Discin' on a Golf Course

[Schoen-hopper]

I played ball golf today at Sims Park, near Oak Park in Wichita. Fun course that doesn't have much O.B. My paps was crushing the ball to 50 yards out on a lot of the par 4's and then taking two shots to get on the green! My game was pretty much all around bad except some pretty good putting.

I decided I'd pick 9 holes to keep track of my disc score on. I was finishing the holes by hitting the flagstick. I ended up forgetting to throw on a couple of the holes, but I switched them up and still played 9. I played 3 par 3's, 5 par 4's, and 1 par 5. Most of the shots were with a tail-ish wind. The length was around 8000 feet.

I didn't play all that well, but still managed to shoot the following... 3's on the par 3's. One 4 on the par 4's with the rest being 5. I got a 6 on the par 5. So that would be 39 on a par 34. I beat my own ball golf score on these same holes by 5 shots. I tied my dad's score.

It was a lot of fun throwing for the greens. Even the spike hyzers don't damage the green like you might imagine. I didn't have a roller disc with me. That is the most fun part of playing on a ball golf course. Undulation can be difficult to manage, but the grass is perfect.

I read about a DG vs. BG challenge in the latest issue of disc golf magazine. The disc golfers won this event. When you think about players who can throw 550+ feet, you realize that on an open ball golf course, shooting in the 70's or even upper 60's is a real possibility, even though the course is 18,000 feet long!

As fun as playing disc golf on a ball golf course is, it makes you realize a few things that disc golf has that are superior to ball golf. 3-D course designs that utilize trees IN the fairway. Throwing down mandatory paths allows for little creativity in shot selection to me. I think Frontier Park shows an excellent example of an ideal tree density in the fairways. Options of the tee are good. Look at how big the "tee pads" are in ball golf.

As far as making ball golf courses better for disc golfers... You would want to play a course that had a tight enough fairway to offer a challenge. I'm sure there are plenty of these types of courses, just not too many in our region. I've alway wanted to play Dub's Dread near Ted's Dread in KC. Of course narrow fairways means that the already triple length courses would become even more difficult.

Another thing you could do with fly 18 courses, where you have an actual basket to throw at... Put them on the greens! Most greens are huge and have plenty of room away from the current BG pin location.

I don't know if you could try this sort of thing just anywhere, but I didn't get hassled once in all the times I've thrown a disc on a ball golf course. I figure I payed $20 to play, I had better have some fun! For those who haven't tried it: you'd be surprised at how competitive you can stay with the ball golfers. My best hole was after duffing a particular drive on a 960 foot uphill headwind hole and still making 5!

[TanK]

http://fly18.com/

this is the guy I just worked with installing the course @ Iowa Western Comm College.

He has I think 9 DG courses on Ball golf courses. You play w/ a reduced green fee, get a golf cart, come in the cluhouse, making the turn and have a beer and check on Mickelson and Tiger on the big screen tv.

[Schoen-hopper]

That is very cool.

[cottenokie]

There's one at 149th and I-44 in Moore Okla. You can even play at nite

[Schoen-hopper]

Eh MO Throws,

I didn't find the fly18 article you were talking about. Here is a post I made on the subject.

[MOthrows]

Thanks, it seems like a great idea for smaller golf courses that don't have as many ball golfers playing as they would like. I agree with you that you'd want tighter fairways but, surely that could be designed into a course. I'd definitely like to give one a try sometime.

[Schoen-hopper]

This is really fun if you haven't tried it. What frustrates me is when I make 3 great drives on a 350yd hole and am putting for a 4 and I get an 8. That flag stick is too hard to hit!

I've got a suggestion that would make for some fun discin' on a ball golf course.

1. Play it at night. No one is going to kick you off the course if they can't see you. Throw down some glow rollers. I wouldn't recommend playing a treacherous course.

2. No putting necessary. If you are on the green, add one stroke. If you are off the green by a little ways and feel silly just pitching a few feet, go ahead and try for the flag. If you hit it, you don't have to add a stroke. This would be for shots off the green only. Once you are on the green, you pick up. It would be easy to play, fast, you wouldn't need as many disc, and no flag stick putting frustration.

[Schoen-hopper]

Shooting par (70-72) with this format would be very possible. Mostly open holes, big greens, and no putting would take out some of the accuracy part of the game, but it is still fun playing a huge, million $ golf course with short grass.