Are you looking for an eye-opening experience?
Try the back-end moderation of this blog’s comments – it can be terrifying. We welcome all opinions, so the vast majority of ‘em are pushed through without issue. Praise is nice. You can disagree, of course. And if you want to put our articles on “blast mode,” that’s fine, too.
What IMMEDIATELY gets comments deleted, however, are any that contain profanity, personal attacks, or sexually explicit material. Lucas deals with at least a dozen of them a week, if you can believe it. Seriously, how readers manage to somehow lump in procreative powers when ranting about the Star TL3 is beyond me – that’s a level of creative writing I’ll never know.
These tend to be the “hot-button” topics:
- Topic No. 1 – Anything that speaks even remotely negative of a Pro Tour player.
- Topic No. 2 – Anything that speaks even remotely negative of disc golf.
- Topic No. 3 – Anything that speaks even remotely negative of a disc.
Now this might surprise you a bit …
The thing that brings out the WORST in readers is that last one: bad-mouthing a disc.
If you want to get a dude mad at you, tell him his wife’s ugly. If you want a dude to knock out your front teeth with zero hesitation, tell him his bag’s ugly – because of the Stego that’s in it.
As I see it, “the line” isn’t that hard to define – don’t cross it. At the same time, however, as a disc golfer myself, I can relate to the passion with which our game’s greatest “keyboard warriors” defend their preferred molds – below are three reasons that’s the case:
1. You lose something pricey (that shouldn’t be losable)
Whether you like it or not, disc golf is the tie-dyed, loud-mouthed stepchild of ball golf …
Trust me: The sooner you can accept this, the better off you’ll be – embrace the oddity.
In ball golf, balls can still be expensive, but losing one isn’t the end of the world. In fact, in most clubhouses, you can buy balls in bulk at a bargain – they’re the ones the landscaping crew finds out on the course. They clean ‘em up and resell them to golfers looking to save a few bucks.
That’s not a thing in disc golf.
Even if you take to a used bin, you’re dropping a minimum $7 or $8 on the thing. Spring for something new, and it’s not uncommon for a disc to set you back $20-plus. Without a doubt, losing a golf frisbee hits the wallet harder in disc golf than it does for our ball-golf brethren.
Hold the phone: It gets worse …
Golf discs are PLENTY visible – you can see them while flying through the air. Half of the golf balls I lose are because I’m hitting something both white and microscopic against a sky-blue backdrop. When I can’t find one, it’s a reality my brain’s comfortable with – I get it.
I’m not yet there with discs; they’re too big, bright and bulky for this nonsense.
2. Two discs of the same mold fly differently
Golf balls, tennis balls, baseballs and basketballs – from brand to brand, a professional in any one of these disciplines can likely tell the difference. But when a tennis ball exits the court, the server doesn’t handpick the one he’ll resume play with – it’s given to him, because they’re all basically the same. You see the same thing in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, etc.
Within discs of the same mold, here are things that (greatly) affect flight:
- Random Factor No. 1 – The cooling process.
- Random Factor No. 2 – The plastic pellets.
- Random Factor No. 3 – The time of year.
- Random Factor No. 4 – The climate.
- Random Factor No. 5 – The color.
And that’s merely the tip of the iceberg …
Just because you like the Star Boss doesn’t mean you’ll like ALL Star Bosses. You might’ve found the perfect Lucid Felon for your fairway game – it could be tough finding another that does the exact same thing. Midranges and putters? More of the same, guys – sorry …
Yeah, hence the $400 worth of backup CE Spiders I’ve purchased in case I lose the one I’ve had for 20 years or so. Not that I throw that one over water; I have backup champ spiders for that shot.
— Tim Gaynor (@iamtimgaynor) June 8, 2022
Thank goodness my wife plays disc golf.
Disc quality is the ultimate in “it depends” answers – it’s infuriating.
Without any backups from the same run, losing one of your $$$ discs is a big deal …
A REALLY big deal.
3. There are stories attached to these things
Barry Bonds’ 756th home run ball sold at auction to Marc Ecko to the tune of $752,467. At the same time, however, as of 2016, the average MLB baseball has a lifespan of seven pitches. So, yeah – memories can certainly be made, but they sure as h*ck better happen quickly …
Baseballs might be a dime a dozen, but discs aren’t – used properly, they can stay in a bag for years. And like a cast-iron skillet, they only get better with age. The flight, at least – not the flavor they hold. First aces, nutty league nights, clutch putts, epic rollaways, prodigal plastic, workhorse weapons: Round after round, discs serve as a reminder of what once was …
And of what’s to come, as well.
Keep the comments PG-rated, if you can, but if you can’t …
Reference this post as an excuse.
Have anything to add? Take to Twitter to let us know – we’ll actually (for real) get back to you.
Editor’s Suggestions:
- Disc golf: There’s no right (or wrong) way to putt
- Disc golf: This one thing determines the discs you’ll bag
- Disc golf: The problem with speed-one throwing putters
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