BY: Betty Stack
Tidbits on this thing called disc Golf and regular Golf in Anderson County
Golf is the one of the few sports that someone can participate in as long as possible. There are no mandatory retirement dates or aging out. It also offers individuals the opportunity to participate in multiple locations and year- round here in the upstate. However, there is a big difference in the price between playing on a traditional regular golf course versus a disc golf location. Yet both provide individuals with exercise, fresh air, and the chance to compete solo or with partners, and/ or groups.
The idea behind disc gold was thought to have been the brainchild of a college student home from break in the summer of 1965. George Sappenfield was working as a recreation counselor on break from Fresno State University. He was playing golf one afternoon when the idea of playing golf using frisbees came to mind. Disc golf became an official organized sport in 1974. The following year a man named Headrick patented the Disc Golf Pole Hole and installed the first disc golf course at Oak Grove Park in Pasadena, California. The rest is history and disc golf has grown tremendously since 1975.
Disc golf is good for the mind and body, and much like traditional golf, disc golf is a tactical sport requiring focus, decision-making, and athletic execution. With those elements combined, disc golf is a mental and physical sport requiring you to make calculated decisions for each throw. Just like those mental calculations need to be made with each stroke of the club.
Disc Golf is played like traditional golf, but with disc golf discs instead of balls and clubs. One throw (stroke) is counted each time the disc is thrown and when a penalty is incurred. The goal is to play each hole in the fewest strokes possible. The player with the lowest total strokes for the entire course wins.
Par in disc golf involves an expected number of throws that a player should take to get their disc from the tee into the basket. A disc golf birdie is similar to a traditional ball golf, a score of one throw is less than par on any hole. Then that means to achieve an eagle a score of two throws less than par has to be achieved. The lie is the place on the playing surface upon which the player takes a stance in order to throw. The playing surface is a surface, generally the ground, which is capable of supporting the player and from which a stance can reasonably be taken. The player with the lowest total throws for the entire course wins.
Personally, I have never participated in disc golf. However, I have heard positive feedback from college students and others who seem to appreciate the affordability, convenience and camaraderie. We do reside in an area where weather permitting regular golf, or disc golf can be a “go-to” sport year-round. There are a variety of local golf courses from The Club at Brookstone, to Boscobel, Cobbs Glenn, Saluda Valley, Lakeview, Pine Lake, to the Walker Course at Clemson and even more.
Some local disc golf courses of choice include The Trails, Dolly Cooper Disc Golf, and the Darwin Wright Park. The Trails offers a wooded backdrop, while Dolly Cooper offers a chance to get in some water, and Darwin Wright is just down right fun according to reviews. But I am not the expert, it is up to you to decide for yourself. And taking in a round of disc golf or standard golf may just be the thing to do this last half of summer and early into fall. Now have I got you excited about playing a little golf? Maybe traditional, or yes, the easily affordable and available disc golf in our own Anderson County.