Saturday began and ended with flying disks. The first order of business was Disc Golf. Early in the morning John Kaup and I set out for Century Park in Greer. It was the first time either of us had played this course. It turned out to be quite a challenge, for more reasons than one would suspect.
The course itself was well-designed. There were two tee pads for each basket, and two possible pin placements for each basket. In almost every case, the basket was not visible from the tee box, either because of distance or because of vegetation. We were throwing blind most of the time. I think this is a tougher course than Timmons Park.
In addition to the designed challenges, there are some unplanned ones. The course is in very, very bad shape as far as landscaping is concerned. In some cases, kudzu grows across the path between tee box and basket. We almost lost one disk a couple of times, and did lose one in a very deep water hazard. Apart from natural hazards, there was also a fair amount of vandalism and damage. The signage was some sort of foam board, and some of the tee markers had been kicked apart. Basket #17 had some damage, and basket #7 had been flattened entirely, apparently by a bulldozer. We played it anyway.
I think the course has potential, but it still has a long way to go to be in tournament condition.
The rest of the day was rather relaxed, and ended with a research group party at the Hanks-Veas estate in the north part of the county. A rite of passage for the students is to hike to the bottom of Hank’s hill, and engage in a Frisbee toss with some glow-in-the-dark discs. The Night Toss is yet another disc-based challenge – you never know if one of these things is coming your way, and distances are difficult to judge, as is the terrain where you’re running or landing. This group of kids turned out to be quite impressive. One young lady had an outstanding sidearm, and the rest were equally adept with a disc. There is hope for the next generation.