Mark Box isn”t the only person who has fallen under the spell of disc golf.
Friends Clayton Nash and Chip Strain also admit to being “hooked” by the game after being introduced to it.
Box, Nash, and Strain hope more people in the Greater Golden Triangle area will be affected by the sport this weekend when the Mississippi Open Disc Golf tournament comes to Columbus this weekend.
The event will kick off at 9:30 tonight at Propst Park with a glow disc tournament. It is $15 to participate in the event, and all those who play will get a glow-in-the-dark disc. Winners will be awarded prizes in several categories.
Competition begins at 8 a.m. Saturday with registration for the three-round event. First-round action will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Propst Park and at Lake Lowndes. The second round will be Saturday afternoon, followed by a demonstration by disc golf professionals and a distance competition from 6-7 p.m.
On Sunday, the final round will begin at 10 a.m.
This will be the first event of its kind in Lowndes County, and Box hopes more than 100 professional and amateur competitors (adults and kids) will participate.
“Tupelo had it last year and they had about 75 competitors,” Box said. “They did one in Memphis (The Dogwood Classic) that has been around 20 years and they had 140 people. I would like to have 120 people. That”s my goal.”
Box expects to pay out all of the money raised thanks to sponsors who have supported the event. He anticipates the professionals who will compete will split a pool of $1,500-1,800. He said the pro winner probably will take home about $800. Top performances by amateurs will earn merchandise as prizes.
Box is a physical education teacher at Caledonia Elementary School who lives in Columbus. A friend kept telling him he ought to try disc golf and as soon as he did he was hooked. He has played the sport for a little more than a year and has already become active in the community in trying to build support.
The rules for disc golf are similar to ball golf, but players throw discs named just like clubs (like drivers and putters, for example) and start from a tee box. The goal is to get the disc into the basket, which serves as the hole, in as few throws as possible. Like in ball golf, each hole has a number of shots that determine par, or even score.
Box worked closely with the Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authority in bringing a disc golf course to Propst Park. He also worked with Nash, the designer of the course, in helping bring everything together at Propst Park.
Box also is involved with Strain, the president of the Columbus Disc Golf Association, a group that has 20-25 members.
All three men will participate in the festivities this weekend. They all agree the sport offers a great mix of exercise (course range from two to four or five miles) and strategy (how players have to throw the different discs around trees and other natural obstacles).
Nash started playing disc golf seven years ago after a friend at Itawamba Community College introduced him to it. He participates in 25-30 tournaments as a professional each year. He also said many of those events are within driving distance, but it is a bonus to have quality courses like the ones at Propst Park and Lake Lowndes so close to home.
Nash said Propst Park is so good because it is visible from the street, which helps attract interest. He also hopes to be involved in possible courses that might be incorporated into the final design of Burns Bottom, the multi-field soccer facility under construction in downtown Columbus.
“I really like how (the Propst Park course) came together,” Nash said. “The more I play it the more I enjoy it. It was fairly easy to design, and we did not have to do any tree cutting or do anything to make the course fit.”
Strain, like Box, admits playing disc golf has helped them shed some unwanted pounds. Strain, the former president of the disc golf club at Whispering Pines, has been playing the sport three to four years. He said the chance to watch professional competitors throw this weekend will motivate him to play even more so he can improve.
“It”s a fun sport and it is a cheap sport,” Strain said. “In ball golf, you pay $30 for a round, but in disc golf you get a disc or two and you see a lot of people playing with just one disc that costs $10-15. It is a good time.”
Strain said members of the Columbus Disc Golf Association get together at 2 p.m. most Sundays and would encourage anyone interested in learning more about the sport to join them.
Box thanks everyone in the community who has helped put the event together, especially sponsors Modern Pool and Spa, Rehab at Work, Core Fitness, Dan Bennett, Dutch Oil/Sprint Mart, Express Oil Change, Best Western, Leigh Mall, Russel Brown, Premier Ford, Harvey”s, JDS Wealth Strategies, Reed”s, Papa John”s, Mitchell Distributing, JTS, Bates Tire, Dick”s Sporting Goods, and Marriott.
For more information on how to get involved with disc golf in Columbus, go to www.clra.net, where you can find rules for sport, a map and a layout of the course at Propst Park.
Those interested in disc golf also can call Box at 662-570-9307 or e-mail him at [email protected], or go to the Southern Nationals Disc Golf Series website (www.sndg.org) and the Professional Disc Golf Association (www.pdga.com) for more about the sport.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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