Thumbahawks and tomahawks, forehands and backhands: disc golf is here to stay at Mt. Holiday Ski and Recreation Area.
The new nine-hole course launched over the weekend with a benefit open house that drew 28 people to the hilly course that sports some of the area's best views. Mt. Holiday's course is also physically rigorous: to complete a game, players must climb up and down the hills two times.
The open house offered participants three days of play, exploration and coaching on the wildly popular sport of disc golf. An awards session Sunday afternoon recognized the best players in novice, intermediate, advanced and professional categories.
"Disc golf is sport that crosses all generations: there's folks in the Grand Masters Divisions who are still out playing at the national level all the way down to eight year olds just learning," said Tom Pluister, co-designer of the Mt. Holiday course. "I think as adults we have a tendency to discount play anymore but it's really important for the psyche to refresh and reboot."
The Mt. Holiday course begins at the Bunny Hill and meanders over the steep hills of the winter ski resort. Each hole ends at the latest in galvanized steel disc golf baskets, beckoning players to try their best putt.
"It's an awesome course," said Alex Sheridan, 11, of Traverse City.
Sheridan, his brother Andy, 12, friend Lucas Little, 12, and dad, Phil, checked out the course Saturday morning. They played a round together — at the last hole losing Phil's collectible 15-year-old disc, which they retrieved after an hour of intense hunting — and the boys also completed a seminar by Pluister.
"This is just another wonderful thing we can do together," said Phil Sheridan, who has played disc golf since the sport's earliest days. "They're here all winter snowboarding with their buddies, it's just a block away."
The Sheridans have been playing disc golf together for two or three years while Little just took it up this season.
"This is the only course I've seen with a water hazard," noted Andy.
Satisfying customers like the Sheridans fulfills a vision of the non-profit Mt Holiday Ski and Recreation Area. Opened in the winter of 2003 after community volunteers stepped in to save the land from development, the board has worked to create four seasons of activities.
"When Mt. Holiday became incorporated as a non-profit, they wanted a year-round recreation area," said Kim Peltier, communications coordinator for the organization.
To create the disc golf course, the organization tapped Pluister, who lives in Bay Shore, and partner Ric Evans of Atwood, co-owners of No Obstacles Disc Golf, for their expertise and enthusiasm. Pluister or the team have designed or helped design courses around the region, including ones at Boyne Mountain, Timber Lea, Northwestern Michigan College, Schuss Mountain, Shanty Creek and Hickory Hills.
Beginning this spring, Pluister and Evans walked the hills and threw discs to get a feel for a course. Noting sight lines, natural launching points and obstacles, they worked out a challenging course that integrated the varied feel of Mt. Holiday's acreage. The course begins with a 525-foot hole that descends and ascends hills; a later hole has a pond to tax players' accuracy.
"This is exceptional terrain, this is the kind of place Tom and I drool over," said Evans, who noted that the Mt. Holiday course could be expanded to include an 18 or 27 holes. "Not only diverse topography but pockets of diverse types of trees and at the top are spectacular views."
Also an avid player of the game, Evans asserted that disc golf is every bit as addictive as traditional golf can be.
"It's extremely challenging and it's one of those sports that you can take as far as you want," he noted.