My Sister and Brother in Law left us in Florida the last week of February 2020. We were due to return to the UK at the beginning of April, so we had some time to try other courses within easy driving. Two of those courses had been suggested to us by the guys we had met a few weeks back. The first we tried was a 50mins drive at Cliff Stephens Park, Clearwater.
Cliff Stephens Park is a community park but the majority of the space is taken up with the Disc Golf Course. There are paths/trails that are used by non-disc golfers. The park also has picnic areas and allows fishing, so be mindful when throwing as people do wander around. There is a small car park. We didn't see any toilets (restrooms), water fountain or course map so we used UDisc. It's a free to play course.
There are 18 holes with 2 concrete tee boxes per hole, both Par 55; 4926ft - 6392ft. This is a moderately wooded course with some open holes, a creek and small lakes that come into play for the longer tees. However, depending on wind direction the water can come into play for the shorter tees as you play along side the creek and lakes. There are warning signs regarding alligators. Take note, there have been some attacks here during alligator nesting season, as alligators defend their nest and young ferociously. Despite the signs, we did see a guy in one of the lakes up to his waste, feeling around with his bare feet for lost discs!!
We naturally played the shorter tees. There were some interesting technical holes in the wooded areas with low canopy and shaped fairways. Worried about losing discs in water, the open holes with a crosswind were a test of nerve, so I elected to throw shorter with mid range discs than risk an alligator encounter. We met some other casual players on the course and saw the first women we'd seen playing. One was older than me and playing with her husband, the other a young female with her husband, but she wasn't throwing every hole. The other couple of women we saw were on the course with their male partners as a non players.
We played round the course twice and enjoyed the challenge. I must admit I feel more at home in the wooded area at this point as I know I don't need to hit long shots. Using my forehand I feel more confident in accuracy at throwing and placing shots through the trees. My attempt at backhand on the open areas made me feel still inadequate, when the throws to the hole were so many more than par. What didn't help was seeing this guy launch his disc from the long tee, it flew past us (we had stood back to allow him to play through) over an island in the lake to a basket, some 440ft in one throw! We were taking the scenic route on that hole, as the lake/island didn't have to come into play from our tee point, to finish at that same basket. My longest throw that I'd been so pleased with at the time, and subsequently measured, had been a forehand with a Valkyrie the week before this trip and that was 151ft.
I tried not to let it get into my head but after seeing his throw, all I could think about was how on earth did he do that and make it look so easy. One of those cases where you have to be able to walk before you can run. I know its going to take time to build on technique and stamina but as we only have each other to compare against its difficult to comprehend, just from watching videos on You Tube, how we can get better!
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