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Frisbee® Golf Planned for Campus
by Matt Wilson
Ryan Pickens with a brace of his competion discs
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When most people hear the word "golf" they think of Tiger Woods, PGA Tour, The Master's". If you ask Business Administration Instructor Ryan Pickens about golf he thinks about Frisbees.
Pickens is in the process of making Mars Hill College one of a growing number of colleges that offer a Frisbee® golf course. Frisbee® golf (officially "disc golf," to dodge the trademark question) is played much like traditional golf, but instead of a ball and clubs, players use a Frisbee and throw it towards a basket made of chains.
There is much excitement surrounding the new hobby here at Mars Hill. Early this fall two students, Gray Spainhour and Jon Jolley, circulated a petition to bring Frisbee golf to campus, and 150 students signed it. Mars Hill isn't the only college catching the Frisbee fever. University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and Brevard College already have Frisbee golf courses on campus. Western Carolina University and Warren Wilson College are discussing the possibility of developing courses.
Mars Hill College's Frisbee golf course will enter the construction phase as soon as the layout around campus and the budget are finalized. Meanwhile, Pickens has been working very hard on promoting the sport. He has been in contact with the Disc Golf Foundation. It has a matching grant program which could pay for nine free baskets if the college purchases nine. Baskets retail for $350 to $400 apiece. Pickens has also been working on getting grants to make this dream a reality.
If Frisbee golf does become available, Pickens says that students are already discussing formation of a club or even a Mars Hill College team. The WNC Frisbee Golf Club is helping Pickens with the idea of starting an intercollegiate league.
A disc basket
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The projected course extends has two sections. The first 14 holes wind from behind the Wachovia Bank south below the Mars Hill Retirement Home, around behind the president's house and finally zigzag back north through the woods and field between the physical plant and the apartments, ending at the parking lot where the Farmers' market is held. The last five holes make a complex path back, forth, and around Women's Hill from just north of Fox to the green space between Edna Moore Dormitory and Mars Hill Baptist Church.
There hasn't been any concrete decision about which hole will become the starting point of play; however, white PVC pipes already mark trial positions for baskets.
Pickens' plan calls for paved tee pads and competition grade baskets set in cement.
"Some holes do offer a great view," says Pickens, who is very excited about bringing this sport to the College.
For more information on disc golf, contact Ryan Pickens (689-1179 or 254-4307 or e-mail rpickins@mhc.edu), Gray Spainhour (689-6085) and Jon Jolley (689-6085). There is also a website on the world of professional Frisbee Golf where you can find anything on this sport - http://www.pdga.com.
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