Snow Discing Potential Peril/Merit

[Moose33]

I've done a bit of snow golf, and will happily do so as long as the snow is shallow. Lids are good in the snow, they don't sink much and they are easily thrown by frozen hands.

 

[Future_Primitive]

For me, the downsides are that wind is typically much stronger, footwork gets a bit more difficult and, let's face it, sometimes suiting up for a round in single-digits is not as pleasant as playing in shorts on a 72-degree day. But living in Michigan, those things won't stop me from doing something I love. The short days are a real problem, though; it's really hard to get a round in during the work week.

Might want to check in your area to see if any Glow leagues are going on. Those little LED lights taped to the bottom of the disc shine right through even in the snow. Usually play some of the shorter courses and makes it pretty easy to find discs. Stop fighting the darkness and embrace it and play all winter long. :thmbup:

 

[roggenb3]

I've had no problems with ribbons in the past, but chalk sounds interesting. Do you apply it on every throw? On the rim?

Yeah, mostly every throw, and around the rim besides where I want to grip. I much prefer it to ribbons. Not only do ribbons have the possibility of coming off, they just annoy me. For ribbons to be useful in moderately deep snow they have to be like 5 ft long. Such a hassle - not really when throwing - just when walking around with 10, 5ft ribbons flying out of my bag, getting caught in bushes and what have you.

I didn't think chalk would work and hadn't heard of it used for this until last winter. I'll never use ribbons again.

 

[Jimb]

Might want to check in your area to see if any Glow leagues are going on. Those little LED lights taped to the bottom of the disc shine right through even in the snow. Usually play some of the shorter courses and makes it pretty easy to find discs. Stop fighting the darkness and embrace it and play all winter long. :thmbup:

Snow glow is the way to go, :hfive: although I don't mind ribbons for day rounds. I usually just carry three discs and keep it simple either way.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Kenijac's blow dryer tip works.

 

[brutalbrutus]

Snow golf can be a blast... and it can be the worst experience of your life. Fresh powder is great. Wet slushy snow or snow that has a thick crust of ice can be just miserable. Played a tourney a couple years ago that was a horror show. Early in the week we got 3-5in, then Thursday night we got an ice storm that started as rain. Two bad things happened as a result. First, all the footprints in the snow from people practicing were frozen in place making for lots of ankle breakers if you weren't paying attention. Second, the crust would sometimes give way and sometimes not, so pretty much every step of the event was like walking on egg shells. You never knew when you were gonna break through. I don't think I've ever been so tired after playing two rounds on a more or less flat course.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Brutus is right in that winter conditions can vary greatly, from "having a blast" to "not having much fun at all."

One thing I like about playing on really frozen, crusted over snow is that you can get great skips. You can also play the skip on frozen water carries you can't normally clear...but be safe & smart about it.

The absolute LAST thing you want is to fall through the ice, into the frozen drink, retrieving a disc that didn't make it across.

 

[brutalbrutus]

Yea, the things that a disc will do on an icy surface are fun to watch. I like how they sometimes instead of rolling after a skip, like you would see on normal ground, they just start break dancing in place.

 

[Monkeypaws]

Ribbons for the win. Keen eyes and following your disc and not moving them off the land-site are important too. I've only lost one disc in the snow after hundreds of throws, from a dusting, to 2 foot deep powder. Well trampled snow is the worst, because your disc can go into the side of a boot print almost invisibly.

 

[Therealgoat]

At last year's Ice Bowl at my local course it snowed 18-24" over the two rounds. The snow was piling up the sides of the baskets, which was cool, but now every putt is basically downhill at a basket that's at or "below" ground level since you're standing on 2-3' of hard pack already. Snowing that much made every step hard and it was an exhausting two rounds. Still great fun.

I've tried ribbons the last few years but didn't like them. Discs are spinning when they land, right? What do you think happens to a ribbon attached to a spinning object when it hits the ground/snow and keeps spinning in place? That ribbon curls right up and shrinks to inside the disc diameter...now it's doing nothing to help you find it. Now you have to untangle the damn thing just to throw again, not to mention dealing with putting it back in your bag, not getting it tangled with the other ribbons in there, not tripping over it while walking, not tripping over it on the tee pad, etc. etc. It wasn't worth the effort for me. I'd rather attempt to follow my disc all the way to the ground, noticing what angle its coming in at, and trying to judge where it ended up. The worst ones are when it enters relatively flat, it may slide 5-15' up the fairway from where it entered...entirely under the surface layer. So even if you find the slit/penetration point (very punny), you still might struggle to find your disc.

This year I'm going to try the chalk. Don't buy the first bags of colored chalk you find on amazon sold as "baby gender reveals!!!" for $50 / bag. Buy the snap-line replacement bottles, usually 8-10oz bottles. $4-10.

It can also depend on how well your course is maintained. My local course has shovels on every hole for the tee pads, and the owner will make a few passes with a snowmobile up the middle of each fairway regularly, giving you some hard pack to walk on easily regardless of the conditions, which is excellent. Frozen boot prints are the WORST. Especially when you get like 4-6" of powder on top of them and can't see them...hidden ankle turners everywhere. Agreed with the walk single file part. Get the guy with the biggest boots out in front, and everyone walk in his footsteps. Makes it easier for the people following, and leaves less holes around the course.

I stop caring about round scores around this time of year, when the ground freezes and I'm worried about footing and starting to wear huge boots. A buddy and I throw Super Cali on all casual winter rounds, or basically 2 shots on everything just for the practice. I suggest working on your Stand and Deliver, or a slow walk-up instead of run-up. Not worth slipping and either spraining an ankle or landing on your knee cap to get the extra distance.

 

[Keller]

Bright orange disc seem to work really well, they seem to glow under the snow.

I Usually won't play if there is more than 6 inches on the ground, but when it's really deep and I just have the urge to go and throw, I play Zephyr rounds.

 

[MarkDSM]

My biggest gripes of snow disc with a group:

The guy that cranks to stretch around blind corners to try to get a long birdie look on a hole they never bird on in the best conditions

Mr. round is at 9, shows up at 9:10 and takes 10 minutes to put on shoes and change.

Dude going 'good enough' after shoveling 2 square foot of the pad when it is thier shovel turn.

Excessive in number and length of mid round safety meetings.

Can not go 30 seceonds without jabbering about weather

Insists on 25' pickups because of conditions.

Forgets towel

 

[Geer_Boggles]

I'm seeing a lot of good prices this season for snow throwing and I can definitely see how it would be better to go out on my own or with one friend versus a pack of people tromping through the snow. My stats may show 7.5 years of playing but out of those I've probably played a years worth of disc golf, if that.

I'm gonna take everyone's advice and work on my stand and deliver shots and/or slow walk ups. I have a huge amount of room for improvement in my game and I think this might be a good time of year to work on it. If I can shoot well looking like the over stuffed kid on A Christmas Story, then I can shoot even better come spring time.

 

[Geer_Boggles]

Colored chalk is better than ribbons. Then there's a color mark wherever your disc hit the ground, and you don't have to worry about the ribbon coming off or getting in your way or being buried.

I really like this idea, I would hate to have to deal with ribbons and my son always has colored chalk so I'll never run out.

 

[roggenb3]

I really like this idea, I would hate to have to deal with ribbons and my son always has colored chalk so I'll never run out.

While sidewalk chalk may work, I think youll find it very difficult to break up. Get colored gym chalk - they are not the same thing.

Well trampled snow is the worst, because your disc can go into the side of a boot print almost invisibly.

That is the worst. Chalk could have saved you though. Its still tough when this happens but at least you have a chance of seeing a blue spot in a footprint.

 

[knettles]

Biggest thing that always bothered me about snow rounds is being forced to do stand still throws. I guess you can do run ups, they're just a huge pain and it doesn't feel safe. I know I need to practice stand still throws more to get comfortable with them, it's just one of those things I never get around to working on.

 

[Geer_Boggles]

While sidewalk chalk may work, I think youll find it very difficult to break up. Get colored gym chalk - they are not the same thing.

I'll give the sidewalk chalk a try first, the way my 3 year old son makes the stuff explode all over the floor you'd think it would be easy to break up.

Either way, thanks for the tip though. I wouldn't have ever thought about gym chalk.

 

[roggenb3]

Bright orange disc seem to work really well, they seem to glow under the snow.

That reminds me. Snow Glow!

Ive only done it a few times, but it was actually easier to find the discs than regular snow disc. Just dont try to use glow discs: LEDs only. They look awesome glowing under the snow.

 

[Spiky]

We had one of our throws roll over 250' (backwards and sideways) on a flat pond already this year. Mostly due to wind. Winter gives some of the most interesting rounds.

That was at a local course that is only open in the winter.

 

[glassila]

My area (Calumet, MI) gets well over 200 inches per year so unfortunately we probably won't throw again until March. Bright colored discs and ribbon may work in a foot of snow, but not in the stuff we get. Plus it snows just about every day (average over 90 days of snow per season)
If we should get a long stretch with no snow we might try to get out. Then there's the problem of trudging through thigh deep snow.