Post a Picture of the First Basket Hole You Ever Played

[Jukeshoe]

I wouldn't make it to Bertrand until like 1998 even though I grew up in Goshen. Only heard a few people say there was a course in Niles when I was still living at home through 1995, and as an adolescent, didn't realize that Niles, Michigan was so close to South Bend. Didn't grow up in a household where we got out much for sure. Sounds stupid, but it's true. We'd venture as far away as South Bend maybe a couple of times per year growing up.

Of course, with little if any internet up to that point, I wasn't looking up courses either.

Seems like not that long ago, but at the same time, centuries ago.

Haha, information blackout!

Niles being literally slapped against South Bend, and you can go between the two without hardly noticing, I find this hilarious.

 

[thrembo]

I was blessed. I had West Park in 1979 and soon after Shorewood and Haines. We did travel a little to play other/new basket courses, but a trip from Bolingbrook to the northern suburbs or NW Indiana seemed like epic trips back then. I and my buddies had just got our driver's licenses lol.

 

[norlon]

Haha, information blackout!

Niles being literally slapped against South Bend, and you can go between the two without hardly noticing, I find this hilarious.

It's so close that we would park at St Joe Park in South Bend and walk over to the course at Bertrand because they would charge out of state residents a few bucks more at Bertrand.

On topic, my first basket was hole 1 at George Wilson in Mishawaka.

 

[Jay Dub]

Hole #1 at the original Miami Whitewater course back in 1979. They've moved that course across the street now. I used a World Class Frisbee for 2 years back then.

 

[ru4por]

Starr Jaycee Park....just Starr Park. Back in early 80's, I went on a double date picnic. For you kids, this is where two interested parties meet up in real life and partake of a self packed meal. Turns out the gals both became our respective wives, both still married to 'em. We picked the park because it has this cool 1/8 scale train that tools though the park.

Crazy contraptions laid out around the park. We thought it has something to do with the train, at first. Then saw some guys tossing Frisbees in them. Holy crap.....we were amazed at the great idea. I turn to my buddy, Don and told him....I got a Frisbee in the car. :thmbup: Don was like, damn....so do I. :thmbup::thmbup: We gave it a shot with out Masters Frisbees. Joy, even the women folk though it was pretty fun. Years later, Don does not play. :thmbdown: My wife still does. I don't talk much to Don...boy got no taste. Besides, his girl was a dog. Park is still there, so is the train. Good times. :clap:

https://www.dgcoursereview.com/media.php?id=1867&mode=media&start=1&page=1&cimg=4647

 

[Innova63]

The original course @ Brown Deer Park in Milwaukee in 1985. Me and a friend played, we only had 1 150g Black Masters frisbee between us. We took turns throwing it.

Hole 1 was a slight downhill with a lagoon on the right...
Lids, and later most golf discs (Discraft from Art Smarts Dart Mart) we had access to were under-stable...
and we only threw backhand...
lots of discs rolled and flew into that lagoon...

The course was pulled around '92 and moved west on Bradley to Dretzka Park...

New design and installation happened before AM Worlds in I think '07...

 

[jeffmonty]

The first basket hole I played in 1996 no longer exists. I'm not sure if it was Edora Park in Ft. Collins, CO., or Johnny Roberts in Arvada, CO. I played both those courses the first week I started playing and don't remember which I played first. Edora has gone through several re-designs as the OG course had some serious safety issues around a playground, and Johnny had a re-design a few years ago due to safety concerns also. At least they both still exist, seems a lot of older courses have not survived.

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

Haha, information blackout!

Niles being literally slapped against South Bend, and you can go between the two without hardly noticing, I find this hilarious.

Yeah, when I say we didn't get out much in my family, I'm not kidding. Elkhart seemed far away and I grew up just a few miles east of Goshen.

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

Serious jealousy for those of you who played basket courses with lids back in like 1979! I was only six. By later elementary school I had a good Fastback I could throw all the way across the driveway in my front yard...

 

[Casey 1988]

Serious jealousy for those of you who played basket courses with lids back in like 1979! I was only six. By later elementary school I had a good Fastback I could throw all the way across the driveway in my front yard...

They had the 9 or 12 chain baskets that Steady Ed had made. I got to play on an old type 1 Mach II made Mach I 12 chain at Cape Henalpoen State Park Disc Golf Course, that was tough using a Magnet or was I still using the Put'r in Soft X, I forget. Anyhow I have played a Mach I essentially and that was not fun with modern discs.

I did use a Wham-O Jr Pro with 1998 copyright after I lost a disc, Stingray at the now gone sign course in Griffin Park Pierre South Dakota, at Powerhouse Ally along with my 166 gram Rubber putter, as a longer disc due to the weight to size ratio.

 

[ru4por]

Information blackout is hilarious. Back in the early 80's we did not know of any course directory. At the time of my discovery of the game, I was reasonably convince that it was some kind of unicorn. There was no interwebz in my world, and you certainly could not read about the game in the Detroit Free Press. It was only through playing and chatting with other players that we found out about other courses.

Eventually, we found the PDGA course directory. We used it for traveling, for years. Again, well before we had access to any sort of navigation system or GPS. We traveled on the written directions to courses, by locals. (once in town, turn left at the diner, then right on the dirt road near farmer John's cattle barn) That sure provided for some crazy adventures. So many times, stopping at a local gas station asking directions. The looks you would get, they sure had never heard of Frisbee golf. Met some great people along the way though.

 

[Jay Dub]

The only "Disc Golf Course Review" were the articles in the quarterly publication by Greg Hosfeld called "The Back Nine" (bad courses) and "The Front Nine" (good courses). He was a traveling comedian, along with being the '87 Worlds Champ, that played more courses than anyone back then.

He had an account on here for a short time. But back then post count mattered to too many people and he was told he had no idea what he was talking about on here because it was only his 3rd post. :\

 

[Binky Yutz]

Hole 1 Hiller Park, Biloxi, MS

Quite a throw for a Newbie, about 180' water carry, from Middle Tee, to a peninsula green.

Can't tell you how many I put in the water on this one, but after almost 8 years of throwing, I rarely put one in the water these days.

 

[Binky Yutz]

https://www.dgcoursereview.com/media.php?id=5595&mode=media#

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

Information blackout is hilarious. Back in the early 80's we did not know of any course directory. At the time of my discovery of the game, I was reasonably convince that it was some kind of unicorn. There was no interwebz in my world, and you certainly could not read about the game in the Detroit Free Press. It was only through playing and chatting with other players that we found out about other courses.

Eventually, we found the PDGA course directory. We used it for traveling, for years. Again, well before we had access to any sort of navigation system or GPS. We traveled on the written directions to courses, by locals. (once in town, turn left at the diner, then right on the dirt road near farmer John's cattle barn) That sure provided for some crazy adventures. So many times, stopping at a local gas station asking directions. The looks you would get, they sure had never heard of Frisbee golf. Met some great people along the way though.

I lived in East Lansing for 8 months before I heard about Grand Woods through the word-of-mouth method. It would be my third course. I was working at the Boys and Girls Club and the gal in charge of the art room mentioned she was going to play Frisbee Golf with her husband. "There's a course here?!" April, 1996. But we moved there in August of 1995.

I took my Stingray, Aviar Putter, Roc, Whippet and Viper (could never throw that Viper) and was blown away. Found out about league night with the Capital City Renegades and their random-draw pro/am doubles and the love affair with this game began in earnest. Jay Matthes and Mark Ellis and company. I think I remember Mike Randolph coming to this. I definitely saw him at tournaments.

Not long after that April 1996 period I also encountered the PDGA directory on the World Wide Web that was starting to be talked about and wound up seeing there were like a dozen other courses within a day's trip in the state I could go play. Drove out to Hudson Mills and was really, really blown away. They only had the original 18 at that time!

Oh, another story, my wife and I were at Grand Woods really early on (still April) and we locked the keys in our car. Pre cell phone era. We walked to a house with a bunch of cars in the driveway next to the park to ask for their phone. It was Mushin Muhammad's house on NFL draft day! His Mom was super nice, told us what was going on in there, and later that evening the Carolina Panthers took him in the draft. We got a locksmith to come and help us get our keys.

 

[ru4por]

I lived in East Lansing for 8 months before I heard about Grand Woods through the word-of-mouth method. It would be my third course. I was working at the Boys and Girls Club and the gal in charge of the art room mentioned she was going to play Frisbee Golf with her husband. "There's a course here?!" April, 1996. But we moved there in August of 1995.

I took my Stingray, Aviar Putter, Roc, Whippet and Viper (could never throw that Viper) and was blown away. Found out about league night with the Capital City Renegades and their random-draw pro/am doubles and the love affair with this game began in earnest. Jay Matthes and Mark Ellis and company. I think I remember Mike Randolph coming to this. I definitely saw him at tournaments.

Not long after that April 1996 period I also encountered the PDGA directory on the World Wide Web that was starting to be talked about and wound up seeing there were like a dozen other courses within a day's trip in the state I could go play. Drove out to Hudson Mills and was really, really blown away. They only had the original 18 at that time!

Oh, another story, my wife and I were at Grand Woods really early on (still April) and we locked the keys in our car. Pre cell phone era. We walked to a house with a bunch of cars in the driveway next to the park to ask for their phone. It was Mushin Muhammad's house on NFL draft day! His Mom was super nice, told us what was going on in there, and later that evening the Carolina Panthers took him in the draft. We got a locksmith to come and help us get our keys.

Lol. Hudson Mills was a whole new level at the time. We thought it was a freaking country club. Picnic areas, bathrooms, great tee pads, mowed fairways and a skill level two step above anything we had seen to that point. My love affair for that course continues to this day. It is like putting on a favorite pair of slippers.

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

Lol. Hudson Mills was a whole new level at the time. We thought it was a freaking country club. Picnic areas, bathrooms, great tee pads, mowed fairways and a skill level two step above anything we had seen to that point. My love affair for that course continues to this day. It is like putting on a favorite pair of slippers.

YES! I took my son there a few weeks ago for the first time in years and I fought back tears a few times. It's not the greatest course anymore, but the sentimentality factor is big for those of us from its heyday.

Now, when I say "it's not the greatest," I don't want those of you who've never seen it to discount it. It's still very good. We just now have so many top-tier courses.

 

[Getty]

My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I think I played my first basket course with Lavonne Wolfe at Brahan Springs in Huntsville, AL in 1980.

 

[sonny]

Horizons Park. Winston-Salem, NC
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/media.php?id=355&mode=media#

Yeah... the hole is completely wide open. 153 feet. But in the mid 80's I was thrilled to see a basket course after years of playing object golf. Played with a Masters Frisbee for a year or two before I finally found an actual golf disc, a Lightning plane disc. Maybe a P-52?

 

[dreadlock86]

jealous of all the old-timers' stories here. what a cool time to have seen.

i first played Ellison Park in Rochester, NY in 2007
old hole 1 is now hole 15

keeping it under that big horizontal branch was my definition of a good drive that first summer