A stroll through Arvada Memorial Park with Matt Bassman reveals an epitome of disc golf in Jefferson County.
As he rifles through his bag of specialized discs to find the proper size to launch toward one of the 18 baskets installed at the park, he relates one of the realities of a sport outgrowing its current local geography.
“I was lining up to putt and got dropped to my knees when somebody drilled me in the back of the head with a drive,” the Longmont resident and disc golf enthusiast said. “I know he didn’t mean to, but that’s what happens out here sometimes with all the other people and distractions.”
Such was the state of disc golf in Jeffco as competitors and casual players vied for air time in parks populated with playgrounds, picnic tables and the ever-present throngs of revelers flocking to open space.
Not anymore.
A cooperative effort between the city of Arvada and the Mile High Disc Golf Club is culminating in the construction of the first course in the county dedicated to the sport tracing its origins to the 1970s.
“They let us use the land and we do all the construction and maintenance,” MHDG club president John Bird said of the 40-acre site taking shape out of the thistles and cacti lacing the bottom land adjacent to the Arvada Reservoir. “When we finish, we’ll have a championship course that can go from 18 to 27 holes.”
A recent Saturday morning found the club executive and several disc golf players sweating through the digs to set baskets that will be ready by Saturday, July 10, the start date of the Johnny Roberts Memorial disc golf tournament.
Perhaps the perfect personification of disc golf, the tournament’s namesake was one of the first players and promoters of the sport in Jeffco.
A teacher at Arvada West High School for more than two generations before his death in 1994, Roberts’ disc golf skills earned him the top-tier status of Grandmaster and his affection for people garnered the nickname ‘Squeezer Geezer’.
Another page of Roberts’ legacy will be turned with the flick of many wrists when competitors from throughout Colorado and beyond descend on the Arvada course to compete in the annual event.
The talent anticipated for the two-day tournament will range from competitors such as women’s Pro World Champion Peggy Berry and men’s Open Champion Mike Randolph to recreational players.
For participants such as Pomona High School student Carl Spencer, disc golf offers an opportunity to compete in a less rigid environment than more traditional sports and allows him to improve his skills at his own pace. A recreational novice two years ago, Spencer has won his way to the Advanced Men’s skill level and plans to compete in the Memorial.
“It’s a lot of fun and you can play almost anytime, anywhere,” Spencer said. “My brother Brian got me started and now I play as much as I can.”
The drive toward a youth movement is a goal for the MHDG as the club continues to add members to its roll of around 230 members.
“It’s a great sport for kids because if they get with the right people, they can catch on really quick,” Bird said. “Someone like Carl can go out and throw all day and not get tired.”
The casual attitude of the sport at its basic level also attracts players worn from the tedium of team sports. Because disc golf disc golf doesn’t suffer the same structure of many organized competitions, participants can hit one of the many parks in Jeffco set up with baskets almost any time the mood strikes them to play.
Another benefit of the sport is players can compete against themselves or challenge anyone they happen to find with a bag of discs working a course.
“We have people who only play during the week because they work and they’ll come out at 6 a.m. or in the evenings after work,” Bird said. “There are also those who only go out on the weekends and they’ll challenge just about anybody they find out on the course.”