A Round-O-Golf (at the Cabin?!)

 

                    David Schneider                          

 

 

 

          FORE!
      A cackle shatters the tranquility as a Frisbee-like disk pierces the north woods just after the commencement of cocktail hour.
      Ten people of all ages giggle, taunt, and cheer as they meander, toddy in one hand, disc in the other, through their contiguous lake lots in Northern Wisconsin.
        This is Round-O-Golf, the popular disc golf sport of colleges, clubs, and resorts played gonzo style. That is, not on manicured lawns or playing fields, but over, between and through the north woods and lakes.

                                        
                                 Proper preparation at the Lake Elenor Disc Course, including hydration gear, is shown above.

On the First Tee with the Chairman

and CEO of Round-O-Golf.com..

 

The first to “tee off,” my son Robert, lays up nicely in front of the “hole”- actually a brightly colored net made out of PVC and fishing net material. He ends up taking a two, as do all the others except me. I score a four due to an unfortunate second shot into the woods. My good friend Dan Seering, who designed the course and owns the cabin next to ours, almost starts off with a hole in one. Dale Reineke, a mutual friend who liked Seering’s idea and now builds and sells the disc games online under the “Round-O-Golf” brand, also picks up a two, as does his son Danny, who has become the course Ace.

Already I am under the gun. Even Arthur Yago, age eight, is beating me. A four is not the way to start, but Canadian whisky and cigar in hand, I will not be denied. We continue.

 

 

The Official Scorekeeper.

 

 

       The Lake Elenor Disc Golf Course has it all: Eighteen holes- er nets- complete with scorecards, prize money, side bets and a 19th hole. The 19^th is actually a tool shed modified by Seering to include a bar, leader board, and trophy case. A comfort station adorns the 8^th fairway. It’s filled with Scotch. Oh, and there is a rule book. Ah the rules…

On this particular day, a rules infraction is being deliberated by the “Board.” The Board consists of the four oldest among this band of degenerates. The controversy is; can a birch leaf be torn off a branch that is blocking a shot after tournament play has commenced?

    “Is the tree living or dead?” One asks. “Doesn’t matter,” responds another, “the hole has already been played by other contestants during regulation play.” Tempers start to flare but cooler heads prevail. Play resumes.

         Next comes the 5^th hole which, like some par threes on the PGA tour, carries an instant prize; in this case $100.00 for a hole in one. The shot involves throwing the disc left to right over the roof of Seering’s cabin, missing “Grandpa’s maple” standing in the approach, and slipping into the net while ascending from high over head. While almost every other net at Lake Elenor has been “holed” at least once, The Over-the-Cabin Dogleg at Five has yet to give up the Benjamin.

 

A stop at the Comfort Station.

 

Any number of disc styles can be found at The Elenor Course.

 

 

      Our circle of family and friends has been convening at the Lake for forty years. Calling this hallowed ground would not be a stretch for the owners and guests who continue to come here year after year. The Lake Elenor Disc Golf Course actually started out as a pitch and putt golf course down our main right of way, with real golf balls, real clubs, and real holes many years ago.

 

     It began, as most worthwhile endeavors at the Lake do, with a challenge and a bet. I won’t go into the inspiration for the first nine holes thirty years ago; suffice to say we used to play when tent campers were slept in before our cabins were built with indoor plumbing. Over the years, golf balls were getting too hard to find in the woods and after several small fortunes were lost to Titleist, disc golf nets became “holes” and discs replaced golf clubs and balls.

 

Scoping it out on a rather cool Northwwoods afternoon.

Guess which one visits from Florida each year…

 

         

          After the front nine we come to the water holes, where the course meanders down to the lake and nets are placed on rafts. Tee boxes are piers sticking out into the Lake. A hole in one earns you a minus one. A miss, and you better swim out or climb in a canoe or some other water toy before your disc sinks or drifts out of range. I, dressed in jeans and sweatshirt on this particular afternoon, elect to take a default three (it’s in the rulebook). So do some others.

     My son in law Max and Danny, however, now tied for the lead, go for it; Max's shot lands in the water and he runs for the boats. Danny drills a hole in one, en-route to a possible course record. The comfort station had been emptied four holes ago and a certain rowdiness now pervades the goings on.

 

The tricky 16^th.

 

     Two more holes and Danny prevails, missing his own course record but moving comfortably into first place for the tournament week. His name has been imprinted on the club house trophy for the last two years. We all swear vengeance. The scorecard is signed, the 19^th hole visited, and the leader board updated. Only then is dinner started.

     Tomorrow, after the chores are done and the fishing and the kayaking and the waterskiing are over, cocktail hour will approach and we’ll do it all over again.

 

The Trophy

 

The Annual Awards party in the shed-er Clubhouse.

 

 *Get your own set of Round-O-Golf disc golf equipment at Stand by for new address to serve you

                                                                                                     better!

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