March 6, 2007

DISC GOLF
Wanting to get outside and enjoy the warmer temperatures?  The City of Midland’s Cowden Park, 1100 Ward, is home to a sport that can be played by anyone.  If you’ve never heard of disc golf, chances are you will as the sport is growing in popularity.  The nine-hole disc golf course was installed this winter and is ready for play.

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 1970's, and shares with "ball golf" the object of completing each hole in the fewest number of strokes (or, in the case of disc golf, fewest number of 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 called a Pole Hole, an elevated metal basket.  As a player progresses down the fairway, he or she must make each consecutive shot 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.  It is designed to be enjoyed by people of all ages, male and female, regardless of economic status.  Because disc golf is so easy to learn, no one is excluded.

For more information and rules regarding disc golf, visit the City of Midland website at www.midlandtexas.gov.

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