Why The Geology of Disc Golf
When I was in 6th Grade my school in Dayton Ohio had a day where all the kids who had not missed a single day of school got to go to a local park to play, hang out and generally have a good time. We went to Eastwood Park, which had numerous soccer fields, a lake and some wooded areas. In the woods next to the fields where most of my classmates played games of soccer or catch was a disc golf course. I had played disc golf before, it was a favorite game of my family using regular discs and trees in campgrounds and parks. Once I had even gotten to play on a real course in a campground somewhere (I never could remember where) but here was a real disc golf course in my home town.
Who cares about soccer, I just had to play disc golf.
At this point disc golf became an important part of my life. How much I play and am involved has waxed and waned. I have played the game in the 80’s, 90’s, a little in the 00’s and have returned to it in the last couple of years. I love the game, the feeling of making the disc twist and turn even after it has departed my hand, there is an almost Zen like quality for it to me. I love the fact that it is a sport that is sustainable for the environment and affordable to all. Having been away from the sport I feel I have gained a stronger appreciation for it. I hope this blog will be one way I give back to a community that has given so much to me, by melding what I love of disc golf with another facet of my life, geology.
I grew up in a family that valued the outdoors. We belonged to an outdoor club and were out in the woods doing something (hiking, canoeing caving etc…) at least once a month. In the summer we took epic trips out west where we literally camped across the country. As I grew up this interest in the outdoor grew into an interest in geology. I earned Bachelor’s Degree in Geology from Guilford College in Greensboro North Carolina and a Masters in in Geology from Arizona State University. I focused on Structural Geology, Field Mapping and Remote Sensing during this time, and my Master’s Thesis focused on Late Precambrian Tectonics in the White Tank Mountains of Arizona. After school I decided to become a teacher, teaching not only Earth Science, but also Physics and Chemistry. Currently I teach at Gann Academy in Waltham MA, teaching Physics, Chemistry and a course in Natural Disasters.
My goal for this blog is tell Disc Golfers about the amazing geology which is literally underfoot as they play. In many ways I am inspired by the “Roadside Geology” series of books. These books give the reader a sense of the geology that they are passing as they drive the highways and back-roads across the country in a way that makes it accessible to someone who does not have a geologic background. Disc Golf gives a much more intimate and detailed connection to the land and the rocks. While in a car you are always separated from nature by sheets of glass, steel and rubber, when playing disc golf you are walking the land, it affects your play, your senses. Most other sports are played fields that are manufactured for conformity (or in the case of most ball golf course, an artificial manicured version of nature), Disc golf is played in nature. Many people I play with say one of the reasons they play is that it is “a walk in the woods”. This blog will be an attempt to help the average disc golfer know a little more about the foundation the woods (or field, or desert) is built on.
I now live in the Boston area and this will lead this blog to focus more on New England Disc Golf and Geology. This is natural because these are the courses I can easily play and photograph, and as I research the Geology of each course interesting and surprising connections and differentiations can be made. When I travel and play courses farther afield, I hope to include them as well.
I Hope that you enjoy this blog and that it enhances your experiences to know a little more about the places you throw discs in.
Devens- The Hill #16
photo Steve Wood Feb 2016
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