***What Does DG Mean to You?***

[tomjulio]

...I pose this question as I have noticed the vast differences of the way people think,talk, and act about this great sport/activity. Each very different, each very in their own world. Some so serious and obsessed about numbers and feet and score and winning, and others just experiencing the sport as a whole.

My take and joy of the sport is one of being laid back, relaxed. A personal competitive nature of freedom, friends, laughs, struggles...nature. The ability to take it to the Nth degree of seriousness of your own choosing all the while being able to step back and mess around with best friends and not have a care in the world. It is what ball golf never could be. There are intangibles at play that I think you only realize once you let go of the seriousness and obsession with the minute and just let it be.

It is disc golf.
...and yours?

 

[sidewinding]

A hot air balloon, an eagle riding a thermal, a feather blown in the air while laying on your back, a kite on the wind, a perfectly thrown disc gliding toward it's target...All these things are beautiful and awe inspiring.

 

[taxman]

Short answer: disc golf is family fun and friends. I also enjoy the being part of nature aspect part as well.



Long story:

I started playing disc golf when I was 3. Yes that's right. But of course at the time we referred to it as Frisbee golf. My parents and a bunch of there friends got together to celebrate once a year at an old Barnyard golf course in northern Michigan. We'd camp on the beach and play Frisbee Golf for the weekend. This became an annual tradition. When I was 3 of course I was just tossing around the Frisbee and imitating everyone else. But as I got older I really got into it. Many of the same families kept coming back each year and there were usually new friends added as time went on. When I was about 18 things sort of fell apart and we stopped having the annual get together. I went off to college and I didn't think about it until I was 24ish. Then at my new job I was talking with a co-worker and he told me he played Disc Golf. He started to explain and it sounded an awful lot like Frisbee golf only instead of "that beach tree over there is our next hole" you had a real target. So I went online and bought a set of golf discs. And started playing again. I grabbed my brother and a good friend and with them I rediscovered a fun activity that had been a big part of my life.

The summer of 2009 would be the 30th anniversary of that first get together. I think I'd like to contact some of these families and get them all together again. It really was a great part of my life.

When you say disc golf. All of this comes to my mind.


p.s. sorry for any grammatical errors. I'm known more for my math than my literature.

 

[Greg Layton]

Disc golf is something that I can do outside on beautiful Michigan summer days. Disc golf allows me to keep track of statistics, something I enjoy doing. Disc golf gives me an excuse to travel and see parts of the country that are far off of the interstate. Disc golfing with my wife is time spent toether, a commodity that is rarer than it should be. According to my scorebook, I walked 107.27 miles (probably more if you consider the walk between holes) from the end of March until the end of October; that's excercise and fresh air that I would not otherwise have benefited from.

 

[Olorin]

What does DG mean to me?

DG = Do Good.

(Sorry, just an inane thought to throw out there. )

 

[soladeos]

disc golf is enjoyment...

...of nature. being outside in the fresh air, amidst the trees, animals, water, etc. seeing creation up close.

...of sport. being able to be active doing something fun. having a game you like and a desire to improve.

...of science. i don't understand all of the underlying physics but i don't have to and i can still appreciate the beauty of a disc in flight. the science is in the beauty.

...of community. i don't personally know many people who play this game but this site fosters a sense of community. on here, we share a common interest. we talk, interact, share about a game we all love and want to see grow.

 

[trifocal]

Here's a wacky take.

Genetic. Guys are ( among other things ) programed to throw objects at other objects. Back in the days before the internet, the local mens league had to go out and throw sticks and stones if they were going to eat.

Give a 3 year old boy a whiffle ball bat. ( first time ) He's likely to taste it first and when that isn't so yummy, he will wind up and hit something with it. The dog, the cat, you name it, the little sluger begins hunting practice immediately. ( matches and little boys, the wooly mammoth roast and the tail gate party)

There's a scene in 2001 A Space Odyesse, where the cave dude launchs the bone he just used to beat the living cra* out of another cave dude and it flips into the sky and turns into a space station.
( No, i'm not on drugs this morning...just waxing poetic)

We've been throwing things for a long, long time.

There's kind of a thrill when I bean a squirrel, but hitting a tree THUNK! is a definite bummer. Lost discs are lost hunting equipment.

Throwing things with skill has been the successful male method for ever. Isn't Madonna shagging a baseball player? lol

I think that throwing well is simply something we must do. Look at how quickly guys get completely addicted th the sport. ( trifocal raises right hand)


Ain't it lovely when you make a throw that flies just as you imagined it?

One more analogy and then I'll take my Prosaic.
Comparing hunting and disc golf, look at how we keep score. Low score finishes first, fewest amount of throws wins. So....if I was a cave dude and I throw better than the other apes in The Cave Dude League, well then...I'm back at the cave first. With dinner. The cave dudesses got the fire going, are hungry and I'm the only Neanderthal in sight.

It's genetic.Throw, eat and make little disc golfers.

 

[Olorin]

I love this-- "If you can't learn to do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly." That sums up my game perfectly.

My motto has been "I'm glad that you don't have to be good to enjoy disc golf.", but I like the one above even better.

 

[zud00]

For me, disc golf is similar to the way Taxman described it.

Whenever we visited my grandparents in Ohio, Grandpa would take all of us kids to the "frisbee golf" course (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=1777). At family reunions, Grandpa set up his own frisbee golf course and we played all week.

In today's time, Disc Golf is memories for me....but in addition, it is exploration, friendship, and competitiveness.

 

[jedwards]

When I first started playing it was with friends from high school and later college and it was always about having fun mixed with some friendly competition.

Now that I am older and have moved away I go alone to my local course. In some ways it is a form of exercise and just enjoying the outdoors. In other ways it is in a sense reliving those "good 'ol days" and just getting on the course and leaving the working world behind.

 

[Jungle Tim]

My take and joy of the sport is one of being laid back, relaxed. A personal competitive nature of freedom, friends, laughs, struggles...nature. The ability to take it to the Nth degree of seriousness of your own choosing all the while being able to step back and mess around with best friends and not have a care in the world. It is what ball golf never could be. There are intangibles at play that I think you only realize once you let go of the seriousness and obsession with the minute and just let it be.

I totally agree. I love the fact that there are so many different ways to reach the end goal, and the satisfaction of nailing one and watching it cruise through the air just how you intended, and the everlasting quest to be able to do it more than once a round!

 

[arrdee33]

Its the total package of this sport.
nature, friendships, competition, inexpensiveness,the exercise, the travels(seeking new courses, a recent trip to bowling green was my fav. experience so far)
think of your last game.......you either did well, which you feel good about till your next game. or you may have had a rough game.....which encourages you to better next time.
and lastly, how often do you find yourself while driving down the road, creating fairways in your mind out of peoples front yards!!! if your guilty of it like me, then DG means everything to you

 

[nygfaninva]

I love this-- "If you can't learn to do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly." That sums up my game perfectly.

I love this quote! I am often told how I could throw better and improve my form and I do try, But the point is I have fun! Its so much fun to play and I love the time outdoors combined with the competition. Sure, I could be much better, but my scores aren't terrible and the way I feel when I'm outside walking and playing is much more important to me then just the technical aspect. I will always try to improve but that quote hits home to me as well. It's perfect.

 

[sidewinding]

I love the fact that there are so many different ways to reach the end goal, and the satisfaction of nailing one and watching it cruise through the air just how you intended, and the everlasting quest to be able to do it more than once a round!

Another great unintentional innuendo.

 

[magictenor1]

I love sports in general. I like to test myself against the course. I like being outside and the exercise I get from walking the course. The sport is best enjoyed with friends and family.

 

[DGtourist]

I like feeling like John Elway when I snap off a bomb.

 

[DiscChainBasket18]

I like the camaraderie. Every time I go out to the course I end up playing a round with a good friend. If I don't see anyone I know, I can easily pick up a game with a complete stranger. Young or old, male or female, black or white does not matter in this game. We all have this silly little grin on our face as we head out to throw. It's really cool!

 

[tomjulio]

I like feeling like John Elway when I snap off a bomb.

thread's unintentional innuendo #2

 

[buzzinb]

Pros:

-- A mostly healthy activity that provides an interesting way to get some exercise. When I play by myself I really like to move as quickly as my 41 year old legs will carrry me.
-- I experience a genuine sense of community through disc golf. In the 9+ months I've been playing, I have already made a number of friends that I can call up and see if they want to go throw some discs. Even though there are sociopaths in every area of life, I beleive that most people I have met at the courses, sporting goods store and even online are pretty decent folks.
--Mental health: Being outdoors has always helped to make me forget about lifes troubles. Flinging a chunk of plastic and watching soar towards a distant goal has an unexplainable therapeutic value to it that I could not imagine prior to the first time I tried it. When you combine both of these elements, there is a synergistic effect that that provides an deep sense of well being for me.
--Me time (see mental health)

Cons:

--I'll never be able to throw as good as I would like to.
--Getting older hurts! The twisting motion of the backhand + buffet belly = messed up R. knee.

Other thoughts:

If you would have told me a year ago that I would be consumed by a new hobby/passion that involved throwing frisbees (albeit modified), I would have looked at you funny. I guess the jokes on me because I can't thinnk of too many things I'd rather do with my spare time. I still enjoy a few other hobbies, but DG has definately taken over the top spot.

 

[leathercash]

Fun. Disc golf to me is just fun. It's my favorite fun thing to do. Can't get enough.