OPC Open Gets Disk Golf Season Underway
It was a cold Saturday for the opening of the disk golf season.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – Friday gave everyone a taste of spring. Motorcycles could be heard rumbling the streets of Oskaloosa, and residents took to trails and parks to soak up the warm weather.
Saturday was a reminder that winter would prefer to stay around. The cold and winds didn’t speak to enjoying the outdoors, but 89 people took to the disk golf course at Edmundson Park on Saturday. Those disk golfer’s came from all around the state of Iowa and included some participants from Illinois.
TJ Brom, event coordinator, was taking shelter in his truck for warmth, as he kept track of the progress of the 2013 OPC Open, in its 9th year in Oskaloosa. It’s the first PDGA (Professional Disk Golf Association) sanctioned tournament in Iowa, “So no matter the weather, it always draws a good crowd,” Brom said. The open is held in Oskaloosa every March.
The golfers play two rounds of 18. The rules for disk golf are nearly the same as traditional golf, and the lowest score wins. A player will tee off and then use a variety of disks to ultimately get their disk into the basket in the least amount of throws. Brom said that some players carry upwards of 20 different disks in their bag. Those different disks would equate to different drivers, mid-ranges and even a putter.
This year featured two professional divisions, an open division, and a master division for the golfer over 40.
Brom said that, of course, the wind was making the course even more challenging than normal. “This wind adds a big degree of difficulty to it, it changes how the disks fly. The wind, the cold, it wears on you physically and mentally.”
Brom took an interest in holding disk golf events nearly 13 years ago when he ran a league at the course. After some others who had ran the tournaments stepped to the side, Brom took up the task of keeping tournaments in Oskaloosa.
Getting outside into nature and seeing new places and new courses and the camaraderie are some of the things that keep Brom interested in the sport.
