So, yes, Max and I are addicted to Disc Golf.
We came up to camp a bit early and got out this morning for a round at a relatively new local course in Santa Rosa we hadn’t tried yet. It wasn’t bad… worth playing again but afterward we got the real bonus of the day.
At the edge of the course, a field was very clearly marked “No Trespassing” with serious barbed wire. There was a sign on the fence that said marked discs would be left at a local disc golf shop, Underrated Disc Golf.
We can’t resist a disc golf shop, so we thought it might be worth checking out. The initial drive by was iffy… passed by and couldn’t decide whether to stop in but Max said, “Dad, we have to support local disc golf stores.”
We pulled in. It was a bit more promising as we approached… a couple disc baskets outside.
Inside, we found a good selection and when we got to talking to the proprietor, we found a major bonus... His uncle invented the sport. It was like we were in the presence of royalty.
Now, I know that legends abound and origin stories often compete for status but I’ve done a bit of reading on the history of the sport and this is the real deal.
His father and uncle worked for Wham-O and were instrumental in the development of the modern frisbee.
He showed us the disc on the wall made with his uncle’s ashes.
His cousin said in a news article, “My father would be really happy if we actually played Frisbee with his remains… He said he wanted to end up in a Frisbee that accidentally lands on someone’s roof.” 'Frisbee pioneer aimed for the heavens...'
Those of us into Frisbee trivia remember that the originals were tins from the Frisbie Pie Company, and the shop also has a framed pie tin. How cool is that!
…and a wall of Frisbee prototypes… second from right is the earliest. A couple of the others are Pluto Platters, a name used very early on.
Ed Headrick developed the first disc golf target and one of (if not the first) disc golf courses near Pasadena at Oak Grove Park, now called Hahamongna Watershed Park. The boys and I played there a year or so ago… kind of like St. Andrews for a traditional golfer.
Anyway, a chance happening brought us into this humble shop where we found Disc royalty. We’ll definitely be back.
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