Area disc golfers share their tales in advance of the Ice Bowl
You know that game where people swing clubs and try to hit a little white ball into a vastly distant hole? Disc golfers refer to that as “ball golf.”
Although ball golf came first, the sport of disc golf has grown exponentially over the last decade, both nationally and here in New England. In the Seacoast area, there are now two public courses: Bellamy Park in Dover, and Squamanagonic in Rochester. The area is home to a large community of avid disc golfers who play on a regular basis — even in winter, in four feet of snow.
The Bellamy Park Ice Bowl takes place on Saturday, Feb. 28. The competition includes two rounds of singles in three different divisions, with proceeds from entry fees benefiting the New Hampshire Food Bank.
In advance of the event, The Sound asked area disc golfers to describe some of their most glorious, unusual, or entertaining disc golf experiences. We’ll start with my own modest tale.
Matt Kanner of Rye
I was playing with a group of friends at a course in Waterbury, Vt. Another guy got his disc stuck high in a tree, and my friend Hans volunteered to retrieve it for him. The guy promised to give him a Heady Topper if he did it. Hans scrambled up the tree like a lemur and recovered the disc some 30 feet off the ground. The guy thanked him profusely. He never did get the beer.
John Spoley of Dover
My most memorable throw was on Dec. 14, 2011, playing a round on my birthday. I was playing Bellamy Park hole #6. Hole 6 is a short hole, 200 or so feet. My drive went straight then turned hard left into the ground, skipping off the ice directly into the basket. It was my first and only hole in one.
John Vaccaro of Dover
I was in Florida visiting my folks for Thanksgiving. I found the nearest disc-golf course and played it several times that week, with each round improving my scores. A friendly local disc golfer invited me to a weekly league that would be meeting the next day. Upon arriving, I was asked my handicap, which I had never calculated. I told them my recent scores there, and they estimated my handicap at three strokes. As I walked to the first hole, the other golfers asked where I was going. I discovered that this league was played from the shorter red tees, not the longer white tees I’d played all week. The red tees were all under 200 feet. I birdied six of the first seven holes and began hearing some players grumbling under their breath. In the end, I won the $100 first-place prize! My joy didn’t last, however, as I soon found myself surrounded by a dozen angry locals all complaining they were hustled. They refused my prize money and threatened to kick my ass when I voiced my displeasure. I insisted on getting my $10 entry fee back, and quickly took off before things got more heated. My frustration was soon outweighed by my pleasure in showing those Florida boys how New Englanders play disc golf.
Chris Mergemekes of Bedfordphoto by Rob Tatro
I was playing at a course in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. A woman was walking her dog and the dog grabbed my friend’s disc off the ground and started walking away with it. We nicely asked the woman to get the disc for us but she said she didn’t know how (she was afraid of her own dog). I bent down slowly, gently grabbed the disc, patted the dog, and said, “drop it,” and the dog let go.
Paul McAskill of Eliot, Mainephoto by Dave Sage
My wife gave me the best Christmas present ever four years ago: three discs. We played Christmas day and, well, ever since. We added up the courses we have played together — 23, plus some more I have played in tournaments. The present was not just the discs; it was the opportunity to play this sport, to get in shape, and to meet some of the best people, many of whom I consider to be close friends. That was a present.
The Bellamy Park Ice Bowl takes place at Bellamy Park Disc Golf Course on Bellamy Road in Dover on Saturday, Feb. 28. To pre-register, visit discgolfunited.com and click on “events.” For more information, find Bellamy Park Disc Golf on Facebook.
Photo at top of page by Dennis Grzywacz.