Disc golfers compete in annual Ice Bowl

Enthusiasts say the sport is more environmentally friendly than traditional golf.

By Becky Thiele

Published Feb. 1, 2008

It’s difficult to see the players through the trees in Albert-Oakland Park, and it’s near impossible to hear them. For a while, the cold wind is the only audible sound. That is, until Ryan Kanavich scores a hole-in-one.

“Ace!” he cried.

Last Saturday, 69 people crowded into Albert-Oakland Park for the annual Columbia Disc Golf Club Ice Bowl, but there were still more trees than people. The object of the day’s game, also known as “Frisbee golf,” was to get one’s disc into an above-ground metal basket using the least amount of throws — like regular golf, although players will tell you differently. Members paid a minimum of $15 to play in the Ice Bowl, most of which goes to the Central Missouri Food Bank. The food bank received approximately $770 from the event as well as 200 pounds of canned goods donated by members.

“It’s disappointing that some people haven’t heard of (disc golf),” Columbia Disc Golf Club member Greg Frazier said. “It’s such a fun, free sport.”

Aside from supplies and donations to charity, disc golf is an entirely free sport in Columbia. This may explain its laid-back attitude and good-humored club members.

“I haven’t met a jerk yet who plays this game,” player Chris Kinsella said.

During the day, the disc golfers could almost always be seen shaking hands and laughing with each other during rounds. Even though the age of competitors spans from 14 to 74 years, the golfers’ friendship is a large part of the game.

“All of us are like brothers coming together on the course,” long-time golfer Mark Schneider said. “You see basically the same guys every tournament. You always know you’re going to be throwing with a friend.”

Most of the players at the Ice Bowl were men, but a few women played, too.

“There are only three girls playing today, but we see more and more girls every day,” women’s division winner Nicki Victor said. “Not a lot of girls compete in the competitions. They play more for fun.”

Despite its relaxed nature, disc golf is not as easy as it looks. Unlike common “ball golf,” disc golf is played on rough terrain. The Oakland Park course is full of trees, hills and ditches to contend with, not to mention the dreaded hole 17, where players have to throw their discs across a lake to reach the hole on the other side. More than a few had to venture out onto the frozen lake to retrieve their discs.

Because players rarely change the landscape of the course, disc golf is more environmentally friendly than traditional golf. Fred Garver, who took second place in the Ice Bowl, created his own disc golf course on a plot of family-owned land to practice and compete with friends.

“I do a lot of trading and put a lot of money into the sport,” Garver said. “The idea is to keep the area still natural and not develop anything. My mother set it up so the only development to be out here ever is disc golf — she’s really into the environment. The thing we disagree with ball golf the most is all the chemicals and stuff.”

Players abide by the rules of traditional ball golf as well as their own rules. They stay on a concrete pad and throw within the bounds of yellow poles called mandatories.

Mandataries are placed along the course to keep bystanders from being hit by golf discs. If players don’t throw their discs to the correct side of the poles, they have to take a stroke, or penalty.

When putting, players place a miniature disc where their first disc landed and stand behind the mini disc to put. If a player steps past his or her minidisc, the player will receive a foul called a falling put.

Many of the disc golf members like to collect discs as well as play meets with them.

“I collect limited stamp discs,” tournament director Keith Amerson said. “Some people keep them, and others throw their $20 to $30 discs. [It] all depends on what you want to do with it.”

Collector’s discs come with unique printed designs usually only printed for a limited time to maintain their originality. Discs for this year’s Ice Bowl, featuring a polar bear wearing a Hawaiian t-shirt, were handed out to be used as souvenirs in future games.

Although the temperature was a windy 50 degrees, the golfers weren’t discouraged. Last year’s winner, Kanavich, finished in third place.

“I won it last year so I thought I put a good bid in,” Kanavich said. “There’s a lot of good people in Columbia.”

The prize for first place in the Ice Bowl is a simple trophy that passes to the new Ice Bowl champion every year. The trophy, basically an ice bucket on a platform, began as a joke when it was made in 1987, but when the winners began inscribing their names on the side of the bucket, the trophy became more of a piece of history than just a pile of junk.

The passing of the trophy and the Ice Bowl itself have become a part of disc golf history since their beginning in 1985. The Ice Bowl was started in Columbia by Rick Rothstein, head of Disc Golf World News, and has achieved national status since then, with golfers all over Missouri competing for charity.

This year’s Ice Bowl champion was George Smith, the only member of the Columbia Disc Golf Club who is sponsored by the Professional Disc Golf Association. Smith has been traveling all over the U.S., competing in official PDGA tournaments and earning money for his wins.

“An amateur’s goal is to earn enough points to be invited to the World Tournament, which is the biggest tournament,” CDGC member Ray MacNevin said.

The sport has been around for more than 32 years, but until recently the club has remained one of Columbia’s best kept secrets.

“It’s got to be the fastest growing sport in the world,” CDGC member Aaron Mooney said. “It’s grown by about a 600 percent increase in the last five years. It’s crazy.”