A summer fling

The game of disc golf is a growing one, nationally and locally. With 20 members already, the Pitt Disc Golf Club is promoting the game, and is bringing more money into the city in the form of competitors each year.

On Saturday the club, in conjunction with the City of Pittsburg, hosted the Freedom Fling, a doubles tournament that helped the city kick off its Fourth of July celebrations — there also were golf and tennis tournaments.

Saturday’s tournament brought competitors from as far away as Olathe, and club members are getting excited for the upcoming Pitt Open, a Professional Disc Golf Association-sanctioned C-tier event, at the end of July. The Lincoln Park course only has 9 holes, and the tournament will be held at the city’s new 18-hole disc golf course in Schlanger Park, which should be completed soon.

“There possibly will be a player there that’s ranked in the top 10 nationally,” PDGC president Kevin Elrod said. “And there’s a guy from Tulsa who’s ranked in the top 50 who’s coming.”

Elrod, who designed the course, said the city already has the collars for the holes, and that crews could start assembling them soon after the Fourth of July festivities are over.

“I designed it so that the park is still safe,” Elrod said. “We don’t want to injure anyone.”

Disc golf is played much like traditional golf, but instead of a ball and clubs, players use a flying disc, or Frisbee. According to the PDGA’s website, the sport was formalized in the 1970's, and shares with "ball golf" the object of completing each hole in the fewest number of strokes, or throws. Players throw their discs tee areas to a target, or “hole.” the hole can be one of a number of disc golf targets; the most common is called a Pole Hole, an elevated metal basket. The Frisbees are categorized by weight and circumference into drivers and putters.

Elrod said the Pitt Open is a growing event. There were 45 players in the inaugural tournament two years ago, and 70 competitors joined last year. This year Elrod hopes to attract 90 to 100 players, all of whom will spend money in Pittsburg.

“We hope it eventually will be like Emporia’s Glass Blown Open,” he said. “They had 400 there, and next year they’re hosting the Amateur World Championship.”

Tom Butler drove all the to Pittsburg from Olathe. A native of Pittsburg, he said he often comes to visit family.

“The trip was a coincidence, but it’s a chance to play disc golf,” Butler said, adding that he grew up playing catch with a Frisbee often.

Butler said he got into disc golf when he discovered a course while he was on a trip to California in the 1970s.

“When I came back I found that it was actually active in Kansas City,” said Butler, who has played in two world championships and took fifth place in the 2003 Amateur Master’s. “A friend and I built a course in Kansas City, too.”

Elrod said he knows the sport is gaining popularity from Parks and Rec officials.

“They say there are constantly people playing,” he said.