Category: Disc Golf Clubs

Unique Disc Golf Experience Breaks the Internet

by Parked, posted in Community Outreach, Disc Golf Clubs

Inparcerated Returns to Old Joliet Prison

By Lauren Lakeberg ~

INPARCERATED II
A players meeting at Inparcerated II. Photo Lauren Lakeberg.

For three years, Dellwood Disc Golf has hosted Inparcerated, a disc golf tournament held at the Old Joliet Prison in Illinois. The idea was born when Mark Grabavoy heard about the prison opening to the public for tours and wondered if disc golf was an option. He pitched the idea to Dellwood and they were all in.

Each year the tournament sells out quickly. This year it took eight minutes and two seconds and crashed the registration website twice. Slated for September 26-27, the event currently has 432 players registered and 88 players on a waitlist. Continue reading “Unique Disc Golf Experience Breaks the Internet” →

Tournament Fees: What Makes Dollars and Sense?

by Parked, posted in Disc Golf Clubs, Politics

How to anger-proof a tournament in trying times.

Josh Woods ~

Cover art with discs

Cell phone activation fees. Baggage fees. Hotel internet fees. Cancellation fees.

No one likes fees. People especially dislike hidden fees, additional fees and any charge that seems shady or unreasonable. Still, fees are everywhere. Including in disc golf.

As one example, players without PDGA memberships must pay a “$10 additional fee” to register for a PDGA-sanctioned tournament. Although there are logical reasons for this charge, not everyone is a fan. Continue reading “Tournament Fees: What Makes Dollars and Sense?” →

Play, Party, Plan: Pittsburgh’s Formula for Growing the Sport

by Parked, posted in Disc Golf Clubs, Grow the Sport, Social Movement

By Josh Woods ~

Covert art

Why do some disc golf communities grow, while others stagnate or decline?

To be honest, I’m not entirely sure. But reasonable speculation on this question might begin with the case study approach: Find a model of success and try to learn what works.

Over the last four decades, Pittsburgh’s disc golf community has worked. Continue reading “Play, Party, Plan: Pittsburgh’s Formula for Growing the Sport” →

800 weeks of uninterrupted disc golf fun

by Parked, posted in Disc Golf Clubs

Has Parked found the longest, documented weekly league streak in disc golf history?

By Bill Flynn ~

Coverart
Hole 1, Young’s Run Disc Golf Course, 2010. A rare course photo from Superman Saturday league. From left: Eric “Fitty” Centanni, Tony “Pro-Rec” Keller, Steve Pavick, and Ryan Stellmaker.

Disc golf wasn’t an epidemic when it arrived in Warren, Ohio, but those catching the bug got it bad, real bad. Busy schedules or not, local disc golfers migrated to Young’s Run Disc Golf Course. They played every free moment – any day, any time – and especially on Saturdays.

Just a bunch of guys who liked playing disc golf, they eventually formed a club when one member, Joe “Ho Mac” Holbrook, needed a name for a charity event. That’s when the Trumbull County Disc Golf Associates (TCDGA) came to life. Continue reading “800 weeks of uninterrupted disc golf fun” →

Disc golf club runs 228 weekly league events in a row

by Parked, posted in Disc Golf Clubs, Participant Observation

By Josh Woods, photos by Jesse Wright ~

Group Shot
Participants of the Morgantown Mountain Goats’ league event on New Year’s Eve, 2017. The club has not cancelled a weekly event since being established on August 12, 2013.

Disc golf clubs are like unclassified plants. No one knows what they are, but still they sprout up and spread through the hills, fields and forests, bringing delight to anyone who finds them.

In summer 2013, one disc golf club, the Morgantown Mountain Goats of West Virginia, held their first meeting in the future president’s living room. The Goat founders appointed a Board of Directors, which included Shelby Dering, Shane Leiggi, Greg Hackett and Jason Lee, and started planning the future. Their initial priorities were to establish a formal league and further develop a disc golf course at Dorsey’s Knob Park in Morgantown, West Virginia. Continue reading “Disc golf club runs 228 weekly league events in a row” →

The astonishing rise of Devan Owens, and the “secret sauce” of Tulsa disc golf

by Parked, posted in Disc Golf Clubs, Grow the Sport
Devan Owens Putt by Frisbeenet
Photo: Frisbee.net

In August 2005, a young Devan Owens embarks on an unlikely journey. He leaves his home near Tulsa, Oklahoma and travels nearly a thousand miles to Flagstaff, Arizona for the PDGA Amateur Disc Golf World Championships. Owens is sixteen years old, a precocious lefty with a sidearm and a dream. Continue reading “The astonishing rise of Devan Owens, and the “secret sauce” of Tulsa disc golf” →

Women’s disc golf network takes root in Wisconsin: An interview with Jenny San Filippo

by Parked, posted in Disc Golf Clubs, Gender, Grow the Sport

too-legit

The work of coordinating a local disc golf league is difficult, time consuming, potentially frustrating, and breathtakingly unprofitable. For this reason, the idea of organizing not one, but several leagues across four states seems bold, forward-thinking and, yes, a little crazy. Continue reading “Women’s disc golf network takes root in Wisconsin: An interview with Jenny San Filippo” →

Is your favorite disc golf group on Facebook bigger than average?

by Parked, posted in Disc Golf Clubs, Grow the Sport

photo-of-facebook-groups

I finally took the plunge into social media – not that long ago – when I realized that the only way to keep up with my local disc golf community, the Morgantown Mountain Goats, was through Facebook.

More recently, as I began doing research on disc golf, I discovered one more reason to join: Facebook may be the only available tool for estimating the number of disc golfers in the United States and learning more about how this group has changed over time. Continue reading “Is your favorite disc golf group on Facebook bigger than average?” →