Golfing the GASCO 9

While St. Simons Island may be known for the PGA Tour players who make their home here and the beautiful Sea Island courses that are nationally televised each fall during the RSM Classic, there’s another kind of golf being played under (and around) the live oaks here: Disc golf.

Disc golf is played much like traditional golf, but instead of a ball and clubs, players use a disc. The disc is thrown from a tee area to a target designated as a “hole.” Most commonly used as “holes” are elevated metal baskets. The object is completing the hole in the fewest number of throws. As the player progresses down the fairway, he or she must make each consecutive throw from the spot where the previous throw landed. Trees and other foliage, terrain and rocks located in

and around the fairways provide challenging obstacles for golfers. When the final “putts” land in the basket, the hole is completed. Billy Heins of the Gascoigne Bluff Disc Golf Club explains, “It takes a lot of mental and physical focus to be successful.”

Here on St. Simons Island, the Gascoigne Bluff Disc Golf Course was first installed 10 years ago. A standard 6 hole course, nestled along the Frederica River, it stands on historically significant land as the site of several ages of the island’s past. The original course design weaves through 100+ year-old Live oaks, cedar, and water oaks covered in low hanging Spanish moss. It’s an almost mystical setting for a Saturday or Sunday of sport. The sport of disc golf has made great strides since the course was installed, not only on our little island, but in the US and overseas as well. There is a Professional Disc Golf Association with more than 100,000 members in 47 countries. It’s been called “one of the greatest lifetime fitness sports available” because it can be played by all ages, male and female, and specially-abled and disabled, and, since there are generally no course fees or need for specialized equipment, financial investment

is minimal. You can even make up courses in parks and green spaces where there are no permanent disc golf facilities.

Not only are we lucky to have a beautiful permanent disc golf course here, we also have a disc golf club. According to Heins, the Gascoigne Bluff Disc Golf Club was started about five years ago by a group of loyal disc golf enthusiasts and has grown to 75 members. They host several annual tournaments, including the upcoming Battle of the Bluff tournament on July 8. The tournament registration fees (generally around $10 per player) help raise money for the installation of improvements to the course and the park. Heins says that sponsor SouthEast Adventure (continues)

The club has been working with Jordan Sasser and Lisa Gurganus of Glynn County Recreation and Parks Department, and recently installed three brand new disc golf holes and added new signs. This now brings the course hole total to nine and the course has been rechristened the “GASGO 9.” Also instrumental in the improvements to the course was Scott Beveridge. Along with Thomas Roberts, Scott is another key player in the club and his company Beveridge Construction is also a sponsor. Scott installed all of the tee boxes on the course. His wife, Michele, says it’s a family affair, as her family has been playing disc golf at the Bluff since the early 1980s, and it was her brothers who made up the original course. Michelle, who played ultimate frisbee at UGA, also plays regularly and her company, Island Cottage Company, is also a sponsor.

Michele says that the person who deserves recognition for initially getting the county involved is beloved local orthodontist, Iron Man, and community event DJ, John Weaver. She explains, “We were playing that course back in the 80s, but John Weaver is the one who really started the relationship with the county. It was important to foster that relationship to get a ‘real’ course installed and keep it maintained. Billy puts time into organizing the tournaments, Scott puts money and time into the course, and the money from tournament entries go toward building up the course and paying the county to improve it.”

Billy encourages anyone to come out and try their hand at disc golf. He says, “The course is challenging for beginners, and fun for advanced players. It provides a nice walk through the park cardio. All you need are 3 discs for different distance ranges: a driver, a mid-range, and a putter. And SouthEast Adventure Outfitters is the best spot in the county for getting good discs to play on our course.” Michele agrees, “It’s a great sport for both children and adults. The course is awesome because of the live oaks. Very challenging!”

Disc golf not only provides outdoor aerobic exercise, upper and lower body conditioning, but promotes a combination of physical and mental abilities in activity with little risk of physical injury. Here, we suggest that mosquitoes, gnats, and ticks are the biggest hazards, so make sure you wear appropriate clothing and use bug spray! Increase your concentration skills by figuring out how to negotiate obstacles and master your throws.

Find out more about Gascoigne Bluff Disc Golf Club events and learn about registration for upcoming tournaments on their Facebook page or by emailing Billy Heins at williamheins@rocketmail.com. You’re always welcome to drop by the course at 100 Arthur J. Moore Drive and see players in action on most weekends. They’re very friendly folks who are always willing to offer tips on what types of discs work best and strategies of play. There’s a Disc Golf Course Map on the Glynn County Recreation and Parks website at glynncounty. org/744/Disc-Golf-Course. Start practicing now and join the Battle of the Bluff Disc Golf Championships, a 36-hole singles event, on Sunday, July 8 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Registration is on-site the day of the tournament and is a $10 entry donation per person. If you don’t want to play, you can always come out to cheer the disc golfers on and see what fun this “other kind of golf” can be!

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