Your first disc golf course...

[tomjulio]

...and Al Schack

"Now that's a name I haven't hear of in long time!"

I remember Al being on a card of mine at a Flip City tourney many many moons ago and he threw a Stingray roller on hole 7 down a hill, in a valley, between two apple trees, and back up another hill to park the hole. We all stood there in utter disbelief.

 

[biscoe]

Al is a good dude.

 

[raceface59]

Green Lane in Paris, Ontario, Canada. The addiction was immediate lol. We played 3 rounds without knowing a thing. I'd bought a Deputy, a Z Buzzz, and a Diamond +170 Carat. An Innova small bag and a Gateway mini. I'm sure we shot more than our share of double bogies, but we didn't care. It was so much fun.

 

[Three Putt]

in '89 I was bartending at a pizza place in college that had a weird "college kids on the floor/townies in the kitchen" split and the townies were not fond of us. One night after work, my friend and I were doing nothing and somehow ended up getting invited to hang out with these guys who worked in the kitchen, which involved going to what looked like a basement apartment. We were hanging out, drinking and smoking and listening to Heaven and Hell when an older woman appeared and served us pizza rolls; turns out the guy lived with his parents. :\ Anyway, the guys had decided we were not jerks like the other college kids and invited us to play disc golf with them the next day.

We showed up the next day at Albert Oakland with Frisbees, but we bought golf discs from some dude in the parking lot. My first throw n00b hyzered into the crowed around the practice basket. My second throw ended up on Blue Ridge road. It didn't get much better from there as my new "friends" from the kitchen decided that mocking me for how bad I was would be more fun than giving me any advice. My friend fared about the same. After a very long day of no fun, we tossed the golf discs into the trunk of my car. To the best of my knowledge, they were still back there when I sold the car.

After that day (before I sold the car) I know I stumbled upon Swope Park's disc golf course early one morning wasting time, so I got out and played until somebody showed up at the little shed and tried to get me to pay them money (turns out the course was pay to play.) My sister lived right next to Creve Coeur Park and one day when she wasn't home I went and played disc golf instead of breaking into her apartment.

I moved to St. Louis in '93 and in '95 had an interview at Hazelwood; part of the job was managing White Birch. They asked me if I played and I said yes. They asked me my favorite disc and I said "Phantom+" because that was the only disc name of the two that had been in the trunk I could remember. I got the job.

Once I had the job, I got yelled at every Thursday night. The disc golfers hated me. I asked Bob Waidmann what I was doing wrong and he said people would warm up to me if I came out and played. I took some discs and went to Watson Trail Park; it was close to my house and had just opened a course. I figured I could practice some there, then try to throw with the White Birch guys. The first time I went to Watson Trail I ran into some of my league guys; I waved and went on with my day. The next Thursday they told the other league guys that they ran into me playing, and it was like night and day. People stopped yelling at me all the time; I was one of them. I had that job for five years, and I played out of self-preservation. Doing that job was 1,000X easier so long as they thought I was a disc golfer, so I was a disc golfer.

By the time I left that job, I had a bag and a bunch of discs and a habit of going to parks and throwing things at trees. It was just something I did by then. I don't remember there ever being an "ah-ha" moment, there was never a time where I was obsessed and played every day. I was never any good at it. It just kinda became something I did.

 

[dreadlock86]

haha, kids are so spoiled these days. they play disc golf for fun

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

"Now that's a name I haven't hear of in long time!"

I remember Al being on a card of mine at a Flip City tourney many many moons ago and he threw a Stingray roller on hole 7 down a hill, in a valley, between two apple trees, and back up another hill to park the hole. We all stood there in utter disbelief.

I have a friend (today's owner of Wild Haven) who beat Al Schack on a hole in a tournament once! He actually got a laugh out of Al when he raised his putter in the air and announced, "I've beaten Al Schack on a hole! I can retire now!" It was in pro masters probably about 15 years ago.

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

I said "Phantom+"

The first Disc I ever found in the rough in my early days at Oxbow Park! I played with it for a few rounds before running into the local guru (PDGA #315), mentioned I had found another Disc, and he traded me a brand-new Aviar P&A on the spot for it. A maroon Chains Aviar, my first putter, and I'm also guessing it was the first year of the chains stamp in favor of the older "hands" putter? He explained how in Disc Golf we try to get Discs back to their original owner, so I learned about that for the first time too.

The Phantom+ was candy red, really a beautiful Disc. Can't forget that one. I, of course, couldn't throw it to save my life. I could only throw backhands if it was a literal Frisbee.

That Chains Aviar, as a matter of fact, is in this video from 1992. It's the second one I throw (horribly) at the beginning there. You can hear me say, "Oops!" I was 19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqSUoi71NtQ Also, it's thrown again at the 0:50 mark.

 

[zontar]

There are some great, great stories in this thread, but this will be hard to beat...WOW!!! :clap::clap::clap:

it's funny, I play more than him now (he has young kids) and twice as many aces. pretty happy ending overall.....

 

[Mando]

in '89 I was bartending at a pizza place in college that had a weird "college kids on the floor/townies in the kitchen" split and the townies were not fond of us. One night after work, my friend and I were doing nothing and somehow ended up getting invited to hang out with these guys who worked in the kitchen, which involved going to what looked like a basement apartment. We were hanging out, drinking and smoking and listening to Heaven and Hell when an older woman appeared and served us pizza rolls; turns out the guy lived with his parents. :\ Anyway, the guys had decided we were not jerks like the other college kids and invited us to play disc golf with them the next day.

We showed up the next day at Albert Oakland with Frisbees, but we bought golf discs from some dude in the parking lot. My first throw n00b hyzered into the crowed around the practice basket. My second throw ended up on Blue Ridge road. It didn't get much better from there as my new "friends" from the kitchen decided that mocking me for how bad I was would be more fun than giving me any advice. My friend fared about the same. After a very long day of no fun, we tossed the golf discs into the trunk of my car. To the best of my knowledge, they were still back there when I sold the car.

After that day (before I sold the car) I know I stumbled upon Swope Park's disc golf course early one morning wasting time, so I got out and played until somebody showed up at the little shed and tried to get me to pay them money (turns out the course was pay to play.) My sister lived right next to Creve Coeur Park and one day when she wasn't home I went and played disc golf instead of breaking into her apartment.

I moved to St. Louis in '93 and in '95 had an interview at Hazelwood; part of the job was managing White Birch. They asked me if I played and I said yes. They asked me my favorite disc and I said "Phantom+" because that was the only disc name of the two that had been in the trunk I could remember. I got the job.

Once I had the job, I got yelled at every Thursday night. The disc golfers hated me. I asked Bob Waidmann what I was doing wrong and he said people would warm up to me if I came out and played. I took some discs and went to Watson Trail Park; it was close to my house and had just opened a course. I figured I could practice some there, then try to throw with the White Birch guys. The first time I went to Watson Trail I ran into some of my league guys; I waved and went on with my day. The next Thursday they told the other league guys that they ran into me playing, and it was like night and day. People stopped yelling at me all the time; I was one of them. I had that job for five years, and I played out of self-preservation. Doing that job was 1,000X easier so long as they thought I was a disc golfer, so I was a disc golfer.

By the time I left that job, I had a bag and a bunch of discs and a habit of going to parks and throwing things at trees. It was just something I did by then. I don't remember there ever being an "ah-ha" moment, there was never a time where I was obsessed and played every day. I was never any good at it. It just kinda became something I did.

That's awesome. I think you have enough material for a disc golf version re-make of the 1979 movie Breaking Away.

 

[Ryal]

Father's Day 2017:

My dad and I were passing ideas back and forth about a fun, easy and affordable way to spend the day when it dawned on me all at once.

A buddy of mine from work was heavily into disc golf. In recent months before Fathers' Day, he had explained to me the basic rules, shown me a few videos of the sport and mentioned that the town my father lived in has a great course.

I suggested this new and unfamiliar sport to Dad, and he was intrigued.

We went to a sporting goods store and were floored by the variety of golfing discs we saw. All they had were Innova, but look at the different colors! These sleek ones look cool. These blunt ones look heavy. Does the name matter? And what do these four numbers on top mean? Oh well, we'll worry about that later. He ended up getting a Colt and a mid-range. I ended up getting an Aviar P&A that I still have in my bag to this day and a Boss! (Oh, if only I knew then what I know now...)

We searched online for the rules of the sport, memorized the ones that sounded important, ("It's exactly like regular golf, right?") and played a full round of 18 at Thompson Park in Jamesburg, NJ. We chose to play from the long tees on our very first time out because it seemed like the "full" experience to us, and we wanted to get a true taste for what the activity is like. Dad threw 29 over par, and I threw 30 over par. I told my buddy at work the next day, and I thanked him for introducing me to the sport.

Fast forward five and a half years: I've played at 170 courses, and Dad has played at a dozen or so. Yet Thompson Park remains our #1 favorite even though we've both played courses that are objectively better. It holds a special place in our minds as the course where it all began.

 

[Pizza God]

first time playing "Frisbee golf" across the campus at NTSU (now UNT) with the Ultimate team. My mom cut out an article for the new Frisbee golf course in Plano and I do remember taking my Ultimate frisbee out there and played a round, that would have been around 86 or so.

Then in April of 1988, I was playing a "mini" run by the student Union with my Ultimate disc and my girlfriend (who also played) We were on the card with the guy running the mini and 2 guys who had "Golf Discs" I had never seen a golf disc, I found out you could get them at DJ sporting goods in Carrollton, just down the street from Greenbelt DGC. The next day (april 20th) I drove down to Carrollton and purchased my first 2 discs. Then drove by the course which was flooded because it was raining to see it. I started playing as soon as it dried up, quit the Ultimate team and went disc golf full time.

Didn't take long for me to discover mini's, then tournaments. In fact my first PDGA tournament was in June, 2 months after I purchased my first disc.

So first course with actual golf discs would be GreenBelt, the OG layout in April of 88

 

[BrotherDave]

'08, my buddy drags me to Dick's and I end up with a DX Shark, Eagle, and either Valk or Archangel. Saunter over to Castle Hayne near Wilmington, NC and proceed to embarrass myself enough that I put the beers down and took it seriously. To this day one of my buddies still only throws a Roadrunner, sidearm. He has to just about hit himself in the ankle to get it to have a chance in Hell of going to the right.

I have no idea what my 2nd course was, maybe Richlands.

 

[Binky Yutz]

My first course was Hiller Park in Biloxi, but not the course that is there now. Back in the mid 70's they installed a 9-hole course in the park. We played it with our WhamO 165's. Back then it did not click with me, and after a short time they pulled the course from the park.

Fast forward to 2010 (absolutely no disc golf in between), a friend and I were talking about what we could do to kill some time, and he mentions that someone told him they just installed an 18-hole disc course in Hiller Park. We took our 165's out to the course to give it a try, and quickly learned that these old Wham-Os aren't going to cut it. Went out to Academy the next day and bought an Innova starter set (Aviar, Shark, Leopard). So, my very first course and my official first course were both Hiller Park.

I've been hooked ever since, and now have over $1200 invested in my Zuca cart, Ranger Backpack, and all the accoutrements, golden retriever, pick stick, range finder, etc. Not to mention the hundreds of discs stored in my garage. Ah, the disc golf life, and still, I am looking for that magic disc that will help my game. I just got a couple of new Mambas, and some Air D6's and F7's. The flippier the better for my old arse.

Now 12 years later, I can throw pretty well, not very far, but reasonably accurate, and I scramble really well since most of my throws were from the rough or the woods, so I got a lot of practice scrambling. I will play this game until I can no longer physically do it, but I figure I've still got a couple of decades left in me. Maybe, God willing, I will still be throwing at 100 years old to take a crack at Don Shinn's world distance record. My Mom is 91, and her parents made it to 102 and 106. So, fingers crossed!

 

[Three Putt]

The first Disc I ever found in the rough in my early days at Oxbow Park! I played with it for a few rounds before running into the local guru (PDGA #315), mentioned I had found another Disc, and he traded me a brand-new Aviar P&A on the spot for it. A maroon Chains Aviar, my first putter, and I'm also guessing it was the first year of the chains stamp in favor of the older "hands" putter? He explained how in Disc Golf we try to get Discs back to their original owner, so I learned about that for the first time too.

The Phantom+ was candy red, really a beautiful Disc. Can't forget that one. I, of course, couldn't throw it to save my life. I could only throw backhands if it was a literal Frisbee.

That Chains Aviar, as a matter of fact, is in this video from 1992. It's the second one I throw (horribly) at the beginning there. You can hear me say, "Oops!" I was 19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqSUoi71NtQ Also, it's thrown again at the 0:50 mark.

There was a regular at White Birch who played all the time but never in leagues or events; he was just around a lot.

There was a sinkhole between hole 18 and hole 1; a HUGE snapping turtle lived in it, biggest turtle I ever saw outside of a zoo. One day while checking the course I started walking down the path to 1 and saw this guy stripped down to his skivvies sticking his legs into the sinkhole and pulling out discs between his toes. After I recovered from the shock of finding a flabby, middle-aged man in his tidy whitey's sitting in the middle of a public park I asked him how attached he was to his toes because I could see that turtle not appreciating that particular activity. He laughed and said he did it all the time. He told me he had been playing Frisbee golf since the course went in (the course was 18 years old at this point) and had never spent a dime; he played with discs he found on the course.

The highlight of the discs he had that day was an orange Phantom+, and I tried to get him to give it to me. He laughed at me and said it was his favorite disc, then showed me the plastic bag he carried his discs in and there were three or four more in the bag. He claimed that he pulled all of them out of the sinkhole.

Then I left him because I was talking to a mostly naked 50ish year-old dude in a park. :\ I kinda wanted that Phantom+, but I have limits.

 

[ChrisWoj]

In 2004 I was playing object golf on campus at Bluffton University with Ultrastars. But my first official course was Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio in late winter 2005. That'd be the site of my first tournament in April of that year where I played a few low-800s rounds.

I often attribute my lack of long-term connection with my discs to starting out on a course with 3-5 holes that played with significant water (depending on the retention pond by holes 3/4). A lot of my friends have discs they'll abandon rounds to search for, they've had them for years and years and years. I just don't do that. I don't buy discs that are throwers that I might be afraid of losing. I just lost too many in my first six-nine months of playing to actually develop that kind of connection with my plastic.

I did, however, quite love my first disc in part because it could survive those conditions. It was the ultimate multi-purpose disc.... a #2 Driver that both floated AND glowed. Can't get more multi-purpose than that - water courses, night rounds, AND general use.

 

[Luckj]

Probably sometime around 2015 a group of 10+ decided to try it out. I borrowed 3 discs from a coworker and we headed out (my group laughed at the idea that anyone would ever need more than 1 disc). I think I had a F2, something from lightning discs, and a really gummy putter. Our group included multiple strollers and kids running around. Thankfully the park we played was extremely casual and we didn't get in anyone's way.

The course was a 9 Holer at Miami Whitewater outside cincinnati. I found out later that the original layout was a steady Ed design, but I believe only the first 2-3 holes are originals, if that. We pretty much all only threw overhand and did terrible. I didn't play again much until 2020 when I got addicted. Still have a soft spot for that course, my goal is to finally get down to par 27 on it. I'm not great!

https://www.dgcoursereview.com/mobile/course.php?id=159

 

[Mr. Butlertron]

Coming up on 20 years ago I played Downriver DGC in Spokane, WA for the first time. It was an eye opening experience and the perfect course to begin my frolf journey. There were people everywhere drinking, smoking, laughing, and yelling. The air was filled with discs flying and the sound of chains ringing. I felt like Pinocchio arriving at Pleasure Island. And it was all FREE! To this day I use Downriver as my benchmark to judge fun middling courses.

 

[The Mickstar]

My son took me to T.R. Hughes DGC (aka. Homefield) for my first round.

https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=9463

It's really more of a practice facility with only eight holes (one basket got stolen), but I had fun.

 

[TheOtherBill]

I knew about Skyline in Dallas growing up here in the 80s - went there once to score some green but never played. Around the spring of 2005, I took a job in Greenville, SC, and got a new roommate that took a few of us out to Timmons Park. Fun little pitch and putt with what was a lot of elevation changes for a midwest flatlander like myself. He gave me a tie dye valk out of the 6 discs he had and I was hooked by the back 9.
I never played ultimate but a buddy and I used to spend hours at night throwing an Aerobie around the Church's parking lot over the summer. It was both lucky and I think unlucky that I didn't have any bad habits from throwing big lids - the flat Aerobie release helped me get beter than the other 2 guys that went out for the first time that day too. Only one of them still plays, and he's back to being part of our regular Sunday group after a few years away.

 

[The Shide]

Madeline Bertrand Pk in Niles, MI in 1986.

Hey, that's a "Steady" Ed design!
As I understand it, it's been redesigned somewhat, but some of Ed's original designed holes are still there. Those are probably the shorter ones. Fun course, as memory serves.