Hey Old Timers...

[Djren12]

Back in my day we would carve our discs out of wood, and carry them in a basket. Lol, I started playing in college 1987 and for us it was a whamo disc and whatever tree we picked to hit was our basket. Stopped playing after graduation but I started to enjoy disc golf again 3 years ago and thank god the Internet had already been invented! Now I drive 45 min north to Disc nation in Austin to get my fix, I'm one of those that has to feel the disc in hand to decide to buy it or not.

 

[zj1002]

I had always remembered buying golf discs as a kid in the early 90s at a PIAS in North Austin (the defunct Anderson Mill location, when 183 was just street-level Research). The store was on a route we hit twice a week, and I found that these discs made great snare heads for my homemade drums. After almost 20 years I found two of those discs while cleaning my parents' garage... they were OOP discraft discs, the model names don't even come to me they're so weird. Also I didn't realize that PIAS was a chain until I saw another one like 10 years later :thmbup:

Sundance Records was the nearest indie record store for my teenage years, been going there for 20 years, kid thru college. They've carried golf discs for a long time because of the course on campus, maybe 200 discs on average. You drive by the course on the only road into that side of town, therefore the entire population of my small hometown and the majority of that college town had seen disc golf in action for years, and Sundance was the only place in town to buy discs. Probably still the #1 source for that school.

I also remember seeing discs at kite shops / festivals.

Man...Sundance closed last spring. Was sad to see it go. I should have told you

 

[ru4por]

Nearly forgot the discovery of Inflight in Ann Arbor. My first bag was from there. I bought it and they gaunteed it for life. I laughed at the time, but you know 20 some years later, that bag is on its third owner and in one piece. They had the best selection around for years, not to mention an eclectic mix of other goodies.

 

[ohtobediscing]

How does 2002 to 2013 equal 33 years of playing? Lol.

Because I first played Frisbee golf with a lid on an object course at USM in '79, which is probably before you were born. I didn't play with discs 'til '02 because I couldn't throw them.
Thanks for the snark, and right back atcha.:|

 

[chrishysell]

when i started in the mid-90's there was one store in richmond which had a pretty good selection. you could also buy some tournament winnings from then bagger hysell and disc golf world had a decent printed catalog they sent out.

by late 96 i had started two stroke so was just ordering them from the manufacturers and pimping them myself.

I was reading through this and reminiscing and didn't expect a slap in the face.

Perhaps I did have a big selection. When I first began playing I joined RADL and could get a discount on plastic. Me and a buddy were running events and got our discs from either RADL or Disc Golf World News. We would buy in bulk and make a little profit. With patience we created some stock and made a little money. Perhaps that's why I have always been one of the guys that had plastic at the courses if anyone needed it.

One of the things that always amazed me was the prices that the stores were selling discs for. I can't imagine that even back in the early to mid 90's that the 100 piece or 500 piece price that I was getting my plastic for was that much cheaper than the price the stores were paying. I got into an argument in a store when I tried to negotiated a price on a disc. The owner said he couldn't buy it for the price I was offering. I told him he should be buying plastic from me. I was asked to leave.

 

[DikkaD]

Because I first played Frisbee golf with a lid on an object course at USM in '79, which is probably before you were born. I didn't play with discs 'til '02 because I couldn't throw them.
Thanks for the snark, and right back atcha.:|

There's something fishy going on here.

 

[Bultx1215]

Played with Whamo lids until '84 when the Lightning P-38's first came out. Lived in Irving, TX at the time...close to Lightning, so that was pretty much all anyone had back then in that area. Local TD always had a trunk full of them at a reasonable price, so that was our source. First putter was bought in '85-86 when the Gumbputt first came out..still have both of them, too. Around that time, we started seeing Champion Discs(pre Innova) more and more, too. They were out before then, but hadn't filtered in yet.

I moved to the DC area in '87 and all I could ever find after that was all mail order. I never worried much about it as I had a big stock from Lightning. But, without my disc eating creek, I never lost a single one there. Back to TX in '92 and it was still pretty much still mail order in SA, though we heard rumors of stores in Austin, Gas Pipe and the like. Found a car trunk sales dood in '94-95 I never saw discs in stores until about then or so with Academy Stores being the first. Academy is still the biggest to have discs in SA, with a few little stores starting to stock some basics. Now, its easy to find stuff...back then, you made do with what you could get.

 

[ZAMson]

Wonder how many of these trunk/blanket sales were couchcruiser :thmbup:

 

[Always Hyzer Lines]

The "pro shop" @ Whitebirch park in St. Louis was probably first and then it was likely John Houck's place off of 183 South or Ken Hambleton at Pease Park in Austin.

 

[jasonc]

When I started playing, I purchased my first 2 discs (Pro Rhyno and DX Viper) from the gas station by the course. Went back and got a few more the next day because I was instantly hooked.

After that, I just found everything in a local guy's trunk at the course.

Now, I find most of my plastic in the DGCR marketplace. :thmbup:

 

[mashnut]

The pro shop at Morley sold me my first few discs, MC Sports in Bloomington the next several. Those lasted me the first 5 years of playing when I was only going out a few times a year.

 

[RastaFish]

I definitely remember ordering discs by phone from Discovering the World, you could ask for certain colors or weights of particular molds and they would usually get you what you were looking for. Also I remember ordering from The Wright Life as well. I would look through those newsprint catalogs and highlight the discs I wanted, and then call in the order....

 

[JOtter]

Back in the mid 80' the only place to get discs was from the guy with the red Chevy Nova at the local course (Tourist Park in Cedar Falls, IA) the guy had a great selection, in boxes in his car trunk, considering there weren't all that many molds yet. He had Discraft, Lightning and Innova. He was very knowledgeable, and would help you select a disc, he even had a box of testers.

I still have 3 from back then. 2 XD's and 1 original Roc.

 

[ohtobediscing]

There's something fishy going on here.

And your insinuation is...?

 

[keltik]

what did a typical bag look like in the 80's? 90's? how many discs? what molds and how many? what were the hot molds etc? I really wish I had tried this sport in college. Kentwood was right there.

 

[DiscLizard]

DiscLanding Pro Shop in Charlotte was my first store for buying new discs.

 

[MNcyclone]

what did a typical bag look like in the 80's? 90's? how many discs? what molds and how many? what were the hot molds etc? I really wish I had tried this sport in college. Kentwood was right there.

The typical bag was a nylon backpack an you would find whamo molds.

In MN when I started we had the gas station near Acorn park, and GGGT when it opened up. There was one more shop in Minneapolis but I can't remember the name :\

 

[Happablap]

Cool thread. There was a couple of options before the internet. There was a course pro selling discs around here. Also, I would get the black and white Discovering The World catalog and order discs from them.

 

[Happablap]

In the bag back then: Scorpion, Ram, XD, Whippet, Aviar, Cyclone

 

[grodney]

Wall City bags were huge. Round or Cube.

Drivers '93-'98 were Scorpians and Vipers and Whippets and Cobras if you threw Innova. Cyclone was huge, with X-Clone for overstable. Midrange were Rocs and Sharks. Putters - XD and Aviar and Magnet. I don't know, these are just my recollections. This was before the explosion of new discs when Millennium came into being and Innova starting going wild and Discraft started birthing the XL and XS and X2 and Comet.