Disc golf isn't always a walk in the park. Sometimes it's an obstacle course of lessons.
Blue sky, green grass, abundant sunshine. What could go wrong?
This post goes out to Hive account@wizardofcheeze who expressed interest seeing in more ENH disc golf content. Here ya go, and thank you!
Hive account@jschindler and I arrived at Denton's North Lakes park not-so-early on a pleasantly mild Saturday morning in June. The air was warm, but not yet hot, thanks to a light breeze from the South. Despite a bag malfunction at the onset of our round, we gathered our equipment and made it to hole 1 before the sun was too high.
This bag seems like it was made for carrying discs. Maybe it's inappropriate for the course - that's not stopping me from using it.
Art on the tee box at hole 1. What a perfect sign of the romantic bonding sure to happen on the course ahead...
@ jschindler's sidearm in action around some brush
Moving along to hole 3. That's when I decided the best lie would be in the middle of the street that runs alongside the west side of the park. Sometimes there's a lot of traffic, but I caught a lucky break this time. I just ran out there and grabbed it.
Exciting times
Hole 3 was also inexplicably tagged by means of this engraved metal disc on the side of a tree. I'm not sure why this tree is labeled 1788, but it made for a nice composition.
What could it signify?
After recovering from the street on 3, my drive on hole 4 managed to land in one of this course's many un-mowed areas. Landing in the fairway is -->kinda<-- important at North Lakes (and most courses). Accuracy always counts!
Wading through a miniature inland sea of prairie grass and wildflowers while searching for a disc offers an opportunity to ponder life's important questions, like, “Are there chiggers in this grass?” And , “Why did I neglect to use bug spray?”
At the top of the hill in the picture below lives the basket for hole 4. Hole 5's tee box lives up there too. The hill borders the southern side of a large pond. When that pond and the wind join forces, this section of the course can become a serious challenge. The thing about North Lakes park is it's ALWAYS windy there. Always!
Don't you just want to reach out and throw that disc?!
Standing at the top of the hill it's easy to get a better view of the hole 5 basket, right? Yeah, I don't see it either.
Just kidding -- there it is.
By the time we made it through the fifth hole, I was so far over par I was beginning to wonder if I should even bother keeping score this round. We'd already invested some time in this game, but after so many bad lies and mis-throws, I was really questioning my abilities to make it through. We'd already decided to play only the front 9 since we had made it to the course later than originally planned. We kept going, kept throwing and made it to hole 6.
@ jschindler was having still having a good time. He's skilled at seeing the bright side of things.
There were some strange abandoned socks lying near the basket at hole 7. There were no shoes or other items there, only three socks. Where did they come from? Why were they mismatched? So many questions, so few answers.
Hole 8 is pretty straightforward. It's a par 4 hole, but there are no hazards and the wind doesn't cut across too badly because of a tree line and that old hill. I actually made it in the at par for this hole (still way over for the course, obviously) and even felt a tiny pang of accomplishment when my putter hit the chains.
Hole 9 is where I really lost my sh!t. Literally and figuratively.
This sign's got jokes. JK, I was just in a bad mood that day, the parks are life-enriching.
Let's back up a little bit for some more info on how this walk in the park turned into a would-be bad day. See, early on in the round, @ jschindler found a bright, shiny red disc. It was an unfamiliar brand and it had a big sword printed on it in white. There was also a phone number with a local area code written in black marker on the back.
We mentioned writing our contact info on our own discs in case of future disc loss, tossed the red disc into the spider bag and went on about our way. Remarkably, not long after, he found a second disc. It was a swanky unmarked Championship Monarch in a smoky clear and opaque black design. Sweet!
Fast-forward to hole 9 when I threw my trusty old purple Beast into that pond I mentioned earlier. “Okay”, I thought. “Whatever, you gonna lose a disc now and then, it's part-a the game”. That's when @ jschindler suggested the labeled red disc. I wanted to decline, and I did start to say, “NO”, but for whatever reason, I ignored my intuition. I grabbed the disc and went up to the tee box and threw it – straight into the pond. That was two in a row!
Things were getting serious. I'd selfishly blown off the chance to meet a new friend or competitor, plus I lost my own disc. I was ready to leave. In my mind the towel had already been thrown in. (And, of course, me being a brat about the whole thing was becoming a new reality. JS is a patient man).
But wait, there's more! Another friendly suggestion sailed my way from @ jschindler. "Want to try this Monarch?" And again, I was protesting to myself both internally and verbally. I told myself, “You already lost two discs today, just hold on to that Monarch and call it good! You're basically even on the disc count now, just wait for him to finish 9 and we'll call it a day, no problem”. Yet there was a moment in which my resolve crumbled. Ohhh, it burns!
That's when I grabbed the disc, stepped up to the box and gracefully drove the swanky “new” Monarch all the way back into the maw of grass from which it came.
At that point, I was actually (sort of) okay with the situation. I was very disappointed with two bad drives, yet at peace with the third shoddy drive. We figured we would be able to find the disc in the grass since we “saw where it went”. That all changed after we spent twenty minutes or so wading around in crotch-high grass looking for the damned thing. The tall, scratchy grass in that area of the park concealed all evidence of the disc's landing. And as an added consolation prize, we both got a whole MESS of bug bites or plant prickles (?) that were off-the-charts itchy.
While I enjoy every opportunity to play a round, this one really wanted to break me.
From hole 1, accuracy was not my friend that day. The wind was gusting at about 20 MPH by the time hole 9 showed up. And to top it all off, I went against my “gut” feeling on throwing the found discs at the last hole, and I really knew better than to do that.
The universe has a sense of humor second to none, I can't say I'm surprised. Looking back, although it was a frustrating and trying round, I'm glad we went. Romantic bonding was accomplished and I took away a few choice lessons (PRACTICE IMPROVING FORM & ACCURACY, CONTACT LOST DISC OWNERS, PATIENCE PAYS DIVIDENDS) .
Who is enternamehere?
ENH is a steemian who enjoys the fitness, friendly spirit and fresh air of disc golf. Actively exploring courses across North Texas. Always happy to meet a fellow disc-er!
who expressed interest seeing in more ENH disc golf content. Here ya go, and thank you!
and I arrived at Denton's North Lakes park not-so-early on a pleasantly mild Saturday morning in June. The air was warm, but not yet hot, thanks to a light breeze from the South. Despite a bag malfunction at the onset of our round, we gathered our equipment and made it to hole 1 before the sun was too high.
for creating this helpful Posts by Author tool for listing recent posts! 
for sharing the "Posts by Author" tool in your 6/25/18 post, Posts by Author - A tool I absolutely love!