It snowed last night.
I don’t enjoy disc golf in the snow. I’m vocal about it on X. In great detail, the reasons for it will be the subject of a future post. One of them, however, will be the highlight of today’s piece …
Lost discs.
But not just any kind of lost discs …
Discs that go missing in the most obvious of places.
Allow me to explain.
Let’s say it’s a lazy Sunday morning. Knowing the course is crowded, you decide to hit up a vacant soccer pitch for some field work. You empty your bag, but keep the total number of discs you need to retrieve in the back of your mind, so as not to leave one behind when you’re done.
Only, as you gather them up, you realize you’re one short. You look and look, but to no avail. Soon, you’re walking in circles, knowing the disc has to be in the field – it can be nowhere else.
The head gets hot; the heart beats quickly. It’s been a solid 30 minutes, so you head for home. Most frustrating of all, you know within 24 hours some rando park-goer is getting a freebie.
And it’ll probably serve as Fido’s newest chew toy.
Can you relate?
Losing a disc in the snow is like THAT.
But worse.
Because half the time, when you lose one to the white stuff, you know exactly where it landed. You tracked the frisbee throughout its entire flight. You could walk straight to it, if need be.
And still …
Gonzo.
Adding insult to injury, this surprises nobody. You’ve been here before; you know the drill. You knew this was possible the moment you suited up for a snowy round. Yet, due to an obsession with the game, you couldn’t help but roll the dice on the survival of your most prized fliers.
Never thrown in the snow before?
Here’s the problem:
Discs rarely land flat – like, perfectly flat. There’s always some angle of entry. When the edge of a disc hits snow, it slices right through it, instantly burying itself. Fresh powder’s the worst, but the same thing can happen with frozen-over snowfall, too. From there, things get tricky …
Having put two and two together, you know to look for a slit in the snow – that’s your ticket to finding your frisbee. You’d think this’d be an easy task, but it’s needle-in-a-haystack hard.
In a panic, you start kicking up snow, hoping to unearth what’s buried below. Sometimes this works. Unfortunately, however, most of the time, you’ve inadvertently added a layer of snow atop your disc. And packed it firmly in place with your frantic footsteps, for good measure.
As a result, as soon as the weather turns warm, and the snow begins to melt …
Free frisbee.
From YOU to someone else.
Consider this your one and only warning:
Disc golf in the snow at your own risk.
You’re likely to head back to the car with a lighter load than when you started.
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