By Katie MacBride, Online Editor-in-Chief
Birdie, bogey, par – any casual golfer knows those terms. How about anhyzer, nose, rim, tail?
Those are just a few of the disc golf terms several students didn’t know about until recently. Disc golf has grown in popularity since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which closed the schools March 13.
Three seniors who have par-ticipated in disc golf’s growing popularity are McCabe Owens, Brady Van Lunen and Cameron Liston.
Both Liston and Van Lunen played disc golf previously, but not to the extent they do now. As for Owens, he just started his disc golf career. The seniors all agree that the school’s closure has increased the amount of time that they play.
“I probably play about every day now,” Owens said. “All my friends were playing, so I figured I would try it.”
The Casey R. Logan Disc Golf Course – tucked away past the FFHS football stadium at the end of the gravel road – is now a safe haven for many students, providing them with an entertaining quarantine activity. It is also a great way for students to get outside and get a little exercise.
Disc golf is similar in concept to regular golf in that players aim for targets on the course that they try to reach as quickly as possible. In this case, specialty discs are thrown hundreds of yards through the wooded course and across the dunes of Kill Devil Hills until they clank into the metal basket.
“One of my favorite things about playing disc golf is that it is relaxing and peaceful,” Liston said. “It is nice to get outside and see your friends. It is also just really fun to play.”
Although the sport is fun and entertaining, it does come with a couple frustrations. Van Lunen describes the course’s obstacles as being one.
“Hitting trees is definitely a big one,” Van Lunen said with a laugh. “Sometimes you will have a good throw and then the disc just smacks a tree. It is also annoying when you miss really easy putts.”
Disc golf has provided fun memoires for the seniors, as well, including spending time together and doing well on the course.
“I almost got an ace or a hole-in-one on hole 13 one time,” Owens said. “Hole 13 is one of my favorite holes on the course.”
Even when quarantine ends, the seniors have no par-ticular plans to stop playing this new sport and believe they will continue to play disc golf in college.
“Since school has been out, I have definitely been more interested in disc golf more than before,” Liston said. “I will for sure continue to play once everything is back to normal. I think others should try to make disc golf a hobby, too.”
Junior Katie MacBride can be reached at [email protected].
