J+A Disc Golf Road Trip!
/It’s crazy to think less than a year ago… I had no idea what disc golf was. Actually the funny thing is, when Justin and I started playing, I kept calling it frisbee golf. But Frisbee is a brand name (kinda like Kleenex) so I think the proper terminology is actually disc golf!
Justin and I started playing on the regular after “competing” in the #JAMOlympics late last July. He was wrapping up baseball and thought it would be something fun to do together. So we brainstormed 3 days of play!
The 1st day = Putt Putt in Carmel
We met up with a couple friends who live up that direction and had a double date night! Drinks + Putt Putt + Crumbl Cookies + Dinner at our new fave CraftersThe 2nd day = Duck Pin Bowling downtown
I won a gift card from my dentist to the new Bottleworks Hotel and Pins right next door — we made a little staycation out of it!The 3rd day = “Frisbee” Golf at Gibbs
We borrowed a couple discs from a friend at church for our first outing at Gibbs and quickly fell in love!
Let’s just say… soon there after, we had our own discs and bags! It’s so fun to do this together because:
(1) we get outside, (2) it’s good exercise and (3) we spend good, quality time with one another!
Last Fall, I was in Ohio (honestly more than I was in Indiana) getting things ready for an estate sale at my Grandparents. It was nice that when I came back to Indy (or even when Justin came to Ohio), we had something fun to reconnect with! It also gave Justin something fun to do while I was gone. And not just playing either… he’s a big researcher and YouTuber (is that even a word? Lol) — so he learned a lot watching the pro players and the different discs. It honestly set us up for success with all he discovered!
We even took our discs with us on a family vacation to Tybee Island last September. We realized that UDisc (the app we use to keep track of our score), had this really cool map that shows the courses you played. We decided it would be super fun to play in all 50 states and made it a goal! On our way home from that trip, we actually stopped and played at a course in Florida and Tennessee. We were 3 states closer than before we left!
As winter was approaching, Justin talked about how he wanted to escape the cold and go somewhere warm to play. We tossed around several ideas but finally landed on going South! We put all the Christmas money we got together and started selling some baseball cards on eBay to fund our trip.
Fast forward to Thursday, February 2nd and we were HITTING THE ROAD!
*HEAD START — Stayed in Ashland, KY!
After dropping the doodle off at Granny’s in OH (AKA his vacation house), we drove a couple hours to a Hampton Inn in Ashland, KY. It was right along the WV border and meant we only had to drive 2 hours to the course in the morning!
Day 1 — Redeemer Course in Charleston, WV
PLAYED: 18 Holes on YELLOW
(Colors: Blue, White, Yellow)
Beautiful, up in the mountains! Literally.
Loved the first 8 holes. After that it was majorly uphill (AKA we were scaling the mountain) which was hard to our keep balance cause it so muddy. We def wished we had some trail shoes!
Saw a TON of deer! They were super close and probably the first time I saw deer move toward us and not run the other direction.
We made a friend! The GOAT Steve. Steve and I talked on the phone earlier in the week and it was nice to meet him in person! His shop had more than 9K discs (that was his goal and he finally reached it this year!)
It worked out that we were there the day the 6 claws and Simon’s discs came out! And the Fission Envy. Got first dibs at Noon! (Or a few minutes before ;) )
Lost my mini but Steve gave me a new one after I got my new bag! So it was a tradeoff LOL
Tried to use my new disc right off the rip going uphill and WOAH buddy. That went left and I almost hit 2 cars LOL.
J’s favorite hole: the ISLAND hole (He got a BIRDIE!)
A’s favorite hole: the bridge hole (She got a BIRDIE!)
Day 2 — Diavolo at New Hope in Cary, NC
PLAYED: 22 holes on RED
(Colors: Blue, White, Red)
Holy smokes it was POPPING when we showed up! Almost every parking space in the lot was full. We found a spot and I went across the street to potty while Justin laced up (speaking of, the restrooms were super nice).
We had someone behind us and ahead of use most of the we were playing. But it was really cool to see people of all ages playing! From kids that were 2 years old, to teenagers in high school, mid life and older folks! With their pup that mosey’d behind them :)
Mainly in the woods! A little chilly but warmed up once started playing. Absolutely gorgeous!
Saw a two guys fishing for discs — pulled a Penny out of the pond! We didn't lose any discs!
One one of the holes toward the 1/2 way point, I almost stepped on a pair of Oakley’s. They belonged to a guy playing right ahead of us! Felt nice to return them to their owner!
We were both FEELING it after 22 holes!
J’s favorite hole: Water hole (#8)
A’s favorite hole: The mountain hole (#10)
Day 3 — Winthrop at Rock Hill, SC
PLAYED: Easy course! Lakefront - 18 holes
Absolutely EPIC! Our favorite course we have EVER played so far!!!!
Older guy in the parking lot was trying to sell us discs out of his car.
We watched the 2022 USDGC the night before and it was so neat to see the holes in real life. That was neat because the holes “came alive” in a sense while we were playing!
MANDO hole!!! About died trying to through our discs in it. Got close but not in on first throw! ANTS
Baseball team was scrimmaging against themselves!
J lost a disc in the water on Hole 16 :( But he did a bean fling on 18 and even though it went in the water, he was able to retrieve! The guys behind us weren’t so lucky lol.
Seriously the COOLEST course!!!
Also drove to Innova factory after and they had baskets / discs outside. Got 1 for J’s collection and a smiley mini for me. Still shutdown for tours due to COVID :(
That night at dinner, we saw a USDGC special on ESPN but couldn’t find on TV after that. Ended up finding it on the Disc Golf Channel when we got back home!
Day 4 — Peach City in Clanton, AL
Played: 18 Holes on “The Peach” WHITE course
Colors: Blue, White
Super fun! Easier than others we’ve played recently.
J got 3 birdie’s and only 1 bogey.
A needs to figure out her putting (STRUGGLING)J’s drives are going so far! He’s really getting a good grip on which discs to use. Even threw his Wraith!
Perfect way to split up our long 8+ hour drive!
Used the claw to get my CRAVE out of the tree… it’s always that one! Lol
Had plenty of bathrooms which was really nice.
A’s favorite hole: Sunken ship! (#17)
J’s favorite hole: The one with the shipping container bridge on the side! (#5)
Day 5 — *REST DAY*
Played “Glitch” on the Gulf Shores beach. The wind definitely made it a little tough to toss but it was so nice and peaceful!
Went to Flight Factory in Pensacola, FL! Awesome store. Crazy to see it in person since we’ve (AKA Justin) has ordered a bunch of discs from them online. We overhead a couple guys talking, saying they saw Paige Pierce at a nearby course earlier that day! How freaking cool!
Was gonna try to play at Calvin’s course but it’s in Clearwater… 8 hours way…. LOL
Pensacola Univeristy was near there so tried to play but it was SO busy and the course was in the middle of so many things going on (softball practice, soccer practice, kid’s daycare, strength and agility training, people just out and about walking to get some fresh air, etc etc etc) soooooo we played 2 holes and then decided to call it quits for the day!
Nice to take a mid-trip break to rest + reset!
Day 6 — Hiller Park in Biloxi, MS
Played: 22 holes on Red Tees
Colors: Red, White, Blue
Stopped here on our way to New Orleans for the night!
Met a friend who we played with the entire time! He works off shore so that was neat to hear more about his life. He told us we had to try Oooey Gooey bars which we actually found at the Kings Cake shop in NOLA! They were delish!!
We were gonna play WHITE but quickly learned those didn’t have tee pads so we shifted to playing RED!
Parts of the park felt run down (tennis court was falling apart) but other parts were nice! It was also super soup-y when we went. Lots of rain the night before!
Signage made it super easy to see the holes but some you didn’t know the best way to get to them because of the standing water.
We actually got a couple Flight Factory can toppers and used them on our AHA’s we got for free at our hotel. When we pulled Justin’s out in the sun after we were done playing, we noticed it CHANGED COLORS. That was crazy cool!
J’s favorite hole: Island Hole (#1) or (#6?) a fork in the road! Pick your direction!
A’s favorite hole: Straight shot toward the end! (#19?) By the shopping container, across the creek!
Day 7 — City Park in New Orleans, LA
Played: 9 holes on Blue (short) baskets!
Let’s be real. This was the night after my birthday on Bourbon Street sooooo we weren’t quite feeling up for 18 holes hahah.
It was so WET — the first hole had a hugeeeee pond surrounding the basket so we ended up throwing to another color. It worked!
This course was also very FLAT compared to a lot of courses we played on this trip! That was nice!
Justin almost BIRDED a shot on Hole 8! It literally hit the chains and fell out. Even the guy playing on Hole 9 stopped us to tell us he thought that was going in!
Mando Hole 9 reminded me of Winthrop!!!
We stopped “early” AKA didn’t do the entire 18 holes but would LOVE to come back and play again!
J’s favorite hole: #9 with the Mando!
A’s favorite hole: #6 cause I got a birdie with my Luna!!!
Day 8 — Persimmon Ridge in Greenbrier, AR
Played: 9 holes on Chillow short (yellow)! And a partial round (5 holes) on Sanders Loops Blue until it started to rain / get super wet.
PR = The Pinnacle!!!! An old golf course that Kim + her husband Steve turned into a Disc Golf course. We watched this Youtube video before we left for our trip that told more about their story / the history of the disc golf course.
Hands down, Justin’s FAV course we played ! A really enjoyed it too but Justin is obsessed ;)
They had an incredible shop and we met Kim! And her pup!
We also were able to rent a GOLF CART! That’s actually how we stumbled upon this place after the place I wanted to play in Branson (that had golf carts) shut down the month before.
Luke Humphries has hosted tourney’s here before. I got his patch with him + his pup in the shop! Also got a confetti disc that I can barely throw…. oh gosh it’s so stable LOL. But she’s pretty! J got a pink Toro he’s OBSESSED with!
Off the first rip, hit a sign (left from the old golf course) and split it half. Whoops again.
Left the freaking KINGS CAKE ON TOP OF THE CAR… what was I thinking?! Oh yeah, I wasn’t. Whoops! Haha
Looked into coming back to play in their tournaments! They have primitive camping you can camp + play. Might be fun! J is on their newsletter so we’ll be in the loop of all the deets!
J’s favorite hole: The hole back in the woods, throwing up the green on the Blue course! (#3)
A’s favorite hole: The last hole (#9) on Chillow! Basket up the side hill in the trees!
We both also loved the OG! (Hole #1) Across the parking lot down to the PR bushes!
When we got back home, we ranked the courses! Here’s where they landed!
ASHLEY:
#1 - Winthrop
#2 - Peach City
#3 - Persimmon
#4 - City Park
#5 - Redeemer
#6 - Diavolo
#7 - Hiller Park
JUSTIN:
#1 - Persimmon
#2 - Winthrop
#3 - Diavolo
#4 - City Park
#5 - Peach City
#6 - Redeemer
#7 - Hiller Park
We seriously had the very best time on this trip! We’re already talking about taking a couple mini trips later this year. Our 2023 goal is to play in 20/50 states! We ended with 12/50 on this trip… so we have 8 more to go!!
Really looking forward to see where the wind takes us next! Although please no wind while we’re playing ;) Hehe
