Tag: West Virginia

How a Resilient Disc Golf Community Made the Best Out of the Worst Situation

by Parked, posted in Community Outreach

By Rebecca G. Burton ~

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Hole 17, Seth Burton, Fairmont Ice Bowl, 2017. Photo Jesse Wright.

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Much of what makes life tolerable in the worst of times and joyous in the best of them happens when people come together.

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The Fairmont Flyers are busy, once again, preparing for the sixteenth annual Ice Bowl in Fairmont, West Virginia on February 22. Over the last five years, a Chili Cook-Off was added to include more people from the community and raise more money for the designated charity, a local food pantry called the Soup Opera. Continue reading “How a Resilient Disc Golf Community Made the Best Out of the Worst Situation” →

Disc Golf is Fun and That’s the Most Important Thing, Ever

by Parked, posted in Culture, Participant Observation

By Josh Woods ~

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Photo Jesse Wright

I recently gave a presentation on disc golf at a sociology conference. At the end, someone asked, “What’s so important about disc golf?”

Of course, she didn’t ask the question quite like this. It was subtler and nicer, but that’s how I took it. Continue reading “Disc Golf is Fun and That’s the Most Important Thing, Ever” →

Living in the Moment and Other Unbelievable Feats of Mental Strength

by Parked, posted in Instruction

By Josh Woods ~

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In the 1980 comedy Caddyshack, the pseudo-Buddhist ball golfer Ty Webb offered wisdom to his young, forward-thinking protege Danny Noonan.

“Danny, I’m going to give you a little advice,” Ty said. “There’s a force in the universe that makes things happen; all you have to do is get in touch with it. Stop thinking … find your center … let things happen … and be … the ball.”

Despite the silliness of this tip, the idea that regulating your thoughts and centering your attention can improve performance is remarkably popular. You can find it in books of pop psychology, in the meditation rooms at Google and Nike, in the hot yoga gyms of middle America, and in several disc golf books, blogs and websites. Continue reading “Living in the Moment and Other Unbelievable Feats of Mental Strength” →

Three Reasons to Care about Disc Golf Research

by Parked, posted in Environment, Grow the Sport, Public Health

By Josh Woods ~

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One of the questions you learn to answer in graduate school is, “Who cares?”

As you work through your research ideas, your teachers drum this question into you. For instance, after presenting your thesis proposal, someone in the audience might chirp: “Your project sounds interesting, but I’m not sure it passes the who-cares test.”

That’s as close as it gets to smack talk in academia.

As devilish as the question may be, it’s almost always worth answering. After all, if your research isn’t relevant to anyone, why carry it out? Continue reading “Three Reasons to Care about Disc Golf Research” →

2018 PDGA Women’s Global Event

by Parked, posted in Gender

By Valarie Jenkins ~

Cover Photo
Players in the West Virginia Cup at the Seth Burton Memorial (SBM) course in Fairmont, WV. The NCWV Women’s Disc Golf Club will help organize West Virginia’s first PDGA Women’s Global Event at SBM on May 12. Photo by Jesse Wright.

Every other year sparks fly as women from all over the world meet up and play two rounds of disc golf.

The PDGA Women’s Global Event is a series of satellite tournaments hosted in several different countries. The fourth edition of the event will be played on May 12, 2018. Continue reading “2018 PDGA Women’s Global Event” →

Egg Shells, Explosions and Disc Golf

by Parked, posted in Instruction, Opinion

By James McDonald ~

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What do you do when “that player” ends up on your card? McDonald offers straight talk on courtesy violations and strategies for dealing with them. Photos: Jesse Wright.

Throughout my 9-year career as an amateur disc golfer, I have experienced a wide variety of personalities in recreational and organized play. I would say 98 percent of the folks I meet on the tournament circuit are great people. The other 2 percent are nice folks off the field but haven’t learned to “cage the tiger.” Continue reading “Egg Shells, Explosions and Disc Golf” →

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” →

To love a loveless thing

by Parked, posted in Opinion

By Josh Woods ~

DK sunrise
Mid-December sunrise over Dorsey’s Knob Park, Morgantown, WV. Photo by Jesse Wright.

Loving something that few people know or care about is not such a big problem. But when you love a loveless thing enough to play it and talk about it, without end—well, now you have a problem.

Your troubles can emerge almost anywhere, and before you know it, they multiply. The moment you utter the word “disc golf” in mixed company, clouds form overhead, the earth cracks, and winged monkeys appear on the horizon. Continue reading “To love a loveless thing” →

In the News, June 16-30, 2017

by Parked, posted in Media

InTheNews

Grow-the-sport news from around the country: new course developments in five states; Fairmont, WV donates $1,000 to disc golf tournament; Kankakee league does promotional video; Rifle Camp Park controversy continues; certified forester says disc golf is eco-friendly; disc golf helps wounded soldiers.   Continue reading “In the News, June 16-30, 2017” →

“Beauty at low temperatures is beauty” – Joseph Brodsky

by Parked, posted in Participant Observation
spotless-mind
“How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot.” ― Alexander Pope

The hills of West Virginia are always nice to look at. In summer, these geologic wonders are attractive in a way that needs no explanation.

But in winter, when the temperature drops, and a thin blanket of snow covers the land, and the horizon fades into whiteness, and the wind dies down, and large, octangular clumps of crystallized water drift in the air like drunken moths, the hills of West Virginia are beautiful in a way that demands further clarification. Continue reading ““Beauty at low temperatures is beauty” – Joseph Brodsky” →