Rain may keep event organizers at bay, but it can’t keep die-hard disc golfers away from a tournament. Despite the misty wind that assailed UW-Platteville all day Sunday, Disc Golf Club President Will Lichtenberger, Jamie Cook and Dan Wisniewski showed up to Glenview Commons for the final disc golf tournament of the semester, organized by Campus Programming and Relations, only to find no one else there.

Photograph by Johnathan Predaina


Jaime Cook throws a disk at the last disc golf tournament held April 25. Students were given the opportunity to win prizes.

After a similar disappointment in the spring of 2009 due to weather issues, Wisniewski checked his e-mail before the tournament was set to start, just in case. With no cancelation notification, he headed down to register and found an empty course. “No one told us anything about it being canceled,” said Wisniewski.

“They need to say that it’s going on rain or shine, and then stick to it,” said Lichtenberger. “We even play in the snow. It’s great.”

Disc golf tournaments have been held three times every semester for the past five years. Participants are grouped into teams of four or five players before heading onto the course to play on their own and compare scores after. The game is played just like golf with heavy, plastic discs that out-fly any Frisbee.

“Radar guns have clocked discs at 70 miles per hour,” Lichtenberger said. “The longest toss was measured at 820 feet.”

Passport Funds were awarded to the three lowest scores in the tournament, as well as the longest putt and the shot closest to the pin. “It is nice to keep the prizes on campus so they buy things locally,” said Hanah Diebold, CPR event coordinator. With only three players for the tournament, winning odds were favorable for the trio. They all planned to play through the entire game.

The Disc Golf Club will host a brat sale from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 6 outside of Ottensman Hall that will include a putting contest to win free food.