First Attempt at Handicaps

My first introduction to disc golf was in 2010 when I accompanied Danny to Bill Frederich’s Park where he began what has become an ongoing process of teaching me the sport of disc golf.  He gave me a few discs from his bag and got me started. It didn’t take long to get me hooked.

The elements of the sport are perfectly suited for someone like me:

• Walking outside, in a park
• Close to home,
• Requires very little financial investment up front
• Does not require having a group to play 
• Play at your own pace
• Put as much time into as you have the desire to learn

Furthermore, they say that "as we age" it is good for us to walk on uneven ground as it improves one's equilibrium and helps ones mental focus.  I can definitely attest to that.  A couple of times I've tripped over the smallest piece of root on the ground.  Fortunately, ground here in Florida is mostly sandy soil, so the fall doesn't hurt so much as it would if our soil was mostly hard clay.

For my Birthday that year, my family got me my own disc golf bag, and some brand new discs, and a practice basket that we have in our yard.  I still use that bag, though it is definitely well-worn in by now, and probably should be replaced.  We also still have the basket, along with a second one that Danny won when he was the winner in a local Disc Golf Tournament.  I’m not sure if I have any of those discs any more or if they have all been lost in a lake somewhere, but I remember that Birthday very vividly.

After I had been playing for a while, Danny began nudging me toward participating in his Saturday morning handicap league.  I truly could not see doing that! 

Most of the guys (yes, most of them are men) who participated in the league had been playing for years, or were strong, young guys who could throw almost the entire length of the fairway.  At that time, my max drive distance was way less than 100 feet.

Eventually, after I had been playing on my own or with family members for a while, I stepped into the waters of real competition and began playing handicaps with Danny on Saturday morning.  That was so scary for me.  I was completely nervous as I began, and made LOTS of mistakes.

That was a reality check!  Those guys were good.  My handicap was over 40 but even with such a big handicap, I rarely won because I had so little control over the disc, and knew nothing about disc placement.

Danny was kind enough to ask the organizers to put me on his card each Saturday so that he could help me learn what shot to take, what disc to throw, and what to do when I got in a pickle by throwing my disc in to a bush.  

Everyone was quite kind to me.  I think they looked at me like I was their mother or grandmother, and probably more like tolerated me because they were glad to see a new player come out for handicaps.

I remember what it was like that first Saturday after shooting 18 holes of golf!  I was exhausted.  I think that afternoon I slept for three hours.  My feet were aching, and I was just so happy to be home, take a shower and drop into bed.

After that, I continued to play handicaps – not every week, to be sure – but I kept trying to get better.  The forced concentration of playing with a group, or in an actual league taught me to be thoughtful of where I threw the disc, focused on how to get the disc to go just the right way for each situation, and ultimately improved my game a lot.