Miami Quarterly

Disc Golf

A Walking Tour of Miami's Frisbee Golf Course

Bobby Goodwin

Issue date: 4/13/09 Section: Sports

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Okay disc golf aficionados,
so Miami’s frisbee golf
course isn’t the nicest
course ever...Winton
Woods’ course off 275
is far more scenic, shady
and in better condition.

The argument over which course is better doesn't really matter though. Miami students should be grateful to have a frisbee golf course on their very own campus, where they can play for free virtually anytime during the day, particularly during these last days of spring classes.

Just like in "real" golf, dress matters. Only in frisbee golf, the opposite clothing is acceptable. Take no shirt, no shoes, no service and reverse it. Students have been seen playing Miami's course barefoot. Although a pair of sneakers you don't care about is probably smarter than none at all, as for tops and bottoms, the same applies. Your outfit should resemble something similar to what you mow your lawn in.

Obviously, instead of clubs, frisbees are used. Not the same frisbee you throw to your dog, frisbee golf discs are generally heavier, smaller and shaped for the type of shot and distance you want. Wildberry has two brands of discs available for purchase: Discraft and Innova Disc Golf each offer drivers, mid-range discs and putters for $9.50 each. Again, just like in "real" golf, the amount of "clubs" a golfer has is dependent on how serious he or she takes the sport.

Now, disc golf isn't for everyone. Don't wear your new pair of Sperry Top-Siders and expect them to come out looking the same as they did on the shelf at Journey's after 18 holes of frisbee-ing, especially at Miami's current overly waterlogged course. Exhibit A: the short, muddy ditch one must cross from hole one to hole two. This sport (and Miami's course) isn't for the prissy. Let's start the tour.

According to discgolfstore.com, Miami's frisbee golf course is one of 194 courses in Ohio. Located on Western Campus, the course begins right by the random bleachers in the open field behind Bachelor Hall. Overall, the course plays longer than other local disc golf spots (holes eight and 12 are head and shoulders longer than any others, listed at 487 and 525 feet long, respectively).

The first hole, located right by the course map, is the most well marked, straightforward par three on the course. Trudge through the mud ditch to play the nearly identical hole two.

After hole two, cross over Western Drive to number three. Its tee box (i.e. concrete slab) is nestled in a relatively open clearing, with a "pitch-in" trashcan conveniently located adjacent to it. Unfortunately, this trashcan is exactly one half of all the courses' trash options, so try real hard not to litter between holes three and 18 (where the other, final trashcan is).

Hole four is the first of several holes to be missing a yardage sign (see-or don't see-the other missing signs for holes five, seven and 13 as well). Holes four and five are also the first time Western's old-fashioned arched stone bridge come into play. Try and avoid hitting parts of it with your tee shot.

Walk down to hole six for a simple par three, slightly headed towards the left.

Golfers literally won't know where to begin on hole seven. A long trek up a gravel hill, with no directions, signs or markers, many a frisbee-er will walk all the way up to Patterson Ave. before realizing this. According to course regulars, the unofficial tee box is at the start of the second light post on the walk up the hill, played as a par five. Hole seven is the hardest, dumbest and most absurd hole on the entire course, with the hole location right near the field hockey goals.

Walk across the field to number eight, which thank goodness, has a sign. A huge tee shot is required to reach the dogleg right approach shot at the base of the swan pond.

Number nine is one of the more aesthetically pleasing holes, on a downhill slope adjacent to the art museum.

Get pumped up for hole 10, a monster 308 foot par three that plays more like 400 feet up the steepest hill on the course. Just when you've surmounted the hill, go right back down after you tee off on number 11, now a huge downhill, making its being a par five seem silly after the doubly difficult par three ten.

Not quite as confusing to get to as number seven, hole 12 is a decent uphill walk near Peabody Hall, getting back to the front nine portion of Western.

Hole 13, with no sign, is an extremely short, assumedly par three right by the church.

Alas, directionless again, to get to hole 14, walk across the same bridge you walked underneath while playing number five, and throw your disc 165 feet to the hole next to Mary Lyon Hall.

At this point, the course gets a little easier to maneuver. Holes 15 and 16 are both uncomplicated, easy to see par three's.

Now, for the home stretch, cross back over Western Drive to hole 17, a basic par four by the soccer nets. Hole 18's par three is just a hop, skip and jump away, and (finally) offers a place to throw any empty cans or food wrappers away.

While Miami's frisbee golf course is in some serious need of grounds maintenance and repair, it's still a great place to spend a couple hours outdoors. As Mark Twain famously said, "Golf is a good walk, spoiled." Unless you take your disc golf game really seriously, luckily, frisbee golf is mostly just a good walk.

BY THE NUMBERS