New England Flying disc Association Blog

Ice Is Nice

Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Looking at the calendar, one can easily tell its winter even though the temperatures and lack of snow and ice may indicate otherwise. Regardless of the weather, its Ice Bowl season once again in NEFAland and there's no shortage of tournaments to go around for the month of February, including the following:

Cranbury Ice Bowl on February 5th

6th Annual J-Park Icebowl-PDGA C-tier on February 11th

17th Rhode Island Frostbite Classic on February 11th

2nd Annual Frozen Tundra at Charleton Woods on February 18th

Warwick Ice Bowl on February 18th

Buffumville Ice Bowl Doubles Charity Event on February 19th

FDR Park Ice Bowl on February 25th

NoHo (Northampton) Snow Throw on February 26th (A NEFA Dubz Event)

Ice Bowls are the perfect solution for the winter disc golf doldrums....good friends, good times, good food, bad weather (well, maybe not this year, and honestly, who's complaining?) and of course, a charitable cause!!....let's face it, it's all good, so get out there and sign up. You may even be able to leave the ribbons and yaxtrax behind so you can have more room in the bag for liquid refreshments and a shiny new 2012 Ice Bowl disc!...maybe even a few floater discs for the "frozen ponds" out there.

Renewing your NEFA membership or thinking of joining?

Thu, 5 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

So, you're sitting at home contemplating renewing your NEFA membership or you've never been a NEFA member and you are curious as to what being a member is all about, well here's the skinny: Now thru January 31rst, you can take advantage of a 2 for 1 membership deal! The cost of a year long membership is $25.00 but if you do the math involving this sweet deal, that works out to just $12.50 per person...whatta baaahgain!

Check out the sign up form here ....and if you'd like check out the discussion forum on this topic, just click here and you'll be whisked away to it immediately...gotta love hyperlinks! Membership benefits include a NEFA mini disc (for first time members), a NEFA bag tag that can withstand even the harshest of weather conditions, a lifetime nefa number and the eligibility to compete in any number of divisions for the NEFA Points series which runs from January to the end of September of each calendar year, culminating in a Points Series Final at a chosen date in October. Most importantly, you'll be part of a community of disc golf & frisbee enthusiasts dedicated to growing the exposure of these activities throughout the New England, New York and New Jersey areas! The NEFA Board of Directors are working hard to improve our beloved organization and there are many reasons to be excited about the future of NEFA with a top notch crew working behind the scenes .....of and for the members!! Did I mention that NEFA also offers yearly grant funding opportunities which course owners and/or clubs can take advantage of to improve their local courses?...oh yeah, I just did.

So don't procrastinate, sign up this month and take advantage of the dealio!

Course Spotlight: Bellamy Park Dover, NH

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This past weekend, I headed up to Bellamy Park Disc Golf Course in Dover, NH with a few good friends. Its always exciting to play a course that you haven't been to yet and Bellamy did not disappoint. A wooded course from start to finish with some holes that mix open and wooded areas quite nicely, Bellamy offers an excellent variety of short, medium and long holes that can be fun for novice players and challenging to the pros. Hole 1 starts out on a stone patio type area where you're throwing across a creek to a forested upland area replete with beautiful white pines. A decidedly lefty friendly hole, it also offers opportunity for righty anhyzer or righty flick drives. Crossing the bridge to the other side of the creek of hole 1's fairway, one can't help but feel excited about this course with such a unique and challenging starting hole.

(looking back at practice area & parking lot on way to hole 1's fairway/green..hole 1 tee is off to the right of practice area)

On hole 2, the creek comes into play for errant drives that happen to coast too far right (very steep drop off the embankment to the creek which meanders along the right side of the fairway). The creek also comes into play on holes 9, 11 & 12. for errant and/or overthrown drives/putts. As a testament to the quality of folks who play the course, I landed my champ sidewinder in the middle of the creek off hole 2 towards the end of the day with quickly fading sunlight.....too dark to see it anymore for retrieval, we headed back home. The very next day I got a phone call from a NH area code asking if I owned an orange champ sidewinder as it had been retrieved from the creek....always nice to see that kind of effort and honesty!

(basket on hole 11)

Overall, Bellamy Park flows quite nicely as the course designer(s) took full advantage of the land available for the layout. Did I mention that all the tee pads are concrete?...perfectly flat, wide and smooth from beginning to end. Be sure to check out the hyperlink at the beginning of the blog for more information about Bellamy Park Disc Golf Course leagues, happenings, photos and directions. Dover is roughly 20 minutes past Amesbury just over the Mass state line and the course is easy to find. So, if you're looking for a course that offers terrific variety, challenges and concrete tee pads throughout, Bellamy Park is worth the trip!

** If you'd like to have your local course featured in a course spotlight, give me a shout at staraviar@yahoo.com. Wishing everyone in nefaland and beyond a happy and healthy holiday season and prosperous new year!**

Guess Who?

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

It's time to play "Who's that NEFA member?" Take a look at the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rwin2WuWso&feature=share

and see if you can guess who the kid with the glasses is roughly 3 seconds into the Life cereal commercial. Here are some clues:

his first name has two syllables

his last name has three syllables

He's been known to tear it up at New Hampshire states

____ dog is his nickname

Good luck!

New Course in Webster MA Needs Your Help

Tue, 6 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

It seems as though barely a month goes by and you hear about a new disc golf course proposal underway somewhere in nefaland. In the disc golf mecca that is central Massachusetts, the Town of Webster is the latest recipient for such a proposal. The Webster Fish and Game Association has agreed to allow the development of an 18 hole disc golf course on just under 20 acres of forested landscape.

And what central mass region course proposal would be complete without the enigmatic, bewildering yet strangely awe-inspiring presence of Mr. Jason Southwich of Marshall Street Disc Golf fame? Please take a moment to check out his post on nefa.com, where Jason implores YOU, the public disc golf usership, to assist in making this gem of a parcel into a disc chuckin playground that seemlessly blends with its natural surroundings. Disc golf courses aren't built, they are created so grab your piece of artistic cutting, shearing and pruning equipment along with an insatiable appetite for repeatedly dragging heavy things and bring it all to Webster!

PS, there's really only one phrase to describe Jason Southwick and that is .....do work!