and the rest is history. i came home from the course that day and ordered a starter kit from Gotta Go Gotta Throw. then i started reading DGR intensely and now beat all those friends that turned me on to the sport.

 

[kevdiv48]

Played it a couple of times with my family in 3 or 4th grade as a new thing to do. My dad had first played with some coworkers when I was really little.
Played a little more regularly between 8th grade and sophomore year of high school because my neighborhood friends and I could bike to the park in town and play the course there.
Picked it up again senior year of high school when some of my friends suggested it as something new to do. This is when I found DGCR and became hooked.
Played in my first tournament last fall and got my PDGA membership this past Christmas.

 

[digital]

my buddy lived near our local park/disc golf course late in high school. we would walk down from his house and play with a decent group. chuckers. pretty sure i used a dx cheetah for the first 5 years i played, whenever that would happen. but it was fun.

had a buddy who could shoot under par with a tl (rhfh only) and a rhyno (turbo putting) back then. heck, he probably still would if he went out there today and he doesn't play much if ever now. and glenn hilton isn't a cakewalk by any means!

 

[fritothedog]

What do you reckon the average rating of everyone's first course would be?

1.8 ?

Lots of people started out on dinky 9-holers.

3.75 for me. Hunter Park is a great course, but it was way to challenging for me as a beginner. Heck, it is tough for me today.

My first "home" course was Chandler Park. The original original. Before they put in the community center and took out the original holes 14 and 15 and before Moose Run. It has a 2.82 now but I would have given it at least a 3back then, 3.5 is a bit generous but I would be tempted to give it that.

 

[Qikly]

Last July, I took a surprise trip home to visit the family. My brother had heard about a course at a local state park nearby, and brought up the prospect of playing a few times. I wasn't really enthused, but headed out with them the day before we left. We bought an Innova beginner's box, and rotated discs each hole. I loved it, even though we got crushed - the course was Moraine State Park, which is pretty heavily wooded. Anyway, when I got back to New Orleans I scouted out a few local courses, and got hooked pretty quickly.

I still kick myself for having never played until recently, even though I grew in Western PA, which has an amazing array of courses. It gives me a nice fallback plan when I visit, though. We're even getting our dad into it, which is cool.

 

[NOStheBOSS]

What do you reckon the average rating of everyone's first course would be?

1.8 ?

Lots of people started out on dinky 9-holers.

3.67 for me

 

[JoshH989]

Cousins at the time boyfriend invited me to play because he needed a ride. I was instantly hooked. Went and bought a starter kit a week later. Been playing ever since. Hoping to get into tournaments next year.