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Heads up fore flying saucers |
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Written by Dan England
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Friday, 24 August 2007 |
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 Frisbee Golf is much like regular golf: you can be a hacker who owns cheap equipment or the guy who sells off his clubs at a garage sale every year and buys the latest titanium wonders that hit golf balls 600 feet, and drop balls like cotton onto the greens.
The flying disc itself doesn’t have a huge price range, though a fancy one can cost $20. But players can dump up to $500 a year on their flying discs (be careful of the word Frisbee — it is in fact a brand name).
And Shawn Van Winkle of Fort Collins is that Guy.
So it’s no surprise that he’s organizing the Sundance Shotgun Shootout Frisbee golf tournament in the Red Feather Lakes area. The event, to benefit The Children’s Hospital, gives Van Winkle, 29, a chance to say thanks to Colorado for a decade of good vibes before he moves to Georgia in a few weeks. He also gets to feed his addiction to Frisbee golf.
Van Winkle belongs to the Tour de Frizz, a group of folks almost as addicted to Frisbee golf as he is. The group travels around Colorado and camps and plays Frisbee golf, including the tournaments that make Van Winkle spend a little bit too much on flying discs.
“We have six to seven core individuals, but we’ve had as many as 18 people up there before,” he said.
Numbers like that are no surprise, because you can go to any of the courses in northern Colorado and see people throwing discs all over the place. Jon Ingram, Marcus Dreux and Mike Davis spent a recent evening playing the 18-hole Edora Park course in Fort Collins. They weren’t alone. It seemed there was a group playing nearly every “hole.”
The trio said that it is even busier on the weekends. Why? The sport has appeal for many reasons.
“It’s outside and it’s fun ... and you get to hang out with your friends,” Ingram, a 22-year-old student at Colorado State University, said. “Plus, it’s not hard to get decent at.”
And, as Davis put it, “It’s a lot easier than regular golf.”
The price is right, too.
There are free courses in parks everywhere. But those darn discs can hit trees and dent, and when that happens, well, they don’t fly the same.
Van Winkle became addicted in North Dakota, where he grew up, and has played for almost 15 years.
“I don’t know if you know North Dakota, but there isn’t a lot to do up there. So it was a way to stay off the couch.”
Van Winkle said because it’s not a contact sport, he sees people from 5 to the elderly playing it. He hopes the charity event, aside from being a good way to say good-bye to a great state, will promote the sport. He hopes there are more charitable Frisbee golf events in the future. That would help the sport, he said.
Frisbee golf, of course, is just like regular golf in that it will give you just how much you put into it.
“And just like regular golf,” he said, “you can get really frustrated with it.”
NEXTnc editor Donovan Henderson contributed to this story.
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TO PLAY
The Sundance Shotgun Shootout Frisbee golf tournament will take place Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 25-26, at Red Feather Lakes.
The tournament benefits The Children’s Hospital in Denver and will feature three rounds of Frisbee golf as well as entertainment, awards, an event T-shirt and swag bag and booths, as well as a chuck wagon dinner and New Belgium beer garden.
The cost is $50. To register, go to http://home.comcast.net/~tourdefrizpresents, e-mail
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
or call 218.9393.
DISC COURSES IN THE REGION
Greeley
Epple Park, 43rd Avenue and 4th Street
Fort Collins
• Edora Park, 1420 E. Stuart St., 18-hole course. You can even rent the course. $100 a day for nonprofits, $120 for all others. Call 221.6660.
• Boltz Jr. High School, 720 Boltz Drive
• Colorado State University, on campus
Windsor
Chimney Park, 421 Chimney Park Drive
Loveland
Thompson Valley High School, 1669 Eagle Drive
Source: discgolfdirectory.com/colorado
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