13th Annual Austin Disc Golf Ice Bowl This Saturday at Zilker Park

Disc golf is one of those sports that almost everyone can play, that builds community, and is cost-effective to boot.

If you’ve never played a round of disc golf, don’t think it’s as difficult as golf. Sometimes comparing it to golf throws people off, pun intended, because people think you need years of practice to not look like a fool out on the course.

Look, if you can throw a frisbee, you can start cutting your teeth immediately with this incredibly fun sport.

But don’t call the discs “frisbees.” I learned that early on. Call them discs and get out there with a smile. A simple set of three discs (driver, mid-range and putter) will run you about $25 total, and most courses are free to play.

Now is as good a time as any to get started. This Saturday, February 2nd, a worldwide disc golf event supporting charity is taking place. It’s called the Ice Bowl. In 2012, the Ice Bowl raised nearly $300,000 and collected nearly 80,000 pounds of food for charities all over the world.

How the Ice Bowl Keeps It Local

The best thing about this event is that – while it is a worldwide movement – the charity supported is local. This year, the Austin Ice Bowl at Zilker Park is supporting the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas.

For those not familiar, the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas (CAFB) is pretty much just awesome. From 2011-2012, CAFB provided more than 22 million pounds of food in the 19,064 square mile area of Central Texas.

CAFB’s mission is to nourish hungry people and lead the community in ending hunger. To learn more about the CAFB, visit their website.

Registration Is Open for the Ice Bowl – Spots Are Limited

Ice Bowl gives you the chance to participate in awesome sport for a great cause. We can’t encourage you enough to register!

There are only three rules for Ice Bowl:

1. Ice Bowl will never be cancelled.
2. No wimps or whiners allowed.
3. There’s no excuse for not attending.

Our local Waterloo Disc Golf Club is hosting this year’s event. To register for the Ice Bowl, go to this link. At the time this article was written, there were 50 pre-registered and only 50 spots left.

Cost is just $15. In addition to the ability to participate, you’ll receive an Ice Bowl t-shirt or an Innova DX Ice Bowl Disc and set of Little Flyer Nesting Minis. If you bring three cans of food or three nonperishable food items for donation to CAFB, you will receive $2 back on the day of the event.

Ice Bowl 2013 Details

• Limited spots are available, so make sure you register now. Then get ready to have a blast.
• Sign-up and check in starts at 10 AM at Zilker Park, near the original North Hole #1 (enter Zilker from the Mopac Frontage Road).
• The Ice Bowl kicks off at noon.
• The event is one round of 21 holes. Yes, I said 21. Waterloo Disc Golf Club has added three temporary holes to the normal 18 at Zilker.
• 6 players per hole, so you won’t be waiting around too long before you get your shot.
• This is a non-competitive event.
• There are divisions for all the players, so don’t worry about your skill level. It’s just a great time for a great cause.
• There will be a small donated prize for 1st place in each division.
• The cards will not be grouped by division, but will be randomly mixed up.
• There will be a raffle as well as other fun mini contests at the event.

Have Questions About Ice Bowl?

If you have any questions at all or would like to donate a prize for the raffle, please contact the Waterloo Disc Golf Club at (512) 994-9508. You can also email them directly at wa*********@gm***.com.

If you’d like to learn more about the worldwide movement of Ice Bowl and find an event this Saturday in your area, visit the Ice Bowl HQ website here.

Check Out More Disc Golf Posts on the Austinot

One of the newest courses around, Roy G. Guerrero, is an advanced course. Really well laid out and a labor of love from the Austin disc golf community.

This guest blog post by professional disc golfer Troy Herman includes some helpful rules of disc golf etiquette.

 

@EricHighland asks:

What is your favorite disc golf course in Austin?