Adventures of Frisbee Golf

By Daniel Kimmer, Contributing Writer

Frisbee Golfing is a leisure inexpensive outdoor activity. A little overview about Frisbee Golf (Disc Golf or Frolf; street terms). Most courses are either a 9-hole course or an 18-hole course, depending on the land and space within the public park it was designed and built at.
As a beginner to frisbee golf it is played like normal golf, there are T-Boxes and Fairways on each hole, “Greens” are non-existent in frisbee golf, as the basket location is the goal to get the frisbee to and the “hole” are metal chained baskets to catch the frisbee’s as they are thrown into the basket. In order to complete the hole, you have to successfully make the frisbee within the basket, then onto the next hole. The frisbees are designed for each shot and distance; drivers, mid-ranges, and putters.

With getting started to play Disc Golf, local sporting stores have the proper frisbees you should have when going out to play. They typically carry beginner packs, which include a driver, a mid-range, and a putter. The three frisbees you should have when going to play an effective round. The starter pack of three frisbees range from $20-$30 dollars.

There is a local 9-hole course here in Lebanon at Horner Park, but as I drive through the park, the course is very challenging to follow where the t-boxes are for each hole as well as the hole placements are hard to locate in the park. I would not recommend going to Horner Park for a first-time experience to Disc Golf.

Around the area there are two courses that are each roughly 20-25 minutes away from campus but worth the drive. One in Highland at Silver Lake Park and the other in Belleville at Bicentennial Park, each park each have an 18-hole course that are both very nice as well as challenging and fun to play, they T-boxes and hole placements are easy to follow making the round a lot easier to complete instead of searching for the next hole location.

I go to Bicentennial Park in Belleville more than Silver Lake Park in Highland because to me personally, I enjoy Belleville’s course over Highland’s as a whole. The course design is easy but yet difficult, the nature is beautiful, and the area is peaceful. A time I enjoy a lot on beautiful day.

The greatest thing about going Disc Golfing is that you get to go outdoors and get to hike through woods and nature while playing the game of frisbee golf. I go alone and as well with friends to play a round of disc golf, all you need to do is get some frisbees and get to one of the public parks. The courses are free to play as they are at public parks and maintained by the cities. When going out to play you never know what you are going to experience being in the nature, whether it’s a wild animal or other people.

As I continue to play at Bicentennial Park, I learn more about the area each time I go as I cross paths with people who are mushroom hunting. Morel Mushrooms to be exact. The first encounter I had was late March with a younger couple Matt and Jessica. As I was playing my round of Disc Golf, I was on hole 3 and I see the two off to the right-side of the fairway. As I approach the two making my way through the hole, I started making small conversation with the two, as Matt stated, “This spot right here has been the spot where I continue to find Morel’s.” Learning that Morel mushrooms naturally grow right in the middle of one of the holes to me I felt was shocking.

Next time I went to play again at Bicentennial Park, I crossed paths with an older gentleman John. Again, in the exact same spot, hole 3. As I approach John making my way through the hole, he told me stories of the spot we were in about Morel mushrooms.

“This has been the hot spot for Morel Mushrooms for years, but once the city put in this disc golf course and disturbed the nature, Morel’s have been harder to find, now I just need to find where the wind is taking the seeds and creating a new hot spot for the Morels to grow” John stated.

John was informing on all sorts of information about Morel mushrooms. Websites, other locations, quantities, sizes, basically everything in a quick 5 minutes conversation about Morel Mushrooms in St. Clair County.

“I have found 20 Morels and 0 Morels in this spot we are in, you just have to get here at the right time and have a good eye for them, they can grow overnight, and if they don’t get found immediately, they can grow as tall as foot tall and I get excited when I find that foot tall Morel” John stated.

As I learned a lot about the Morels in the park, John states, “Morels are delicious to cook with, that’s why I am out here about 3 times a week when the weather is nice and sunny to hopefully find some to eat later.”

I never know what I am going to encounter when going to Bicentennial Park to play a round of Disc Golf. If I am going to run into more Morel Mushroom hunters or even so finding myself a Morel Mushroom. Being out in the nature, you never know what you’re going to encounter.

When going to play a round of Disc Golf at Bicentennial Park, it is something to do on a beautiful day it is cheap to play and all you need to do is show up at the park with your frisbees and play. It is a completely different outdoor activity that is growing rapidly in the states and it was a blast to do.