May 10, 2000

Disc golf 'fore' a good cause

By Justin Trapp
Herald staff writer
       Last weekend, from the vast lands of Europe to the far reaches of Californian beaches, the air was filled with the sounds of whirring discs, often followed by the faint and obscene yell of a disgruntled disc-golfer whose drive had gone awry.
      All this, plus T-shirts, publicity, and a chuckin' good time, compliments of the World's Biggest Disc Golf Weekend 2000.
      Locally, Ric Evans, one of the founding fathers of the Timberlee disc golf course, organized a disc golf event that would kill two birds with one, um, disc.
      Evans had read about the "World's Biggest" event in a disc magazine, and decided that the Grand Traverse area should join in the action. To give the event that added punch, proceeds benefited the Leelanau Conservancy and the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy.
      "I thought I'd try to pull one off up here, get new people involved," Evans said. "Then I got thinking about the conservancies, and it'd be nice to tie them in, too, some benefiting type aspect of the game."
      For $15, disc golf participants received a T-shirt, a disc, and a chance to chuck some discs around Timberlee. The event was held last Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and had over 40 "chuckers" join in on the action.
      In the afternoon, a doubles round was held. Placing teams were: first place, Jeff Louwsma and Ric Evans, 66 (-6); second place, TJ Craig and Ryan Fleet, 68 (-4); and a third place tie between Rudy Bishop and Steve Chell, Art Kinney and Josh Wilson shot, who each scored 70 (-2).
      The event was coordinated and run by volunteers from the longest running disc group in the area, the "Northwoods Disc Chuckers!". The group, started in 1995 when Timberlee was first designed and installed, worked on planning the Sunday event for months.
      Disc golf, for those who haven't been schooled in "the way," is a game played with "chuckin'" discs, cousins of the Frisbee. Disc golfers "tee" off from a platform, aiming at a chained basket hundreds of feet away. As with regular golf, the lower your score, the better your score.
      "Chuckin'" discs are loosely divided into drivers, mid-range/approach, and putters. Specialized discs can slice, hook, float, glow in the dark, or cut through tough winds - all depending on a players needs.
      The "World's Biggest" event was the third tournament of the year held at Timberlee, with two previous tournaments taking place in April.