FOLLOW THE PATH

With the possibility of an increase in Duck Pond readership by frisbee golf (or if you prefer, disc golf) enthusiasts, I'd like to unveil a new frisbee golf variation I invented recently.

After making up a course at Highland Park, and redesigning the course I made up years ago at Walbridge Park, I came up with the idea of using the paved walking/biking loops at those two parks for this new variation.

As a sort of tribute to the online parody cult from a few years ago, the Followers Of Geno, I have dubbed it "Follow The Path". Here's how to play:

Find a park with a paved walking loop, the ones at Highland and Walbridge are each about a mile. Pick a starting/finishing point anywhere on the path. Then pick which direction you want to go, clockwise or counterclockwise.

Each throw that lands on the path at least partially is 1 point. Any throw that lands on the outer side of the path's loop is 2 points. Any throw that lands on the inner side of the loop is 3 points. Whoever completes the loop with the fewest points wins. (Another scoring option instead of 1-2-3 is 1-3-5.)

Any object near a bend or curve in the path (tree, pole, sign, etc.) should be thought of as a 'gate' (sort of like in skiing), and your throw must go around it the same way the path does. If your throw goes past a gate on the wrong side, you will have to throw back the way you came and go around the gate the right way.

In cases where there is a bend in the path and no object nearby to serve as a gate, try to use the apex of the bend in the path as a gate. This is optional and open to personal taste and interpretation, but I try to keep in the spirit of the game and 'follow the path'. No shortcuts!

The main benefits of this variation, I've found so far, are that you don't have to wind up with a sore elbow throwing as hard and as far as you can. Distance helps of course as you want to complete the loop in as few throws as possible, but accuracy is obviously very important. A round or two of this game might result in better approach shots when you go back to regular frisbee golf.

And natch you need to be really good at making shots that will slide nice and straight down the path (especially if you use the 1-3-5 scoring option).

Using the 1-2-3 scoring at Highland, my current record low score is 91 points.

Have fun and good luck!

The Geno follow the path
The path is the way
The way is the light
The light is grey.

Current Duck Pond temperature: 25.0 C / 77.0 F