Military/Veteran Disc Golfers & Base Courses

[Nemmers]

Writing an article about military disc golfers and am looking for input from military members & veterans. If this applies to you, it'd help me out if you could answer a few questions:

1. What branch are/were you in? How long did you serve?

2. How long have you been playing disc golf?

3. Did you start playing when you were in? If not, did you start before or after you joined?

4. Were there any bases where you were stationed that had a disc golf course? If so, where? Are/were they any good?

5. Did you introduce any players to the game while you were serving? If so, about how many? Do any still play?

6. How popular did you find disc golf to be among those you served with, if applicable?

7. Did you ever try to start a disc golf club, league or course at any of the places you were stationed? If so, did you ever approach your local MWR about it?

8. In your opinion, does the PDGA do enough to promote disc golf within the military? If so, what are they doing right? If not, what could they do better?

9. What bases have you served at do you think could benefit from, have the resources to support, and the personnel to maintain a legitimate disc golf course? ("Legitimate" meaning something better than just an open field with baskets installed sporadically.)

10. Does disc golf have a positive, negative, or neutral reputation among military personnel? Why?

 

[AndyJB]

1)USMC 2003-2007
Army 2008-2016
Air National Guard 2016-Present

2) 26 years

3) Way before. Ive been playing since I was 7 years old

4) Several. Fort Carson has had two, both are garbage. There were two object courses in Hawaii (Bellows AFB and Kaneohe Bay MCB) and both were pretty good. 2 on base courses in Korea (one that I built) were also pretty good

5) tons. Id say at least two dozen over the years. About half still play and only two are competitive anymore

6) a lot of people had heard of it and/or played before. Dont cross paths with too many die-hards

7) yes. We got a club and PDGA sanctioned league going on Camp Casey on a course we built. We approached MWR but they didnt "get it" so we went through DPW for approval instead. I helped design the new course on Ft Carson in its early stages and that is run entirely by MWR

8) no,but its not one of their priorities. I dont think they need to reach out specifically...there are plenty of avenues for veterans out there. We get spoiled and frankly there is a strange sense of entitlement where veterans just expect everyone to reach out to them. Not everything needs to.

9) Camp Pendleton strikes me as one. We tried twice at Ft Carson and could never get a good turnout. Ditto with Camp Casey. Ft Drum doesnt have the area or the people. Same with any of the Okinawa bases.

10) its seen as a stoner sport, much like it is viewed in the civilian world. Id say its pretty neutral leaning to negative.

 

[thrembo]

Writing an article about military disc golfers and am looking for input from military members & veterans. If this applies to you, it'd help me out if you could answer a few questions:

1. What branch are/were you in? How long did you serve? US Navy 1983-1987 so 4 years

2. How long have you been playing disc golf? Over 40 years (I started young also)

3. Did you start playing when you were in? If not, did you start before or after you joined? I started playing in 1975, and the first basket course that I played was West Park in 1979, so yes, I started playing before I went in

4. Were there any bases where you were stationed that had a disc golf course? If so, where? Are/were they any good? I don't think that there were any bases that had a course on it back when I served.

5. Did you introduce any players to the game while you were serving? If so, about how many? Do any still play? I probably mentioned it to a few people, but DG was in its infancy back then, and there weren't too many courses in the areas I was stationed (and on a ship in the middle of an ocean)

6. How popular did you find disc golf to be among those you served with, if applicable? N/A

7. Did you ever try to start a disc golf club, league or course at any of the places you were stationed? If so, did you ever approach your local MWR about it? No, but I did play some softball.

8. In your opinion, does the PDGA do enough to promote disc golf within the military? If so, what are they doing right? If not, what could they do better? Not sure what they are doing if anything to promote DG to the military. But they or someone should be.

9. What bases have you served at do you think could benefit from, have the resources to support, and the personnel to maintain a legitimate disc golf course? ("Legitimate" meaning something better than just an open field with baskets installed sporadically.) Most large size bases could probably benefit from installing a DG course. You may have to make them more rec style or am to get the most usage out of them.

10. Does disc golf have a positive, negative, or neutral reputation among military personnel? Why?

I think that as every day goes by now DG loses a little bit of the old stoner sport stigma that has followed us around since day 1. A lot of people have still never even heard of it, and more and more athletic type people are starting to play it now so I believe that DG will be viewed as more positive in the future.

 

[STL Flyer]

I served for 3 years in the Army. All three years were spent on Ft. Knox, KY. There was/is an extrmemely technical course right outside Brandenberg gate (technically its in Muldraugh since its technically off post) and I mean it is litterally roght outside the gate, like if you didnt have gps on or didnt know it was there you never would it was and as far as I know still is called Muldraugh DGC. There is another course that is like 5 or 6 miles outside the gates called Radcliff DGC and its pretty good too, kinda short not super open but not super wooded, nice relaxed golf.

I started playing 2 or 3 years before I joined. Mostly as a way to just go "chill" with my friends.

I tried introducing people but most of the people in my unit and on post werent really too thrilled with disc golf.

I never tried starting a league, club, or course. To be honest Ive never really been an active member in any of that in civilian or military life.

I dont think the PDGA needs to single out specific demographics (except maybe females) to aim their marketing at. They just need to promote in general.

I would assume all or most would benefit from and could sustain disc golf, but there just arent really enough people that wanna go play to justify spending the land, time, and money on it, IMHO, your mileage may very.

No, real opinion on it one way or the other. I can imagine command sees it as just one more weird thing that some of their soldiers do.

 

[da Crippler]

A couple of vets I play with have told me that disc golf has been a tremendous help in dealing with their PTSD.

 

[bnbanbury]

VA has a couple of courses on bases, I have played Fort Lee and the Naval Weapons Station. Several of the reviewers are folks you could PM for your project.

The installer of the back 9 at Fort Lee is Brandon Windes and went through the process of getting approval funding to put it on base. Not sure if he is on here but is on facebook and a nice guy who I'm sure would answer a few questions.

 

[The Shide]

To all our DG vets, let me say "thank you" for serving.
It's been my privilege to serve my country on two separate occasions & two different branches; from 1985 to 1991 I was in the Air Force, then from 2005 through 2009 I was in the Army National Guard, which was deployed in 2008. During my stint with the Air Force I was a casual player, but did not play on any military installation. My introduction to the game was back in the 1970s, with pole courses and Wham-Os.
During my Army days, I did play at the Ft Lee course in 2007, but I want to say it was a pole course & only had 9 holes then.

On one of my home courses there is a tournament on Memorial Day that the TD charges only 1/2 price for the entry fee.
Then at another local course they have a tournament that sends proceeds to a Veterans organization.

Beyond that, there really doesn't need to be a push for "honoring" vets, in my opinion. Maybe a small discount on fees from time to time.

 

[Pymm]

1. U.S. Navy submarine veteran. Served 23 years.

2/3. Only been playing disc golf for a bit over a year and didn't start playing until after I retired from the military.

4. Never saw any disc golf courses when I was in the military. I retired in 2009. I spent most of my time in Norfolk, VA and checking the course map, I don't see any military courses listed, except for a 9 holer at a coastie base.

10. I think a lot of people would view it as silly or for stoners, etc. Military people tend to be a bit more conservative in many ways, in my experience and new things are often viewed with suspicion. That being said, lots of military people play lots of different sports, so exposure to DG would certainly bring some, maybe a lot of, people into it. I absolutely wish I had discovered DG much earlier in my life. I spent years playing soccer, hockey, tennis, golf, running, and other sports. Even half of that time and energy into DG and I would be much better than I am and my knees and ankles wouldn't pain me as much.

 

[Cgkdisc]

Suggest seeking feedback from the new PDGA Exec Director, Joe Chargualaf, Air Force officer.
http://www.pdga.com/meet-joe-chargualaf-your-new-pdga-executive-director

 

[jchoate7]

1. Air Force, 2008-2013

2. 5 years

3. Started playing with a year left in my enlistment.

4. There was 2 disc golf practice baskets set up in some green space just near the golfing driving range.

5. I was actually introduced by someone who was in the military, he no longer plays. I introduced 7-8 guys to the game and I think only 2 still play occasionally.

6. Not very. With how cheap golf was on base if someone wanted to 'golf' they played ball golf.

7. Never tried. The interest wasn't there. If I saw more veterans show up to local league nights I would have pursued it but I think there was only ever 1-2 of us there.

8. I think the PDGA needs to step their game up promoting the sport in general, especially to the younger generation. I don't think that it's necessary to promote disc golf within the military. If the PDGA is trying to promote to the military I highly suggest they send some baskets and discs to deployed environments. When I was deployed I was bored out of my mind at times, that definitely would have helped pass the time.

9. None. The bases I was stationed at were to small to support it, not to mention putting a course on a base would mean no public access which, in turn, would mean no tournaments, local leagues, etc.

10. Nuetral, most guys treat it as a way to drink some beer and walk around the woods.

 

[GoobyPls]

1. USAF, 2002-2004

2. Since last May

3. Long after. I hadn't even heard of it when I was active duty.

4. None

5. N/A. I didn't pick up the game until recently.

6. A buddy of mine who's still in the reserves plays with our group sometimes.

7. N/A.

8. I strongly doubt it. Ultimate is very popular here on base, but I don't believe MWR here has even heard of disc golf.

9. Lackland and Wright Patterson AFB both have the land and resources to support a course. Wright Patt alone has two 18-hole ball golf courses on base.

10. Neutral amongst those few who have heard of it.

 

[Stardoggy]

1. USMC, 1996-2000

2. 6 years

3. Nope. Never had any exposure to it.

4. 29 Palms did not have any. MCAS Iwakuni, Japan didn't. I don't recall ever seeing any in Okinawa or Yokosuka, either.

5. N/A

6. N/A

7. N/A, but we were on a small air base, so there really wouldn't have been any space for it.

8. I never heard anything about disc golf when I was in.

9. As mentioned, Camp Pendleton could have some fantastic course space. 29 Palms is out in the desert, and your discs may literally melt during extra hot days.

10. Damn hippies. But as one of the very few Deadheads in the Marines, I wouldn't have minded.

 

[simpletwist]

1. USCG, Retired Warrant BOSN2, 27 1/2 years, retired '01
2. Going on 10 years
3. After
4. No
5. No
6. As far as I knew, no one played, no one ever talked about it.
7. Perhaps a few units, TRACENs Yorktown and/or Petaluma. Maybe AIRSTA Kodiak. Adak, AK might be interesting.
8. Don't really know, and if I'm honest I don't care.
9. None
10. Not a clue.

 

[Andy.Arts]

1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery (British Army) 1985 - 1995 served in Iraq & Bosnia,
2 years playing
After the army
Never saw any baskets on the barracks
Friend who's been playing since the 90's introduced me to the game 2 years ago, he isn't ex forces but a pad brat
Disc Golf still quite new in the UK
PDGA need to promote the sport more in the UK, I find it good therapy for my PTSD and injury, I am sure other veterans would get into it, if only they knew that disc golf existed as most the guys played the standard golf when not on duty.
Plenty of spaces to put an interesting course although think the artillery impact zone maybe off limits
Would be great for forces discount on discs etc. worldwide
Veterans tournaments and disabled vets tour would be cool

 

[JetCoshway]

Has this article been written?

 

[d11rok]

Was never in a branch of the military. Just wanted to say thank you to all of you for your service. You are heroes.

 

[Buiscutboy]

I suppose I don't have to actually answer the questions. Currently at Fort McCoy waiting for people to finish online training....

There's a lame course at the campground that's kinda attached to McCoy. That particular gate is closed, though. You have to take the long way around.

I've noticed alot of fellow soldiers have said they play/have played when I bring it up.

I don't want to answer the rest.

 

[Zanguini]

1. What branch are/were you in? How long did you serve? USAF, 4 years 2000-2004

2. How long have you been playing disc golf? 1.5 Years

3. Did you start playing when you were in? If not, did you start before or after you joined? Nope, I started some dozen years or so afterwards.

4. Were there any bases where you were stationed that had a disc golf course? If so, where? Are/were they any good? No, I was stationed in Germany during my entire stint, There were none at the time, Though I think there is one on Ramstein now....

5. Did you introduce any players to the game while you were serving? If so, about how many? Do any still play? N/A

6. How popular did you find disc golf to be among those you served with, if applicable? I believe there were a couple of conversations around it a couple of times in the dorms... but i dont remember any specifics

7. Did you ever try to start a disc golf club, league or course at any of the places you were stationed? If so, did you ever approach your local MWR about it? N/A

8. In your opinion, does the PDGA do enough to promote disc golf within the military? If so, what are they doing right? If not, what could they do better? They probably don't. I would donate baskets (practice or help design a course) In Europe there are is some beautiful greenspace that would make for excellent courses. The PDGA could patner with a GMO like the USO

9. What bases have you served at do you think could benefit from, have the resources to support, and the personnel to maintain a legitimate disc golf course? ("Legitimate" meaning something better than just an open field with baskets installed sporadically.) I served at Sembach, Which is near Ramstein.... I believe Ramstein has a permanent course now... But you could put one on Volgelweh It is where a lot of enlisted housing is located. You could also put one on spangdahlem, Sembach where i worked would make a good one but I doubt there are enough people to keep it up there.

10. Does disc golf have a positive, negative, or neutral reputation among military personnel? Why? No Clue i lost touch with all I served with when i left i dont really talk to any active duty anymore

I know it has been good for my mild case of ptsd.

 

[Tripper]

1. SC Army National Guard 88-92 deployed to serve in Desert Shield/ Storm 90-91.

2. First tried it as a kid using a wham-o and objects in the neighborhood in the late 70's. Picked it back up in 95. Started playing regularly in 2010.

3. No. long after.

4. No idea as DG wasn't on my radar then.

5. No

6. N/A

7. No

8. No idea.

9. N/A

10. No idea.

 

[art_vandelay]

I'm hoping someone will talk a little about the Blue Angels courses and their history in Pensacola. I always wondered how much the Navy did vs private citizens to make that place happen. It's on government property so someone in the command chain was willing to give a sizable chunk of land for DG.