On this day when MLK and I could both say “I have a dream…”, I realized that his dream is way more significant than mine. That being said, I love playing disc golf and it was a great first trip on my journey! It played out pretty much as planned. It turned out to be a 12 hour day traveling 270 miles and included 18,000 steps (8.5 miles) over 6 courses. The weather was unbelievable for the middle of January in Kansas. Lunch was a delicious burger from Joe Snuffy’s in Abilene and if you’re ever there, you need to check it out.
I left Wichita about 6:20 am and hit up a local Starbucks for a jump start. Then it was an hour up the road to a small town, Hillsboro, where I completed my undergraduate degree. In the late 70’s I played Folf on campus with trees for baskets. Now there is a little 3 hole course on land that will soon be reclaimed for a new Fine Arts building. Then I was headed north again to Herington and arrived in town just in time to hit up Discs Unlimited for some new plastic. I purchased a Westside Harp to use as an upshot disc and an Innova starter set for our church youth group silent auction later this month. After about half an hour, I got to the Herington DGC. It was a pleasant surprise! Something I had heard some time ago left me with little desire to play the course and now I wish I wouldn’t have waited so long. By now, I was a good 45 minutes behind my schedule.
The next stop was Brown Memorial Park south of Abilene. The park is huge and the course a bit hard to find. Once I got there, I found tee 1 and it had a metal plate with the par and an arrow pointing towards the basket. There was lots of wood to hit and fortunately, I missed most of it. After finding my way out of the park, it was into town to find something to eat. Yelp pointed me to Joe Snuffy’s which was quite busy for 1:00 pm. The crowd was very local which is just what I wanted. I had the Hammer Burger which was a burger with a slice of ham, one egg, cheese and hashbrowns. It was delicious, especially with a bit of tobasco! The drive to Solomon was short and the course there was also. The holes run in and around the course and I was glad there were no kids playing.
I had to run through Salina to get to Goessel so I decided to stop and check out the Webster Conference Center since I was having trouble finding info online. The offices were locked so I drove around the grounds and found the course but construction is causing some issues. So I decided to hit up the K-State Salina course. I found baskets, but no tees and no one that could help me. Unfortunately, Salina was bust this time and more research is required. I had to punt in order to get two more courses played.
The next stop was Goessel. It was a small park with very short holes, the shortest being about 64 feet. Not wanting to end my first trip on this note, I jumped in the truck and headed for North Newton hoping to have enough sun to get one more course played. I drove up with the sun getting low. The instructions for the first tee were a little short and it took me a few minutes to find it. I enjoyed the course and on hole 8 I came as close as I ever have to my first Ace as it slide off the left slide and didn’t catch enough chain.
Getting home at 6:30 pm I knew it had been a long day, but I had a huge smile on my face. A good friend reminded me that it’s not just about getting the courses played, it is about the journey. I’m no professional and as I went through the day I tried not to worry about the details and just enjoy my time on each course. Throwing plastic is one of the most fun things I’ve ever done and this day was no exception. I can’t wait for next month!
I left Wichita about 6:20 am and hit up a local Starbucks for a jump start. Then it was an hour up the road to a small town, Hillsboro, where I completed my undergraduate degree. In the late 70’s I played Folf on campus with trees for baskets. Now there is a little 3 hole course on land that will soon be reclaimed for a new Fine Arts building. Then I was headed north again to Herington and arrived in town just in time to hit up Discs Unlimited for some new plastic. I purchased a Westside Harp to use as an upshot disc and an Innova starter set for our church youth group silent auction later this month. After about half an hour, I got to the Herington DGC. It was a pleasant surprise! Something I had heard some time ago left me with little desire to play the course and now I wish I wouldn’t have waited so long. By now, I was a good 45 minutes behind my schedule.
The next stop was Brown Memorial Park south of Abilene. The park is huge and the course a bit hard to find. Once I got there, I found tee 1 and it had a metal plate with the par and an arrow pointing towards the basket. There was lots of wood to hit and fortunately, I missed most of it. After finding my way out of the park, it was into town to find something to eat. Yelp pointed me to Joe Snuffy’s which was quite busy for 1:00 pm. The crowd was very local which is just what I wanted. I had the Hammer Burger which was a burger with a slice of ham, one egg, cheese and hashbrowns. It was delicious, especially with a bit of tobasco! The drive to Solomon was short and the course there was also. The holes run in and around the course and I was glad there were no kids playing.
I had to run through Salina to get to Goessel so I decided to stop and check out the Webster Conference Center since I was having trouble finding info online. The offices were locked so I drove around the grounds and found the course but construction is causing some issues. So I decided to hit up the K-State Salina course. I found baskets, but no tees and no one that could help me. Unfortunately, Salina was bust this time and more research is required. I had to punt in order to get two more courses played.
The next stop was Goessel. It was a small park with very short holes, the shortest being about 64 feet. Not wanting to end my first trip on this note, I jumped in the truck and headed for North Newton hoping to have enough sun to get one more course played. I drove up with the sun getting low. The instructions for the first tee were a little short and it took me a few minutes to find it. I enjoyed the course and on hole 8 I came as close as I ever have to my first Ace as it slide off the left slide and didn’t catch enough chain.
Getting home at 6:30 pm I knew it had been a long day, but I had a huge smile on my face. A good friend reminded me that it’s not just about getting the courses played, it is about the journey. I’m no professional and as I went through the day I tried not to worry about the details and just enjoy my time on each course. Throwing plastic is one of the most fun things I’ve ever done and this day was no exception. I can’t wait for next month!
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