Sam plays disc golf on a regular basis, talks about disc golf all the time, and has been taking his NH friends to play at a disc golf course just north of here since he got home for a visit a couple of weeks ago. On Tuesday I went with Sam, Will and Kyle to the Woods at Beauty Hill disc golf course to see what it’s all about.
Like traditional golf, disc golf is about hitting a target, through various obstacles. But the disc golf “holes” are standing buckets of metal links that capture the disc, a frisbee-like device built for long throws or putting. Instead of a bag of various clubs to hit a ball, Sam and Will carry backpacks with a small collection of discs. Instead of a course of constructed fairways, tees, greens and rough, this is all rough. The course wove in and out of open fields and trees, across a ridge of land. The “holes” may be across a stone wall and through a stand of white pines and oak, or up a steep pitch of ridge. Discs bounce off tree trunks and land in the snow, no obstacle to a good round, as the dogs run around in the woods. In most places, disc golf courses are free, constructed in city parks and on college campuses. Here, at the private Beauty Hill, the cost is $5, honor system, put your bills in a slot in the wall of the little golf course shed.
As I trudged up and down the ridge with the guys, watching some amazingly long throws of the distance discs, I was impressed. Mostly free, fun, outdoors, challenging and rewarding, the boys played on.
Grace Mattern 