Bangin’ Chains: Disc golf doubles round-up at Richmond Hill in Asheville

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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What up Asheville! Welcome to the first ever edition of the disc golf report.

In what will hopefully be a reoccurring series, Ashvegas.com will be reporting on a selection of local disc golf tournaments hosted by the WNC Disc Golf Association. I’ll try to keep the unnecessary commentary to a minimum and keep a substantial dose of photos and video on tap to take the edge off. So without further ado, let’s bang some chains.

For those of you unfamiliar with the local pastime, just think traditional golf but with discs. As you would expect, golfers throw a variety of discs (ranging from driver to putter) and shot types to log the least number of strokes possible to get a disc from tee box to basket. Lowest score wins, no prisoners taken. Oh, and (muy importante) leave the attitude in the parking lot. You’re allowed to take it seriously, but disc golf is about having a good time – especially this local brand. If you want to get started then make sure you get the best disk golf set to get your disc golfing off to a good start.

This week, I went to the brutally challenging yet beautiful links of Richmond Hill, and if you’ve never played there , it is a total pain in the ass. But that’s entirely what makes it so enjoyable. If it isn’t the forest of natural obstacles or the constant severe elevation changes that get you, then certainly the mandos (mandatory routes) on hole #’s 9 & 18 will. Check out the video below to take a peek at what the course has to offer.

The match itself was great. The weather was perfect – temperature on point, wind conditions at minimal, sun shining and birds chirping (I couldn’t resist Hendersonville, sorry). About 50 players showed up to enter the tournament ($5 a player). A decent payout always makes things a touch more interesting.

This weeks flavor of tourney was “Captains Choice” doubles. So let me break it down: you have a randomly drawn partner for the whole game and at the beginning of each hole, you both take a tee shot, decide who had the better shot, and then both take your next shot from there. Repeat that cycle until you get the disc in the basket. This is one of my favorite game types for sure, because it’s so forgiving – not everyone is a pro level disc golfer, so when you accidentally toss a disc into the infinite hell-mouth abyss of #13, you’ve got a partner there to take a second crack at it. It’s a great way for anybody new to a structured DG tourney to jump right in and learn the ropes.

The match itself played out pretty smoothly. I saw some amazing shots, lots of terrible shots, and a ton of unique approaches and techniques, all played with varying degrees of swagger. One guy was using all MVP’s discs and I must say they looked good. Plenty of good lessons to be learned this day. Rather than attempt to write about it all, just flip through the slideshow below to check out some highlights.

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Photos courtesy of Daniel Griffin

Such a kick-ass day for a little disco action. In the end, me and my partner Paul (real nice fellow) shot 4 under par, while the top dogs of the tourney shot 11 under par. Speaking of: kudos to Harry P & Jacob for taking the title this week. I included an official champion photo below so everyone can stare in awe of their supreme victory.

Dub Champs – Harry P. & Jacob – shot a 44, like some bosses.

Full Breakdown of this weeks cash winners:

1st with 44 Harry P/ Jacob
2nd with 46 Leif/ Mike D
3rd with 46 Mike C/ Evan
4th with 46 Kevin V/ Jeff Flake
5th with 46 Barrett/ Stan
6th with 46 KP/ Shorty
Nate K. – CTP winner

So that about wraps things up for this one, but before I go, a shameless plug for the awesome people that make these events happen. Major props to the WNC Disc Golf Association & sub-committee member Bengi Rogers for letting Ashvegas get involved.

The WNCDGA offers a number of awesome tournaments & events that are open to the public:

Weekly

Mondays – Random Draw Doubles, Black Mountain DG Course, 5:30 pm

Tuesdays – Random Draw Doubles, Richmond Hill DG Course, 5:30 pm

Wednesdays – Handicap League, Lake Julian DG Course, 5:30 pm

Thursdays – Random Draw Doubles, Richmond Hill DG Course, 10:00 am

Fridays – Singles, Richmond Hill DGC, Coming soon

Monthly

First Sunday of every month – Singles, Rotating Courses & Times

Jackson Park Work Day (help build the new course) – May 10th

For more information, head on over to the WNC Disc Golf Association facebook page.