This past Sunday, we decided to seize the day and jump on a new activity in Austin. Disc golf.
Eric already had some discs that he used back in Seattle, but I was disc-less. Beginning our search for discs, we turned to something familiar: Sports Authority. Alas, the Sports Authority employee I spoke to on the phone admitted that their selection was dismal and they only sold single discs, not sets. Bummer.
But! The employee was awesome enough to recommend a disc golf store here in Austin, called Disc Nation. Disc Nation was closing at 4 PM, so we shimmied down to Slaughter Lane to get the haps.
Yet another Austin small business bonanza.
Disc Nation has a mind-boggling selection of new and used discs.
I was able to get a driver, mid-range and putter in a set for a great price. Disc Nation sells way more than discs and has pretty much any accessory you might need as a disc golf pro. I’m certainly not there yet.
Also, out behind the store they have a huge field where you can test discs before you buy. Though I did see a note on Foursquare that warned about losing discs because of how large the testing area is.
We picked up a map that listed all the disc golf courses in the Austin area. Plus we got some score cards and a little pencil! The employee at Disc Nation told us that there was a course right down the road on Slaughter. But it was ranked Difficult and I wasn’t really up for that. The alternative: The Beginner course at Zilker Park.
There are 18 holes at Zilker, but we only got 9 in before twilight. The place is really busy on the weekends, but everyone seemed really nice. I suck at throwing discs, so that was really embarrassing. But I’m practicing and getting better.
Word to the wise: When you finish Hole 4, go to the left and not the right. We went to the right and ended up…taking the scenic route.
I can’t wait to experience all of the disc golf courses in the Austin area. Who knew Austin was “The World’s #1 Disc Golf City”?
the Austinot asks:
Do you play disc golf? What’s your favorite course and do you have any special tips for me as a total amateur?
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Old Settlers,Round Rock,TX HWY US 79 East
Cats Hallow,Round Rock,TX FM 620
Obe, thanks for your input! How often do you get out to these courses? -Brittany
Brittany,
If you are ever in the area of RR620@f48aa900df91f19b92c057185633b2cf:disqus O’Conner, near Brushy Creek Cat Hollow Park, I could try and meet up with you for a round. I literally live a few blocks away. Cat Hollow is a good step above “beginners” course and has many short challenging holes to play on. Old Settlers is a great course, but it is open/windy and has some long holes that will fatigue you mentally & physically if you are newer to disc golf.
FYI. Near the end of March, we will be ready to open a BRAND NEW COURSE in Roy G. Park near the Krieg Fields Softball Complex. It will be 18 holes with Amateur & Pro tee boxes. We literally built it from the ground up over the past 6-7 months. We will have a “soft” opening at first, then have a big Grand Opening when the City Council is available to be there. Keep on Discin’ and keep’em in the fairway!
Troy! That is so exciting about the new course! Feel free to post about the opening on our Facebook page (http://facebook.com/theaustinot). I’m sure many people in our community will be interested!
I’d love to meet you and disc golf with you. We’re still making the rounds of all the various courses. I haven’t been to Cat Hollow yet…I should give it a try!
Curious to know whatever happened this this? I play softball at Krieg and was walking around with my dog. I saw a little trail go up a hill so we followed it. I noticed the cement blocks (which I now know was probably a tee box) and a lot of dirt piles and figured something had maybe started there but never finished. So I did some detective work and found a map of Krieg that indicated that section was a disc golf course. I didn’t see any baskets though. Did the city deny it? No funds? What gives?
Thank you for posting and spreading the word and pleasure about the sport we all love and enjoy here in Austin. I always like to refer to Disc Golf as “the most popular unknown sport around”…we are right on the cusp of getting national norporate recognition and will soon explode BIG into the mainstream like skateboarding did about 15 years ago.
There are many links and information out there to help you with your game, but my first and foremost tip is: DO NOT forget to have fun, then everything else falls into place.
As for other tips? Practice and remember that Disc Golf Discs are tuned flying objects that can fit a variety of throwers styles and variable playing conditions, this is vastly different to your normal “beach” Frisbee so don’t get frustrated when playing; you may simply have the wrong disc for the wrong situation. Remember: Just keep trying and Just keep throwing while having fun!
If you do not have a course to practice on then you may want to practice throwing a “mid-range” or a “putter” disc back and forth to a friend. This will assist you in developing muscle memory and getting the “feel.”
If you do not have a friend available or time to go to a course, then you can practice what we refer to as “object” based Disc Golf; it is rooted in our origins from the 70’s.
To perform object based practice, simply get one of your mid ranges or putters and practice tossing it at an object like a tree, light pole, or other stationary object to get more understanding about the flight and feel of the discs. With object practice, you won’t get that satisfying “ching” from the sounds of hitting the chains in the basket, but it will assist you.
As to the deeper basics of practice, that will focus on: grips, throwing style, throwing technique, and mental focus.
There are MANY local Pro’s and others in the area to assist you with your game and style if you would like to meet them.
I am pleased that you took a moment to go to Disc Nation and visit our Pro’s and my friends. They are steadily becoming the World’s foremost company for Disc Golf Products and Sales…All right here in Austin, Texas!
For a great tutorial from our friends (Scott Papa) at Discraft (one of the many manufacturers), here is a link for a good beginners video clinic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgn6Os4YSW0
I hope this information helps you out and I hope to see you out on the course. We have so many courses around, there are hundreds and hundreds of players EVERY weekend, and we have disc golf events/clinics/tournaments almost year round here in the Austin, Texas area.
Thank you once again for the article and post. Please stay in the game and I hope to see you in the fairway soon.
Troy Herman
Austin, Texas
PDGA# 32289
Waterloo Disc Golf Club
Troy, this is fantastic information. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! I can tell that you are passionate about the sport and a great resource in the Austin area.
Did you find us through the link I posted on the Waterloo Facebook page? If so, would that be a good place for me to find you if I ever want to do another feature or maybe an interview? -Brittany
Brittany,
Yes. It was through the Waterloo DGC FB Page. I am the “Director of Technology” Board member, so it is one of my MANY responsibilities to perform. Please feel free to contact us at the Club as needed for any support you may need.
I feel bad that you went the wrong way on Hole#4 at Zilker Park, because we have been working with the City of Austin to get the Tee Box signs installed on the course. As you can imagine there are some processes that must be followed, then we are paying from our club funds, getting the design done, and getting proper cost estimates for the work. Overall, in the next month or so there should be signs at the Tee boxes indicating the layout and next hole to play. (this should preclude any other directional issues on the course)
The Waterloo Disc Golf Club was created to promote the sport of disc golf to the general public through organization and education, and to give disc golfers a voice in general community issues which impact the sport. The club is also dedicated to the giving back to the community through charitable contributions of our member’s time, talent and treasures. So as you can tell, we LOVE our parks and LOVE our Disc Golf!
You may contact us at the FB page or even our Club email address: wa*********@gm***.com
We would be very pleased to accommodate you for additional information or other support. There are a few major Disc Golf clubs in the area and many up and coming groups that play very regularly. So your blog followers or other folks can be sure that there is a Club or Meet Up Group near them, and we have contact with MANY of them from Dallas to Corpus or Beaumont to San Antonio…
Some of the clubs have FB pages that you or your followers may want to “LIKE” and they are:
Waterloo Disc Golf Club
Round Rock Disc Golf Club
South Austin Disc Association
John Houck, Houck Design
– FYI. John Houck is a back-to-back World Champion. Titles in Freestyle Frisbee for 1984 and 1985 Freestyle Frisbee and local course designer and disc maker. Also a really GREAT guy.
*naturally there are MANY others and many Groups that meet up and play regularly, so look them up as I do not wish to exclude any of these great players and folks*
I do love to promote and play when I can… we have many National Events that have come through Austin in 2011 and will be coming again in 2012. So we hope you can make it out to watch the competitive play or some of our Charity Events.
Thanks again and I will share your blog with some others in the interest that you get what you may need.
Troy
my favorite course is iroqouis in louisville kentucky. as far as tips.. all i can say is have fun and find your own balance and harmony in the game. It is a relaxing sport for me and a great way to get some fresh air and exercise. And believe me, if you have horrible shots thats ok, cause we all have. Always laugh with others bad shots not at them cause if it hasnt been done yet trust me it will. Have fun and just shut up and throw.. lol
Aaron, you’re very encouraging! I’ll have to look up Iroquois next time I’m in the Louisville area. 😉 Are you located here in Austin? -Brittany
I discovered Disc Golf 25 years ago and still love to play. Don’t get discouraged and have fun! You will meet some amazing people out on a DG course. Don’t be afraid to ask other players if you can join their group if your on a solo run.
The greatest thing is when you travel you can take that small bag of discs and find a course just about anywhere and play.
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/
Kevin,
We’ve been out several times now. We tried Wells Branch the other day. We are really enjoying this sport and though we haven’t really gotten any better yet, we’ve met some really cool people. Thanks for visiting the Austinot. Hope to see you out on a course someday!
When I was younger and still living in Austin I dated a guy who was a nut for disc golf. We used to frequent Zilker Park and Pease Park courses when we’d play. I wan’t an expert, but I was decent. It was a pretty good workout disguised as a fun game. LOL! I kind of miss it.
Gigi,
We went disc golfing again today. Today we hit the Wells Branch Disc Golf… it was a bit more challenging than Zilker in that we had to get our discs out of creeks and basically needed a machete to get them out of the woods. But we had a blast! If and when you come down, we’d be happy to go with you again to Zilker.. we really enjoy that spot!
Eric
Alas, the great sport of disc golf – the sport of kings. Every day I see you two becoming more and more Austinized, and I must say I approve. Your post has inspired me to hit up the ol’ disk golf park when I get some free time. Is the park pretty easy to find inside of Zilker?
– Dusty
Austinized!
Dusty, I’d say the Zilker course is easyish to find. I guess the best way to direct you is to say that it’s right off the Mopac service road. If you go on the weekend, you should have no problem finding it because of how busy it is.
Great! I’ll check it out ASAP. Thanks 🙂
– Dusty
I just started playing last August and have greatly grown to love disc golf, even more so after moving to Austin in November. My boyfriend and I frequent Zilker because it is so close to our apartment but we recently discovered Austin Bible Ridge DGC and loved it! It’s tough but it’s very pretty and very different from a lot of courses in the area.
Also, I have found it a lot easier to get more distance by starting out sidearm or forehand throwing because it relies more on snap than power. I still drive mainly sidearm and but now that I have gained power I will throw 2 shots backhand if that is what the shot calls for.
Kat, sounds like you have the disc golf fever! We love love love it. We haven’t checked out the Austin Bible Ridge DGC yet, what makes it so different than the other courses in the area?