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| Date of Release: 06-06-2006 |
Contact: Jennie Daley - Ithaca Journal |
 Article published May 17, 2006 from The Ithaca Journal
By Jennie Daley - Journal Staff
DRYDEN - Apparently no one told the members of Disc Ithaca that it was one of the windiest days of the year.
Despite gusts of up to 35 mph, five members showed up at Tompkins Cortland Community College Thursday evening to tee up at the newest, and most extensive, disc golf course in the county.
Toting bags with up to 25 different discs, better known to most as Frisbees, they took their first toss one by one, trying different maneuvers to outwit the wind.
There were varying degrees of success on the par 3 hole, but with 17 more holes ahead of them, all were excited about the challenge. "I've been out twice a week all winter, so this is nothing," Cutter Cramton said, smiling.
It's this kind of addiction to the sport that made the TC3 course possible.
Pat Govang didn't plan on becoming a disc golf fanatic - nor did his wife plan on it, he said with a laugh - but it is undoubtedly his passion. He has participated at every level of the sport from designing courses, like the one at TC3, to serving as president of the Professional Disc Golf Association, or PDGA.
"It's a very mental game, the same as conventional golf," Govang said, "and you walk through beautiful scenery, but it's a much quicker game to play."
He estimated 18 holes would take them about two hours to complete, compared to the four or five needed for golf played with clubs.
Govang also pointed out the economic and environmental pluses of disc golf. Often free to play, there are no club membership fees and no fertilizers needed to maintain the course.
In fact, all that's needed are 18 "holes," sometimes called pole holes or basket targets, which look like wire baskets on a post a few feet off the ground.
The cost of a course is generally $1,000 per hole. At TC3, the college put in about $4,500 for this new addition. The remaining costs were offset by a $4,000 matching grant from the Disc Golf Foundation and donated design and installation work, as well as $570, from DiscIthaca.
Members of DiscIthaca, like Paul Brenner, were more than happy to lend a hand. While there are two nine-hole courses in the City of Ithaca, one at Cornell and one at Belle Sherman, there was no permanent 18-hole course in the area.
"I've wanted a course here for years," Brenner said.
A longtime resident of the area who is best known for his freestyle Frisbee performances with his wife, Mary, the two are regulars on the disc golf course.
Like many disc golfers, the Brenners appreciate that the sport provides one more way for them to indulge their love of disc sports.
Other fans of disc golf will converge on the TC3 course Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 of this year when it hosts the New York State Disc Golf Championships. The course also helped bring the 2007 Masters and Junior Frisbee Overall Championships to the area in July of next year.
Those who aren't up to championship status yet are welcome to get a sense of the game by going out to the course either on their own or on a DiscIthaca club night.
If a group is on their own, they must either check in at the TC3 Fitness Center in the college's main building, Room 122, or call John Fisher, the college's director of recreation sports, at 844-8122, ext. 4495 before going out to the course.
The college is working on an on-line registration form and map that should be up this summer.
For those who would like to join a regular group of players, DiscIthaca club nights are Thursdays and they rotate between the area courses. Check their Web site, www.discithaca.com , for their schedule.
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