Disc golf makes for a great after-work activity 

After a good eight hours of staring daggers at my computer screen, making phone calls, and occasionally popping out of the New Times dungeon ... I mean office ... I feel like a vampire hissing at the sun when it's closing time.

Don't get me wrong, I love the summer season and its sweet daylight savings arrangement. I desperately love soaking up the sun the minute the workday is over.

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• Photos By Karen Garcia
• COMPLEMENTARY Some of the starting markers at the disc golf course at Sinsheimer Park had benches with peaceful art on them.

The sentiment is shared with the close friends I made during my employment at Lincoln Market and Deli on Broad Street. If you ever need a nicely wrapped sandwich and good conversation, give me a ring!

The Lincoln kids and I are always looking for something to do after work hours, preferably something that involves being outside.

One Wednesday in June we found ourselves at Sinsheimer Park with a bunch of golf discs and a cooler bag filled with two packs of, ahem, beverages. We were responsible, recycled our cans, and didn't act like rowdy teenagers.

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• Photos By Karen Garcia
• BACKYARD FINDS Nothing helps end the work day right like playing a game of disc golf with your friends Matt Trevino and Adam Aslin at the park.

A couple of us aren't locals, so we weren't aware of the nine-hole disk golf course in the park. In case you're wondering what the origins of the sport are, according to the Professional Disc Golf Association, it doesn't really have a specific start date. There are many accounts of people playing with "flying discs," but they're all isolated incidents. According to the association, in the U.S. it was George Sappenfield who, while playing a game of golf, realized that the sport could be played with a Frisbee.

For the record, disc golf is not easy, especially on a windy day, which I will blame for a couple of my bad throws. It's also a little tricky at first to gauge how far away the basket is, adjust your arm movement, and figure out how you should stand.

For all of this, I have no tips, so sorry about that. The baskets that you're making the discs into are also weirdly placed: some in between trees or around a corner that you can't really see from the starting point. But it keeps the game interesting and forces you to guess where to direct the disc next.

What I can give advice on is to go with a good group of friends who laugh at the terrible throws with you and are great to converse with. Make sure to have about five people, at least, to play with so you can stretch out the time a little bit. Maybe have a beverage or two.

If you're curious—Heilmann Regional Park in Atascadero and Laguna Lake Park in SLO also have disc golf courses. Δ

Staff Writer Karen Garcia is throwing her disc at [email protected].