March 30, 2009 10:08 AM
To: Karen Paul
Cc: Steve Allen
Subject: RE: disc golf
Karen-
I have sent a message to the leaders of the disc golf club instructing them to notify their members not to play disc golf at Leddy [Park]. I had a staff person check out the park on Friday afternoon and they did not find anyone playing but it is a hard thing to always locate.
Wayne [Gross, Parks Department]
.
http://www.gdstour.com/gateway_wizard_in_depth.php
The added thickness in the outer part of the rim helps tremendously in 2 different ways over the Aviar. 1st, it adds structure stability to the over all shape of the disc by reinforcing it, because of the added thickness. Even a very used wizard will remain close to perfect roundness) The 2nd function is adding to the gyroscopic ness of the disc, Flat out a more gyroscopic disc will spin longer. The longer the spin, the longer a disc can hold a flight pattern. Bottom line, The Wizard is straighter and flies with a much tighter "S" pattern and will hold just about any line you put it on for a longer period of time whether its 30 feet or 300 feet, 20 mph or 70 MPH!!!!.
http://www.aracnet.com/~stuart/disc_report.htm
The speed of the disc is shown on the horizontal axis. The chart shows a good correlation between speed and distance. For example, a disc thrown correctly and efficiently at a speed of 50 mph is likely to travel about 300 feet. Reaching a distance of 400 feet or more requires a disc speed of around 70 to 75 mph. The circled group of plots seems to be a slight anomaly. It shows a group of discs that traveled a long distance, but with a slower disc speed. This might be attributed to the amount of spin imparted on the disc, the height that it was thrown, and wind direction. Increased angular momentum (spin) will help keep the disc stable and aloft for a longer period of time.
The weight and model of discs thrown varied from player to player. This factor also contributed to how fast a disc was thrown, and how far it glided. The most popular weights of disc used by the professionals in this study were 165 grams (11%), 172 grams (10%), 174 grams (14%), and 175grams (17%). The disc models that flew the farthest were the Discraft Xtra, Innova Teebird , Discraft XL, and Innova Eagle.
Additional speed and distance measurements were taken using amateur players. Table 1 gives the disc golfer an idea about the level of expertise needed to play in a particular division.
http://stay-at-home-dog.blogspot.com/2007/05/it-is-rough-road-that-leads-to-heights.html
In other sporting news, Uncle Matthew "Mattie" Myrold took 2nd Place in the 2007 Mandan Mountain Jam disc golf tournament last weekend. Not only does success at disc golf involve amazing stamina walking from hole to hole, but also a great deal of skill to fling your disc into the bucket (or to locate your errant disc under a pile of tree branches and leaves after you fling it into the forest). It's a great sport for those seeking a leisure activity without a lot of danger. Then again, one of the last times Stew played a round of golf with Uncle's Matt, Pete, Kermit and Russell, Stew ended up in the emergency room receiving four stitches to close the laceration above his eye caused by a (deliberate) disc to the noggin (thrown by Kermit). Anyway, a high-paw to Uncle Mattie. Well done, lad!
http://www.outdoorfunstore.com/discgolf.asp
Don't expect to see many freestyle discs out on the course. These discs, commonly seen at the beach, will prove to be bulky and lack the distance you'll want for driving. On the other hand, the sharper edges of a golf disc can be very painful if used for a game of catch!
from
http://us.f397.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=7493_36794456_1693741_1833_4924_0_33778_13102_495359325&Idx=8&YY=52808&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&inc=50&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=&head=&box=Inbox
"I was walking with a group of colleagues to the K-State Student Union from Eisenhower Hall to give a presentation, and I didn't even see him throw it," said Angelia Perry, an adviser in Kansas State University's College of Arts and Sciences. "I felt a sharp pain between my index finger and the middle finger."
She'd been hit by a student teeing off on K-State's unofficial but popular disc golf course. The cost: a torn collateral ligament on the middle finger of her right hand, six weeks in a splint and occupational therapy every other day. "I still have quite a bit of swelling," Perry said. "You can definitely look at it and see it."
Golf discs are smaller than the familiar Frisbee, but they can weigh just as much. The denser disc also has a thinner, sharper edge. "I've been hit with them and they hurt," said Richard H. Seaton Jr., a Manhattan lawyer who plays occasionally, though not at K-State
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=64909201&blogID=265235412
We played the first two holes without incident, if anything, I was doing slightly worse than normal. Then we got to the thrid hole. Everyone "tee'd-off" fine, the "incident" happend as I was going to get my disc. I threw mine quite a bit to the right, so I broke away from everyone I was with to retrieve my masterfully thrown disc. The second I looked back to see how everyone else was doing, Daragh's disc was less than a foot from my face.
I saw the blue disc coming at me. I even recall being able to make out the shiney logo on the disc signifying it as a "Wraith", but, as previously stated, it was less than a foot away, so their was nothing I could do. Inevitably, the disc hit me in the face, and I fell to the ground. Where that disc hit is definatly on the list of places I never wanted a disc to come anywhere near, right in the fucking nose. I could complane about how much that hurt untill MySpace cuts me off. Instead of that, I will just suffice to say that it was an indescribable amount of pain.
I fell to the ground as soon as I felt the disc and my face touch. I was, at first, angry at Daragh, overcome by the rage that is produced from getting hit in the nose, the anger stopped as soon as I felt the blood. As I was lying on the ground bleeding, rolling around in pain, and screaming I thought to myself that this was the kind of stuff that makes awesome internet videos.
There I was, lying on the ground, bleeding profusely, and an inconvenient distance to any of our vehicles. Luckly, my friends were there to help me up, gather my things and walk with me to Brian's car. Of course, along the way I was bleeding over everything I came near, I even had to spit just to utter a few sylables,(and yet no blood landed my my clothes, hellz right!). Once I was at the parking place I asked if anyone had an old shirt or something so didn't have to just stand there and bleed out like a retard. Thank God brian had an old Pink Floyd shit in his car, ( hopefully he doesn't want it back), so I used that as a bandage untill we made it to my house.
When I got home, the only one there was Claire. I told her to call the parents and tell them I needed to go to the docter. As she did this I went upstairs to clean the blood off of me. When I got to a mirror to look myslef over my entire right hand and alot of my left forearm were covered in dried blood. I removed Brain's shirt from my nose to see what it looked like and I was imediatly reminded of the cover of Andrew W.K.'s first CD. (I'll leave a picture of it at the bottom for referance.) As I was looking at myself in the mirror I saw exactly where the disc hit me.There was an impressively deep gash directly under my left nosteral. MY NOSE WASN'T BROKEN!!
My dad got home and looked me over before taking me to the docter. On the way there my dad preped me by telling me that the shot of novacane I will be given will hurt alot, thanks Dad!(sarcasm). After some nurses take my vitals and all that jazz Dr. Veit comes in to give me my stiches. I lay down on the table and he tells me grab on to the side because this is about to hurt alot. Very comferting. I was holding the washcloth I used to wipe away blood so I asked him if I could bite down on it. What he said next is not altered in any way, hence the quote marks, he said "You might as well, because you have no idea how much this is about to hurt."
That day I learned something. I learned that because of all the blood vesels in the nose, novacane washes out quickly.....TO DANM QUICKLY! I had five stiches put into my nose, and I felt the needle go into my skin on every single stich. Luckly, I now have one hell of a story to tell. ...well, thats it. Bye
http://norcalseries.com/Archive/2005_08_01_archive.php
Driven by his remarkable desire to volunteer his time to the disc golf community and efficiently report tournament scores, Steve Ganz also decided to follow the Frisbee mantra of Play Frisbee, Invent Games, with a new game I thankfully haven't seen before, Disc Golf Frogger. With 50 or so golfers lined up, across a 100 feet wide teeing zone, all throwing at a target 200 feet away at the same time in the mid-round, ace race competition, Steve Ganz decided the time he could save running through the target zone was well worth the extra 30-45 seconds it would have taken to run around everybody, in order to get those scores taken care of in a timely fashion. He made it past level 4, dodging drivers left and right, but then he got to the level where the slow 18-wheeler makes you wait and then jump through quickly to avoid both the semi and the speeding race car in the next lane of traffic. He made it past the semi, but the speeding race car caught up with him in a head on collision, right between the eyes. The driver, still near top speed upon impact, took him down, but Steve got right back up after a hazy minute or so, blood streaming from the face. He goes to the emergency room, get 4 stitches in short order by doctors and nurses who either had played ultimate, disc golf, or where at least familiar with the game, and is back to enter scores and get them posted on the internet before most players even make it home. Then he comes back the next day, and does it again. The man is simply incredible.
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/commentary/alttext/2006/06/71195
Disc golf, for those who aren't hip to the scene, man, is like golf only instead of the clubs you have your arms, and instead of balls you have flying discs, and instead of sand traps you have German shepherds. That's because most disc golf courses are integrated into public parks, so every jogger, dog and adorable, soccer-playing urchin is potentially going to be taking a disc in the eye. It's not entirely relaxing. Instead of holes you have baskets, which are called "holes," and like golf, you try to keep your score low and your swear words as creative as possible.
There are a wide variety of discs, divided into three basic categories: putters, mid-range discs, and drivers. Within each of these categories, each disc has its own distinct flight characteristics. There are golf discs designed to fly straight, turn left, or turn right, depending on how they are thrown by the player. The putters are designed similar to discs you would play catch with: e.g., a Wham-o brand Frisbee®. They are designed to fly straight and predictably, and very slowly compared to the other two. Mid-range discs have slightly sharper edges, which enable them to cut through the air better. These discs are harder to learn to throw, but can fly much farther. Drivers have the sharpest edge and have most of their mass concentrated on the outer rim of the disc rather than distributed equally throughout. Drivers are the hardest types of discs to learn how to throw; their flight path will be very unpredictable without practice. There are several classes of drivers intended for different distances: depending on a driver's “stability,” it could be a straight or turning driver. Golf discs typically weigh between 150 and 180 grams (5.3-6.3 oz.), and measure about 21-24 cm in diameter. PDGA rules prohibit discs weighing more than 200 grams, or whose weight is more than 8.3 grams per centimeter of diameter.
http://www.bcbsvt.com/pages/healthinfo/FrisbeeGolf.html
When you are out on the disc golf course it is crucial to be careful, courteous and alert to ensure that everyone can enjoy the game to the fullest. If you are playing with a large group and notice a smaller group behind you waiting for you to finish up it is common courtesy to give them a yell and let them know it's okay to "play through," meaning that you will stop playing for a few minutes to allow them to play the hole and pass you on the course so that you no longer hold them up. If you get to the tee for a particular hole and there is a group in front of you still playing that hole, do not throw your discs until that entire group has finished and moved on to the next hole. As one might expect getting hit with a flying piece of plastic can cause serious injury, so it is very important to make sure everyone around you is alert and aware when you are throwing your disc.
The NIKE plastic ULTRALIGHT’s are a much thinner, lower profile disc. Read FAST! Their sharp edge and low disc height allow them to be released screaming fast without flipping or showing an understable flight pattern.
The other issue for PDGA disc specs is assure there is some reasonable safety
to discs and disc materials used in the sport. The disc safety issue is real,
particularly in DG courses that in mixed use areas. One can make a reasonable
case that the PDGA should limit play in mixed use courses to 150 class discs or
possibly even less. This is probably going to happen only after some
'incident' makes it a necessity.
The other safety issue is if one takes an approved disc of stiff plastic and
sands a razor sharp edge to
http://www.azbasszone.com/forums/showthread.php?p=291280
... Disc Golf.
Actually you have to watch out for the Disc's...I have seen people knocked off their feet by them,the discs are small and heavy with a fairly sharp edge on the distance discs,and no they are not throwing at you, those that get close are normaly errant throws,Unless you happen to be standing by the baskets. I helped design that course when it was first installed many years ago and used to run tournaments out there
The main reason the course is to be moved has to do with safety reasons, said Facilities Management Director Brian Chase."The fact is we've had a number of students seriously injured," Chase said. "That's a serious liability to the university."
Two specific cases last fall required victims to get facial stitches and dental work, Chase said.Bill Wright, owner of The Wright Life, a disc golf store in Fort Collins, said the high traffic around the lagoon and disc golf course on campus is a problem.
"The current course isn't ideal," Wright said. "It's no fun when you go out to play and you have to wait for people. You really have to be careful about who might come into that flight path."
http://www.universitybusiness.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=1041&p=3
The decision to relocate its disc golf course one-quarter mile further away from the center of campus was prompted in part by the increasing number of angry phone calls about it. Complaints made by pedestrians struck or almost struck by errant discs, compounded by continued vandalism to "improve" the course, such as tree limb removal and shrub damage-resulting in an estimated $10,000 to $15,000 in damage to landscaping over the last few years-led the facilities services department and recreation center to work together in search of an alternate location, says Gordon Gresch, facility manager of the Student Recreation Center.
Years ago, during the heyday of the original Wham-O Frisbee, students set up a makeshift disc golf course in an area on campus near the university's gymnasium. The games then were mostly of the casual, pickup variety, and use of the course was infrequent, notes Gresch.
In the last few years, the lighter Frisbee was cast aside for heavier, denser discs that could be thrown much farther. The sport of disc golf also grew in popularity, leading to the creation of a competitive disc golf team that regularly used the course. "It went from a recreational event to a sporting event," says Gresch.
But it was the increasingly close calls and direct hits on pedestrians during games that started the relocation discussions. After considering several potential sites that were away from the center of campus, one location stood out as the perfect venue-on the outskirts of campus in an area where there are no immediate plans for new buildings.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/04/15/WBG2TC6M0Q1.DTL
The department plans to bring in an independent arborist to evaluate the possible environmental effects that the popular alternative sport might have had on the area.
The department's Urban Forestry Division has recommended that the nine- hole course be taken down. Section supervisor Mike Hegerhorst inspected the course and the surrounding area last year and reported that the discs used for the sport have damaged the bark of trees and that the additional foot traffic from disc golfers has led to erosion problems.
"We encourage all manners of recreational pursuits in the park," Recreation and Park spokeswoman Rose Marie Dennis said. "But if we infringe on the health of trees, ultimately (Marx Meadow) may not be the best place for this pursuit."
http://www.ehow.com/how_2175505_pick-flying-disc-golf-targets.html
Tips & Warnings
- If you're making up your own course and designating your own targets, be considerate of others. An errant flying disc can injure someone.
- Select targets that are sturdy. If you must use a tree for a target, aim only at mature, strong trees. Young trees can be damaged if repeatedly struck with heavy flying discs.
http://www.discgolfassoc.com/news-why150.html
The disc technology has advanced to a point where discs are being thrown over 400 feet. These discs are sold to amateurs, some of whom are strong and capable of long throws once in awhile. On most golf courses that means a lost disc, lost time and some hazard to players, cameramen and other users of our parks.
Then came a couple of accidental hits in Japan's Showa Park. No one was injured, but you may have surmised that now no discs more than 150s gram are all that is allowed. Sensing this inherent problem our disc could create in parts in the United States, Dan Roddick and several others including myself, thought that starting a 150 class would at least give us a foot in the door (or disc in the basket) if, God forbid, something similar to Showa Park happens.
So now you know the 150 class is to preserve the future of our sport and is currently the standard for Recreational Disc Golf Association (RDGA) courses, not the law.
On a happy note, our 150 Cyclone will outthrow a 176 Cyclone, Isaac Newton figured that out before I was born, which was a while ago.
Try one before you pass judgment and don't allow a fairway that will cross a pedestrian area. Together we can protect the future of our sport, the sport we all love.
http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/04/25/news/local_state/135458.txt
The city of Twin Falls recently decided to close down a disc golf course at Thomsen Park after only about a year, because of complaints from neighbors about disc golfers leaping over fences, crushing gates, crawling on roofs and even crashing a wedding to fetch lost discs.
"We were really surprised a disc could fly that far off course," Dennis Bowyer, the city's parks and recreation director, told the Times-News in March. "Some people can throw it 60 to 70 yards. The wind catches it. It drives. It hooks. It can go off course."
Rogers and Carrico said this is not a huge concern.
"We'll minimize the risk with signage," said Rogers. "We know discs will go there … Be respectful."
Vandalism could also be a persistent issue, Rogers and Carrico conceded.
http://daviswiki.org/Disc_Golf
WARNING: There are usually a few people in this park studying, reading, or relaxing on the grass and children playing in the play area. Disc Golf discs are harder and heavier than your typical Frisbee and can cause pain and possibly serious injury, so be vocal and be very careful!
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/towns/Colwich/minutes/m091007.html
- Councilman Suellentrop expressed concern regarding the amount of time being spent to maintain the disc golf course and questioned if the Council was aware of how much time was involved and how much the course was being used.
http://norwhuh.blogspot.com/2008/06/loyalty-beauty-additional-injury-at.html
i played disc golf for the second time last thursday. the first time was with normal discs with peter berdovsky in some woods in maybe arlington some time last year. we threw at rocks and trees and picnic tables. this time was with norwegians with fancy heavy compact (~8.5" diameter) rubbery discs -- each dude carried between fifteen and twenty discs that all hook or slice or roll in different ways -- aiming at ground-planted fancy-dancy metal baskets with chain catches.
these discs fly really strangely and even though most of the guys looked super-pro with their array of colorful discs lined up in their specially designed disc-golf bags (where are the caddies people?) they still didn't really seem to have such awesome control. any of the discs takes a good while to get used to - so yeah i am not sure that having just one disc was really such a disadvantage for a first real attempt. some other douche that also joined up just that day was throwing some practice throws before we really started. he decided to throw in my direction and decided to wait to shout "heads up" until just milliseconds before the disc actually hit me... in the head. thanks douchetard. anyway. whatever. it is almost healed. but it seems like i loose blood every time i try a new disc thing or new disc place. or. i am just an injury magnet.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0LSH/is_4_11/ai_n25338477/pg_4
In the last few years, the lighter Frisbee was cast aside for heavier, denser discs that could be thrown much farther. The sport of disc golf also grew in popularity, leading to the creation of a competitive disc golf team that regularly used the course. "It went from a recreational event to a sporting event," says Gresch.
