The Big D in the Desert is almost here!

From the website:

It’s the World Flying Disc Federation Distance Championships, and Discraft is proud to announce our second $10,000 Big D Bounty. The current world distance record of 250 meters (820 feet) by Christian Sandstrom of Sweden has held since 2002. If you set a new record* with a Discraft driver, the Bounty is yours!

• What: WFDF Distance Championships (Big D in the Desert)
• When: April 5-7, 2008
• Who: Event is open to anyone
• Sanctioning: Official WFDF sanctioning
• Where: at Ivanpah Dry Lake, California (Primm, Nevada, at the NV state line, about 40 miles out of Las Vegas).
• Entry fee: $30 USD.
• Registration, hotel and more info.

The folks over at Disc Golf Values are putting on a distance tourney in Primm, Nevada. This is apparently a pretty fun time, and has been going on for some time. Register for the tourney by going here.

Nate Doss, as most disc golfers already know, was the 2007 Pro World Champ.  Nate’s win in August of 2007 put him above Ken Climo - who then took back his ranking in September at the European Open.

Nate Doss is a Team Discraft member, and Ken Climo throws for Team Innova.

These are the two top-rated throwers in the country right now.  When young players and people learning the right disc golf skills to have are developing their skills, it’s important to take a moment to see what the country’s best are doing to succeed.  Check out their specific team sites; check out what they carry in their bag.  Once you get the proper skills more under control, try out what the pros use.

It’s also incredibly helpful to check out YouTube and Google Video for videos of people giving clinics and seminars on throwing techniques.  Watch how they throw - take notes, try it out next time you’re throwing your discs around.

I played a round at Woodson Park Disc Golf Course in Oklahoma City.
This is a city-maintained park and disc golf course.

The easiest way to get there is to take May Avenue south until you hit Woodson Park. The course entrance is directly off of May around 29th, but we did some driving around to actually find it. No signs, markings, or other start-identifying placards could be seen on the grounds. Luckily, we saw someone starting a game, and followed their lead (even though we started off on the wrong hole). Again, we found no notation stating the beginning of the course. The official directions are to take I-44 to SW 29th, east to May Ave., south to 33rd, west into park.

Lack of notation was the major theme of Woodson Park DGC. In addition to nearly no individual hole markers, some of the tee-boxes were unlabeled. Those that had markings on them were spraypainted onto the tee-box surface itself, so identifying it from a distance was out. Also being out is the pin markings - some of them were marked, some were not. However, and to be fair, I played this in January, during a warm day we had. Temperatures were in the mid-sixties, and the wind was awful. The ground, surprisingly enough, was bone dry. This course gets lots of sun, so I can imagine that it’s an oven in the summer months - bring lots of water.

Generally, the course is long and open - some reviews call it “perfect for Oklahoma Wind Golf,” which I agree with completely. There is an unbelievable amount of wind here, and throwing the killer drives depends on how long you can wait for a gust to blow down. On the left of the image above is a major 8-lane highway - on the right is the baseball diamond complex and playground. With the wind, it was easy to put one over the barbed wire fence and into the highway, so be careful with your backhand drives if you’re throwing into a headwind.

PDGA Online Course Entry for WOODSON PARK DGC
Course Length: 6025 feet

Rattle the Chains Course Rating: 2 of 5