After getting some good feedback from our first disc dyeing tutorial, Chuck and I got together to do another one for everybody out there. Probably the foremost request we had was people asking about the cutting process, so we included that here in Part I of the videos. Parts 2 and 3 cover largely the same stuff we did in the first videos, but there are a few details we tried to touch on a bit more this time around. So if you want to learn about cutting the vinyl, see us do the dipping process again, or just want to watch us dork out with our spork out, check out the videos below:

Part I:

Part II:

Part III:

As the daylight disappears and temperatures drop, many of us find ourselves spending a lot more time inside. It’s a perfect time of year for video games, and thanks to Gordon Griesel, it looks as though disc golfers will have a virtual environment to keep themselves entertained.

Earlier in the year, I mentioned Gordon’s project, and my eagerness to see it become a reality. Well, Gordon has made good on his intentions, and now has an early December release date planned for Disc Flight Sim. As a way to help get people ready for the release of the full version, a free downloadable demo is available on his site, which you can find here (currently, the password for download is “demo”.)

Being busy with several things lately, in addition to the encroaching holidays, I haven’t had a chance to play with it too much, but I can say from what little I have seen, I’m very impressed and am eagerly anticipating the full release. While the graphics may not be the cutting edge stuff you see in big budget video games, the physics at work here are quite impressive. Just throwing drives with a few selected discs, the physics at work were extremely realistic. Not that there has been a lot of competition in the world of virtual disc physics, but this simulator portrays the flight of a golf disc far more authentically than anything I’ve seen before. A disc thrown flat will fly straight and then fade left predictably. A flippy disc thrown hard with a slight hyzer angle will flip up to fly straight, turn right, and then fade left. That same flippy disc though, if thrown with full hyzer, will hold its hyzer line and finish left (just like my real life botched hyzer-flip attempts!).

The game will include some pre-made courses, a full selection of discs, several different play-modes, and the ability for players to design their own courses, which they’ll be able to share with others. As an added bonus, there will be many terrains the player can download at no cost from the Disc Fight Sim site. The game is currently only for XP/Vista, and Gordon is looking at selling it around $19.95, or “for around the cost of one nice disc” as he puts it. It will be available for download or on CD, and customers will be able to pay in a variety of ways.

Excited by the prospects of the game, I contacted Gordon (who is very accessible and responsive, by the way), and asked him a few questions.
More on Disc Golf Simulator Right Around the Corner

I’ve written before about how Portland is a great place to be if you want to play some disc golf. They have courses scattered all over the place there, something fit for all skill levels. Even with the vast varieties of courses to choose from though, that still isn’t enough for some people.

Most disc golfers, if they’re anything like me, will have noted while walking around in everyday life how great a particular spot would be if only there were a playable hole there. Well Matt Crider, aka Tennessee, and some of his friends have taken it upon themselves to do just that. Scoping out some unique places to put a basket Matt & Co. set up a camera and filmed themselves playing some urban disc golf. Matt’s the lanky fellow throwing the first bombing drive under the bridge, check out the video below:

Also, while you’re at it, do yourself a favor and check out some of his other videos. Matt puts together a good little piece of youtube footage, and I have to give credit where it’s due–he consistently has damn good music to accompany his vids. As always, they’re best enjoyed in high quality. Be sure to check back for further updates to the Urban Disc Golf series.

Maybe you’ve seen dyed discs on places like eBay. Or maybe you’ve browsed through threads like the infamous Dyed Discs thread on ODSA. Or maybe, you didn’t even know that a golf disc could be dyed.

Well, for those that are curious about the process of the dip dyeing technique, see the videos below. Chuck, who is well known through the Pacific NW, and dare I say, even on a national level, for his immaculate dyes, was gracious enough to come by my place and give a brief tutorial on disc dyeing (as well as help clean my kitchen).

Part 1:

Part 2:

This is just a basic intro to dyeing, with practice you can achieve some astounding works of art. Check out some of Chuck’s pieces after the jump:
More on In Our Time of Dyeing

Anybody that knows me, or has seen me posting on various disc golf forums on the net, knows that I am wholeheartedly in favor of pay-to-play courses. It’s an argument that I can delve into more drastically some other time, but for now, I just want to share an example of what pay-to-play can achieve. Chances are, if you have read any of the publications related to disc golf, you’ve probably seen at least one picture of the hole above–it’s shown up in ads and was featured on the cover of Disc Golf Magazine. It’s a great hole no doubt, but it’s only a taste of what Blue Ribbon Pines has in store.

More on Blue Ribbon Pines - Setting a Precedent for the Future

The art for the fundraiser Glow Wizards has been finalized, thanks to Zach at

ZAMdesign. I really like where Zach went with this one, a little bit evil, a little bit playful, and 100% twisted. I think that embodies the feeling of this little tourney.

For anybody who isn’t familiar with the legendary Gateway Glow plastic, it’s one of the most favored blends out on the market. It’s even more durable than Gateway’s normal “S” blend (widely accepted as the best base line plastic of any company), and it feels great in the hand. Being relatively firm, glow Wizards are my go-to discs for approaches, and being more durable, I find them to remain more wind resistant than other putters. Oh yeah, and unlike most other “glow” discs, these puppies actually GLOW! My glow Wizards shine like a beacon when the sun dips past the horizon, which you may want to take into account if playing after dark isn’t permitted at your local course. I have one Superglow Wizard that literally doesn’t even need to be exposed to light to glow…simple heat will do the trick. No lie!

With any luck, I’ll have the discs in hand soon, so if you’re interested in picking one of these fund raisers up ($15 + $2.50 shipping), just get in touch and I can hook you up!

This October will see the first true AADG event. In the spirit of Halloween (and a lack of Howliewood being held this year), I’ll be running a casual little tournament called Terror Creek 666 Doubles held at Terrace Creek Park, in Mountlake Terrace, WA on October 25th.

666 doubles is a format that I’ve been wanting to try for a long time, and I figure, what better time than Halloween? What is a 666 format, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. 18 holes of play, incorporating 3 different kinds of doubles play, i.e. 6 holes of one, 6 holes of the other, and (you guessed it) 6 holes of another. The three formats I’ll be using for the 666 are: alternate shot, best disc, and tough shot (dum dum DUM!). For more information on the details of the particular formats, check out the PDGA’s explanation of them here. It should be a true test of players’ abilities to work with each other, and play smart golf. If all goes well, everybody should still be friends by the end of the first round, but I have a feeling, there will be many apologies, among other kinds of language, uttered throughout the 666 round. To give players a chance to get back to the normal groove of doubles, we’ll be having a second round of best shot doubles–the kind everybody knows and loves.

As with any disc golf event, the primary objective of this is to have FUN. But on top of that, my goal is to raise money for the course to ultimately build a much needed information kiosk. As it is now, we have a couple stakes pounded into the ground, and a couple fence posts to hang fliers on. It is, in a word, ghetto. As our name states, we are interested in the advancement of disc golf, and having proper amenities at a course is one significant step towards advancing the sport. This tournament will be something of an experiment, and if all goes well, I hope to host many more events like this, at other courses to help them get off the ground, or to enhance what already exists.

If you would like more information on this event, check out the flyer here. If you’re anywhere around the Seattle area, or even if you aren’t, I hope you can grab a friend and come have some fun with us.  Even if you can’t make it, you can still help support the cause, and score a sweet putter by buying a glow Wizard, soon to be selling for $15 (+ shipping). The sport can only advance with your help (and yes I mean YOU)!

UPDATE: I’m adding an additional aspect to the tournament: costumes!  Costumes will not be mandatory for the tournament, but prizes will be awarded for the best costumes for those that choose to wear them.  Also, the stamp design is in it’s final process, and it’s looking awesome!

2008 Champion Scott Papa drives while 2nd place Big Mike Leslie observes. Photo courtesy of Eric Edgerton.

Every year towards the end of August, a disc golf tournament happens.  Not just any disc golf tournament, mind you, and it hasn’t happened every year, but it has happened every year since 1976.  Not a lot of tournaments can boast that.  In fact, none can, except for the Washington State Disc Golf Championships.  That’s right, this year marked the 33rd anniversary of the world’s oldest disc golf tournament that is still running.  This year’s championship was made even more special in that it was dedicated to the memory of Northwest disc golf pioneer and Hall of Famer Doug Newland.

It is a special occasion, run for the last twenty five years or so by long time Seattle discer Lowell Shields.  Lowell, being almost obstinately “old school”, tries to maintain the original feel of the tournament by keeping it non-sanctioned and presenting a casual, fun atmosphere for the event. More on The Oldest Gets a Little Older

Though it is possible to play disc golf with one disc, most people want to carry several. And except for the masochistic, most would like to have some sort of apparatus in which to carry their multiple discs, as well as their water, keys, phone, “other” beverages, safety supplies, cigarettes, rulebook, etc. Enter the disc golf bag. Now a bag may not need to be specialized, for the casual golfer, a simple backpack or soft cooler type bag might work fine. My first bag was a CamelBak, and that suited my needs for the time being, but I immediately wanted something a little more tailored to the sport so I could have easier access to my discs, and carry more comfortably.

Needless to say, as I grew more hopelessly addicted to this sport, carrying more discs as well as playing more frequently, I needed to upgrade several times over the years. It didn’t take too long for me to decide that I wanted to buy a bag that would suit my purposes and would hold up for as long as I needed it. Through my research, I learned of two manufacturers that stood out for building high quality, durable bags: Revolution (Revo) and Gorilla Boy (GB). Both companies have an excellent reputations, and I couldn’t find anybody saying a negative word for either. After much deliberation, I decided to go with the Gorilla Boy Kong, the flagship model. I was very happy with my purchase, but I felt later on, that I should also have a smaller bag for lighter, minimalistic rounds. For that one, I chose the Revolution Mini. Both bags have proven to be excellent, but in the interest of satiating my own curiosity and hopefully answering some questions for our readers, I decided to purchase the bags’ counterparts: the Revolution Carolina Team Bag and the Gorilla Boy Spider Monkey, respectively, and compare them here.

For those that hadn’t been paying attention to the Pro Worlds, Dave Feldburg utterly CRUSHED this year, finally sealing the deal of winning the Disc Golf World Championship, finishing 14 strokes ahead of second place at an astounding 100 under par for the tournament.

Here’s a video clip of the new champ at what is currently his “home” course while he’s going to school. Warning: this may make you second guess all those improvements you thought you were making with your game.  At least I know I can bif it on the teepad like a pro.