Glow golf for dummies

[R-Ogre]

Here in northern latitudes, summer leagues will soon give way to glow rounds. Never done it before and have a couple questions.

-is it worthwhile to pick up a glow putter if I'm planning to only putt with it?

-I know about UV flashlights to charge the discs, what do you use to keep from tumbling down a hill and dying in the dark? Headlamp? Red light to preserve night vision?

-which is the best glow plastic for Innova? I don't want to go without a trusty Thunderbird for glow golf...infinite has them in regular glow and color glow, and I swear I've seen glow DX somewhere else.

 

[Future_Primitive]

1. No. You can just snag some glow duct tape or the MVP glow vinyls for the putter. Usually dont need much as putters are generally thrown close to the baskets not crushed into the woods. Also helps to be less distracting with just a small piece of tape on it vs LED lights or full glow. I vote glow tape and regular putter.

2. Your eyes will adjust to the darkness pretty quickly. Most glow leagues around here ban lighting devices other than UV light or the small LED lights taped to discs. You can use your UV flashlight in rough terrain areas but most of the time it will be your eyes adjusting and the moon light to guide you through.

3. I would say color glow Champ works pretty good and glow DX works great. The older white champ glow plastic was pretty bad so folks usually taped on LED lights to that stuff. The new color glow seems to charge up nicely. Keep in mind that glow plastic doesnt like the cold much, takes longer to charge and doesnt last as long the colder it gets. Freezing and below I would lean towards taping on LED lights to be safe.

 

[Jimb]

I prefer the little LEDs that you can get to tape onto your Champion type plastic vs.. glow plastic. Of course, their use might not be allowed depending on league sanctioning?

Otherwise, I'm no help regarding glow plastic. The old DX (I assume) glow Aviars that I have hold a lousy charge for about a minute. They're old and the glow really isn't much help.

Edit. Cool confirmation of my old dx glow assessment from "the future" above.

 

[roggenb3]

1 - Yes, it's worth it.
2 - Let your eyes adjust rather than using a flashlight. Don't play courses that are overly dangerous or that you are unfamiliar with.
3 - All Innova glow sucks, as far as how long it glows for. Gateway and Vibram are way, way better.

 

[SaROCaM]

-which is the best glow plastic for Innova?

Recent color glow seems pretty good. I picked up a few to support local shops and just put them on a shelf in my office. When I walk into the dark room at night they are glowing, even hours after the sun has set.

Another piece of glow advice I've received is to go down a bump in stability/speed. That way you can throw from a standstill or less than a full run-up/X-step in case footing in the dark is questionable. Might be something like bumping down to a Teebird from a Thunderbird. Adjust more or less as needed.

 

[ru4por]

Great advice, especially Future_Primitive. He taught me most of what I know, of glow. Glow plastic usually has a bit different stability than non glow plastic. Hence, some of the encouragement to go with LED lights or glow tape. I actually have a bag of glow discs, I have no problems with them.

Word to the wise is careful application of tape or lights to your discs. They need to go on room temp plastic and a smart choice of tape is said to help. I will let some of the experts chime in to give the usual advice on this.

Glow is a blast, getting around in the woods is usually not a problem, until someone with a flashlight or headlamp comes along and ruins your night vision.

 

[shakatak]

In my experience the Discraft Z Glow discs don't glow well at all. I've got a Comet and Buzzz that I can barely see 5 seconds after throwing them and I use a UV light. Innova's glow works very well.

 

[tbird888]

I hunted for quite some time to build a glow bag of my core molds. Glow duct tape stopped all of that immediately. It glows like Vibram Glow and doesn't add the same wind resistance LEDs do. Grab a roll of tape and a UV flashlight, and you should be set.

Don't be the guy who brings a flashlight for navigation. Get to a dark area, close your eyes for thirty seconds, and you should be able to see just fine. And have fun. I find myself hitting wooded lines I usually struggle with because I can't see the branches to worry about avoiding them.

 

[disctildeath]

1 - Yes, it's worth it.
2 - Let your eyes adjust rather than using a flashlight. Don't play courses that are overly dangerous or that you are unfamiliar with.
3 - All Innova glow sucks, as far as how long it glows for. Gateway and Vibram are way, way better.

I've got an old glow Element, probably ran like 10 years ago, feels something like star/esp plastic , glows better than any other disc I've ever seen.

 

[R-Ogre]

Thanks guys, even for the contradictory advice. It's all good stuff to consider. Does look like I don't have to worry about a headlamp tho.

 

[Jukeshoe]

Thanks guys, even for the contradictory advice. It's all good stuff to consider. Does look like I don't have to worry about a headlamp tho.

Largely it depends on the course.

Personally, I always have a headlamp on and handy but don't use it unless I'm in dangerous terrain or for emergencies. No good having a headlamp for emergencies if you can't find your bag or get separated from it somehow.

Also in super thick woods/undergrowth sometimes as a last resort to find a lost disc, a headlamp can be a life saver.

Just use it judiciously and not during normal round conditions. Totally ruins night vision.

 

[Casey 1988]

They also make for headlamps some that have a green night vision mode for hunters/fisherman trying to find stuff or hunt/fish at legal times of 1/2 hour before or after sunset. That is worth looking into if they have the mode, some clip on to hat lights are green only and not good but the true sports/hunter headlamp with the night vision option is worth looking into.

Some runners like the Night Vision for events when the run often on trails is either at night or is a ultramarathon race on or off trails that running at night is a possibility.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Glow is great. You'd be surprised how well your eyes adjust as long as no one uses regular flashlights, and people keep headland dim/to a minimum.

It can be a ton of fun on wooded courses, and even courses with a decent amount of brushy growth, but....

IMO it's best on courses that don't have lost of debris, piles of sticks, fallen branches, an abundance of exposed stumps that stick up a few inches, or similar tripping hazards.

 

[tbird888]

...No good having a headlamp for emergencies if you can't find your bag or get separated from it somehow...

This brings up a good point. Something on/in your bag that keeps it visible but not lit up is nice. I have used something like this in the bottom of my bag. Just enough to not be staring into pitch black kicking myself for forgetting it wasn't daytime.

And Ogre, since I didn't mention it in my first post, I don't tape my putting putter. It's white though, and I putt better in the dark.

 

[R-Ogre]

-I might try one round with a white Wizard from my practice pile and a normal wizard with some glow tape to see which I like....although I hear Gateways glow plastic is one of the best out there and a superglow Wiz would be a nice excuse to buy some new plastic.

-I'll probably bring one of my biking lights and carry it on me for emergencies. My headlamp lives at work with my work gear, I don't really want to bring it to the course and risk losing it or forgetting it at home.

-unfortunately I don't get any say in the course, both of our locals are heavily wooded with steep terrain. Lots of taking it slow and careful particularly on a couple of the steep fairways. We may cut out some of the gnarlier holes for glow, I'm not sure...

 

[hempies]

-Glow putter is fun, but optional. You might have to use regular light to find it occasionally which kinda sucks for everyone's night vision.

-Headlamp with red light on your wrist so it's pointed down by default for when you actually need it, keep it off unless you need it, but your eyes will adjust quickly. Don't be that guy with it on your head, always blinding everyone when you turn to talk to them.

-Vibram has the best glow, but the new Innova color glow works well too. Can 'pre charge' it by leaving it out of your bag while the sun is still out (but not in direct sunlight).

-Don't play in a full moon, washes out any glow making it near impossible to find anything. Best is just after or before a new moon when there's a bit of light to see but doesn't wash out the glow of the discs.

-We play on a 9 hole course before/during sunset with our glow discs so they 'charge' under natural light and leave a glow stick on each basket. I Have a bag that can fully close (no light bleed to blind others) with a UV light it in to charge discs between throws. We play the second lap as it gets dark ....basically a 'day-glow' round.

 

[scarpfish]

There's no one right way to do glow. I do advice having a regular flashlight on hand, but try only to use it in if all else fails situations. They screw up your (and everyone else's) night vision.

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

I'm at Wild Haven a lot (Manton, MI) and we have a blast playing at night. Wildman has all his baskets equipped with solar lights that harness sunlight during the day and light up the baskets at dark.

I love the LED's applied underneath transparent/translucent Discs with clear packing tape. It's easier to find them at night in the rough than it is during the day. Way easier. So long as they're new-ish, they're pretty bright too. Champion/Z plastic really helps. I make sure there's plenty of tape to ensure the light doesn't fall off. I think there's an Etsy store that sells 10 of them for like $15.

I have my headlamp on for traversing some of the very hilly terrain there. We don't worry about any aerodynamic changes to Discs or anything like that. It's far from sanctioned play, after all. Usually we've got the Blue Oyster Cult tunes cranked up and we're just out there having a royal blast. That's what it's all about.

 

[zontar]

do you HAVE to play Blue Oyster Cult? asking for a friend.

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

do you HAVE to play Blue Oyster Cult? asking for a friend.

"I Love the Night"