How about 'shooting the breeze?'

Published January 29, 2007 12:00 am –

 Ice Bowl brrrrrrrr-fect!
Star Beacon
Disc Golfers give Old Man Winter the cold shoulder
By BOB ETTINGER  Staff Writer

ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP - Almost to a person, the competitors in the 2007 Shoot the Breeze Disc Golf Club Ice Bowl wanted the worst of wintry weather on Sunday.

After several hours of sunshine and calm, Old Man Winter came through, forcing the participants to play their final holes in wind, blinding snow and falling temperatures.

"It was still calm and sunny (this morning)," Tom Mote said. "Then the conditions worsened. The wind kicked up, snow was blowing, the course was four strokes worse (than earlier in the day)."

"It was more difficult, not worse," Mike Mote said. "I liked it."

All 24 participants loved every moment of it.

"It was great," Larry Jennings said. "Probably about 45 minutes before we were done, the snow came down. That's what I had hoped for. It was almost like whiteout conditions. The snow was sticking to you. It was the exact opposite of the typical weather we usually play disc golf in."

There were also those that couldn't help but play, even if their better judgment told them not to.

"I'm usually a fair-weather player," Reggie Woodworth said. "(The other members of the Shoot the Breeze Disc Golf Club) shamed me into playing today."

In the end, the reason the players were out Sunday had little to do with the weather. It was about the competition, and maybe more importantly, the reason for the competition.

"It's a nice, local event that really helps out some local charities," Tom Mote said.

"It's fantastic," Joe Holbrook said. "It's for a good cause and it's something I'll continue doing for a long time."

As well as the entry fee to participate, competitors were asked to bring a canned good. Preliminary counts show that the Ice Bowl raised over $700 and more than a hundred pounds of food.

"Everybody does walk-a-thons. But everybody does them at the same time. I do this and nobody else does, so I don't have any competition."

Team Bag Book, consisting of Rich Givens, Bill Flynn and Jim Nestor, won the event with a four-over-par 58.

"We got off to a good start in the first round," Givens said. "We were able to continue that. Then the conditions worsened."

"It got scary there at the end," Flynn said.

LCM - Larry, Curly and Moe - finished two strokes off the lead with 60, but made up a stroke in the final round. Team members included Joe Holbrook (Larry), Ken Birdman (Curly) and Kevin Brady (Moe).

In third place was Team Euclid (Mark Thompson, John Schwarz and Christopher "Kipper" Kendzierski) with a 61.

Steve Pavik won the Closest to the Pin contest.

"It was my first throw of the day," Pavik said. "It was all downhill from there."

Article Publication Date: 7/24/2005
Discs fly at park course -Area residents compete weekly

TENNESSEE RESIDENT Wayne Bradshaw is from Tennessee but is in the area this summer to work at the Medieval Faire.  He works around a tree during a disc golf match in Ashtabula Township.

ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP - The pioneers went west in the 1800s, but recreation ideas seem to flow in an opposite direction in the 21st century.

Golf Frisbee was born in the 1970s in California, with the first formal disc golf course created in Oak Grove Park in 1975, said Larry Jennings, of Ashtabula.

Jennings starting researching the subject after getting turned on to the sport a little more than a year ago. He said he was taking pictures at Lakeshore Park when he saw people throwing flying discs at metal cages.

Tom Mote, a resident of Geneva-on-the-Lake, has a longer history with the recreational phenomenon.

He said his brother played the game in 1987 in Sacramento, Calif., and called Tom to share his new found love of disc golf.
In 1988 Mote ventured out to Geneva Township Park and began tossing Frisbees at trees.
Almost 10 years later Mote got motivated when he received a disc course directory from his brother. He found a certified course in Medina.
"I went there and got hooked immediately," Mote said. After demonstrating the sport for several years, he finally convinced the Lakeshore Park Board to allow the installation of the course in May 2000.
"There are people from out of state here every day," Mote said of his creation that cost $20,000. He said the park paid about $1,800 and the rest was raised by the "Shoot the Breeze Disc Golf Club."
The course is set up like a golf course with different categories of difficulty at each hole. "It’s (for) all skill levels. There three tees," he said of the choices on each hole.
Every Sunday, the club meets for an informal morning of team scramble matches. After a break for lunch, they  return for league disc golf that includes a handicapping system similar to bowling, Jennings said.
"It is an inexpensive family activity," Jennings said of the game that has captured his imagination.
Three different kinds of discs are used for the game.
"The drivers are thinner and more aerodynamic," Mote said of the discs that can go as far as 250 feet.
Putters and mid-range discs are also a part of the arsenal. "The putters are meant to go slow and in a straight line," Mote said.
Anyone wanting to play in the league can still join. "All they need is two handicap scores with a league member," Mote said.
Reggy Woodworth came to the game under a bit of duress but has not looked back.
"Tom (Mote) made me play," she said,"I enjoy the exercise. I live around the corner so I can come out and play a few holes," Woodworth said of her proximity to the course.
"It’s a great sport for those with weaknesses and infirmities," said Dano (his legal name). He said he underwent a full knee replacement and is still able to participate.
Members of the club said they appreciate support park officials have shown toward their sport. "The park commission and their employees have been fantastic," Jennings said.
A by-product of their presence is that these disc golfers become extra eyes at the park and pick up litter as they go. The club motto is "leave the course better than you found it," Mote said.
The SBDGC is a non-profit organization that has also done fund raising for those in need. Mote is the president of the organization.
The club coordinates sales at the park and at Squire’s Bakery in Ashtabula.
Jennings said participants walk an average of three miles during an 18-hole round. Club information indicates a professional-quality disc costs about $10.
The league averages about 16 persons a Sunday but could handle many more.
"In a shotgun start you can have 72 people play at a time," Jennings said.
Let the Frisbee discs fly.

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