Spin doctors

PLAY 'EM ALL!

Disc golf fields in Maine:

Enman Field Brunswick Dragan Field, Auburnn Acker's Acres, Bowdoinham Enman Riverside, Caribou Quaker Hill Farm Disc Golf, Fairfield Beaver Brook Camping Area, North Monmouth D'n'D Disc Golf, Sidney Eaton Mountain Ski Area, Skowhegan Hapana, Trentonn Burnsboro Disc Golf Course, Vassalboro Grassyland Frisbee Golf, West Gardiner

TO LEARN MORE go to www.mainediscgolf.com

DISC GOLF SPOKEN HERE

ANHYZER: Backhand shot in which disc tends to tail in same direction as throwing arm.

HYZER: Backhand shot in which disc tends to fade in opposite direction as the throwing arm.

TOMAHAWK: Overhand throw executed by gripping disc edge and releasing it vertically, throwing high and hard.

TURNOVER SHOT: Describes a path of flight that turns to the right when thrown backhand by a righthanded player and released flat.

UNDERSTABLE: Disc thrown straight that turns in the same direction as the throwing arm.IN THE DRINK: Disc that lands in a body of water.

SANDBAGGER: Someone who plays in a division lower than his or her ability so they can win.

SHANK: A shot that strays extremely far from the direct line between the thrower and the target.

Source: Disc Golfer USA

To top of story

Professional disc golfer Josh Connell

provides an account of his experience with the up-and-coming sport.

"I lucked into the sport of disc golf eight years ago when I chose to attend a university that had a disc golf course on campus. I'd never heard of the sport when I chose the school. In fact, I had rarely even played catch with a Frisbee. I got hooked on the game thanks to the campus course that played host, in part, to the 1998 World Championships. The funny thing was that it took going home on Christmas break during my first year to actually learn that the sport existed.

My father and my uncle found out about the sport watching a feature about it on a local PBS show, and after trying it for themselves, they were determined to drag me out the first chance they could. So my first time ever playing the game was in a tournament on New Years' Day in Princeton, Mass. New Years Day proved to be a significant date of "firsts" in my career as I also won my first tournament on that date five years ago. Since that day, I have slowly worked my way through the ranks in New England, winning about a dozen amateur tournaments before making the decision last fall to turn professional.

While there aren't many large purses in the sport, there are quite a few players around the country who play the game for a living, earning between $25,000 and $45,000 a year in prize money alone. As a rookie pro, my goal for this year is to break even. I hope to win enough prize money to cover my tournament expenses for the year and so far, so good. The biggest help in achieving that goal so far has been my inclusion in "Team Dragan." Team Dragan is a group of Maine disc golfers sponsored by Bob Enman, owner of Enman Field in Brunswick and Dragan Field in Auburn.

In addition to the moral support of being part of a team and the financial support provided by Mr. Enman, we are able to share expenses on road trips that enable us to attend more tournaments during the year than we might alone. In the last three years, I have traveled with the team to tournaments in Michigan, Kentucky, Florida, Texas, and South Carolina as well as every state in New England.

Members of the team, myself included, will be playing a number of big tournaments in the coming months. Among them are the Cuddy's Last Call Championships (www.mainediscgolf.com/cuddys/lastcall) at Enman Field on September 23 and the United States Disc Golf Championships (www.usdgc.com) in South Carolina in mid-October. At the USDGC, in particular, some of the best disc golfers in the world will be in attendance. With tournaments such as these growing in number every year, I have no doubt that one day, there will be numerous players who can make a living at the sport in Maine alone. Hopefully, I can count myself among those players and continue to live the dream."

To top of story

Josh Connell had barely thrown a Frisbee before 1998. Then his father took him to play his first game called frolf, and in no time Connell was sinking a smaller, heavier version of the Frisbee into a metal cage like it was his job. And then it was.

Today, Connell is one of 2,599 professionals who play the young sport with the funny name. A frolf pro makes $72,000 on average, according to the Professional Disc Golf Association - though Connell's winnings fall short of that amount.

"I probably would have laughed if someone told me I'd be throwing a disc for a living a decade ago," Connell said.

Like golf, frolf is played on an 18-hole, 40-acre course, and incorporates golf's scoring system and nomenclature of pars and birdies. But there are more than a few differences: In frolf, a player throws a plastic disc from a tee-off to a pole hole 250 to 450 feet away; the "hole" looks like an oversized metal lacrosse stick draped with metal chains to catch the discs, and - this is especially attractive for young people on tight budgets - frolf costs next to nothing to play.

On Maine's private courses about $6 can buy you a day of whipping Hyzers down the Mando to the pole hole - pro-speak for a backhanded throw that causes the disc to fall in the direction opposite of the throwing arm down the flight path into a metal basket.

"You don't have to be good to have fun with disc golf," Connell said. "What makes it so popular is that anyone can play."

Interest in the sport has exploded since a 1998 special on PBS that convinced Connell's father to take him for a game of frolf, and an episode of the televison show"Seinfeld" the year before. That episode had the character George Costanza actually dubbing the game "frolf " after a stranger approaches him in the park and invites him to play.

Bob Enman, who owns two year-round disc golf courses in Maine- Enman Field in Brunswick and Dragan Field in Auburn - said that when the first course opened in 1996, "if we had one guy show up on a Saturday we were feeling pretty good about it. Now we have over 5,000 players listed in the computer." Connell is currently sponsored by Enman.

Maine now has 17 disc golf courses, and they don't look much like the one Costanza played on. Dragan, for example, resembles a campground, with trees, bogs, bushes and hills that act as barriers between a player and the pole hole. (Note to beginners: Bring sturdy shoes, look out for poison ivy and keep a close eye on where the bevel-edged, neon disc lands to avoid spending precious game time in the pricker bushes.)

According to the PDGA, while most courses across the country are located in free public parks or campgrounds, Maine's private courses have helped make it the New England leader in disc golf events, courses and members. Recently, 30 players paid a $15 entry fee to compete in the Enman Field Iron Men six-round doubles tournament.

Connell hopes someday he'll make it to the Professional Disc Golf Association World Championships, which this year are being held Aug. 9-12 in Georgia. He's already been to the PDGA Amateur World Championships, which took place last week in Oklahoma.

"It is my life, I'm going to keep going as long as I can physically do it; I can see myself doing it at age 50," said Connell, an Auburn resident.

His inspiration is "Steady" Ed Headrick, inventor of the Frisbee and founder of the PDGA. The Californian's life and legacy were so shaped by the 6-ounce disc that he asked to have his ashes molded into a limited number of memorial flying discs and given to his family and friends when he died. Google Headrick's name and you'll find a Myspace Web page with recent comments from fans wishing him a happy 83rd birthday - never mind that he died five years ago.

"I love the sport," said Connell, "probably not enough to put my ashes in a disc, but maybe someday I'll have them spread on a course somewhere."

Reader comments
Post your comment here:

To top of page