A grand re-opening celebration for the city’s updated disc golf course took place Tuesday. There was a ribbon cutting ceremony along other fun activities for players.
“It is exciting to see how disc gold continues to grow in Great Bend,” Dynamic Discs owner Jeremy Rusco said. “With some updated equipment and a course designed by Eric McCabe, it is a win win for the community.”
The celebration included putting and long drive challenges and a disc golf tournament. McCabe, Professional Disc Golf World Champion, conducted a how-to clinic and local disc golf enthusiasts were on hand to assist anyone who signed up for the tournament.
Rusco’s team brought the Dynamic Discs Mobile Store in addition to the Disc Golf Answer Man Crew of Bobby Brown and Robert McCall.
One hundred free discs were given away at the grand opening ceremonies.
The Great Bend Recreation Commission and the City of Great Bend collaborated on this project to redesign and upgrade the disc golf course at Veterans Memorial Park. A Golden Belt Community Foundation grant for more than $40,000 was earmarked for the course and to replace the toddler playground in the southeast corner of the park.
The new updated course includes 18 holes with regulation T-pads. Dynamic Discs designed the course for regulation play, so sanctioned tournaments can now be held there.
“We could have tournaments at the course (before); they just could not be sanctioned. But with the grand re-opening and regulation pads and equipment, we now can host sanctioned tournaments,” Great Bend Recreation Commission Sports Director Chris Umphres said.
Upcoming Disc Golf Tournaments:
Oct. 28 — Novice and Junior Divisions
Nov. 11 — Great Bend Flyers Tournament
Disc Golf
According to Professional Disc Golf Association, disc golf is played much like traditional golf. Instead of a ball and clubs, however, players use a flying disc or Frisbee.
The sport was formalized in the 1970s and shares with “ball golf” the object of completing each hole in the fewest strokes (or, in the case of disc golf, fewest throws). A golf disc is thrown from a tee area to a target which is the “hole.” The hole can be one of a number of disc golf targets; the most common is an elevated metal basket called a Pole Hole.
As a player progresses down the fairway, he or she must make each consecutive throw from the spot where the previous throw has landed. The trees, shrubs, and terrain changes located in and around the fairways provide challenging obstacles for the golfer.
Finally, the “putt” lands in the basket and the hole is completed. Disc golf shares the same joys and frustrations of traditional golf, whether it’s sinking a long putt or hitting a tree halfway down the fairway.
There are a few differences, though. Disc golf rarely requires a greens fee, you probably won’t need to rent a cart, and you never get stuck with a bad “tee time.” It is designed to be enjoyed by people of all ages, male and female, regardless of economic status.
