LIHUE — Ryan Jacobsmeyer of Koloa said it was nice to have their own course at the Puakea Golf Course. Jacobsmeyer was one of about a dozen disc golf enthusiasts who turned out Monday when Puakea, in cooperation with disc
LIHUE — Ryan Jacobsmeyer of Koloa said it was nice to have their own course at the Puakea Golf Course.
Jacobsmeyer was one of about a dozen disc golf enthusiasts who turned out Monday when Puakea, in cooperation with disc golf advocate Phil Worwa, opened the front nine holes to disc golf from noon until 5 p.m.
“I have been playing disc golf for nearly two decades,” Jacobsmeyer said. “I go to Weliweli Park on Sundays, my son has been playing disc golf for almost 17 years and at age 8, broke a record for the longest drive at 230 feet. We have our own baskets at home, but it feels good to have a regular course.”
Glenn Tamagawa, the Puakea golf professional, said Worwa set up the program to precede Monday Night Football, blocking off the five-hour chunk of time on Mondays so disc golfers can go out for a few rounds and, if they want, retire to the Hookipa Cafe to watch the game. Golfers pay a package rate which includes a cart and green fees.
Worwa said Puakea will allow him a five-week “Monday test” with disc golf baskets set next to the hole pins, off the greens. The front nine can be played twice with four players, including carts and runs from 12 to 5 p.m. on the next five Mondays.
“This is great,” said Samuel Aldrich of Kapahi. “I applied to the University of Santa Cruz because of the disc golf course there. It’s the only school I applied to, and it was because of the course. Disc golf is like traditional golf. It uses the same concepts and mental discipline. You just replace the swing with a throw.”
Aldrich has been playing for nearly 20 years, and has traveled around with different tours, going as far as Berlin to play the game.
“The learning curve for disc golf is friendlier than golf,” Aldrich said. “You can get OK pretty fast, but to become a professional, you need dedication, commitment and patience — just like golf.”
Aldrich said he’s played on two of the disc golf courses in Hawaii, one at Poli Poli, Maui, and the other in a coffee field on the Big Island. Kauai is the only island in the state that does not have a disc golf course, Worwa said.
“I would love to have a permanent course,” Aldrich said. “Right now, I work in retail so it’s not always that I can get to Weliweli Park on Sundays. I have my own baskets at home, but it’s nice to have a regular course.”
Worwa hosts disc golf on Sundays at the Weliweli Park in Koloa where he has worked on creating a nine-hole configuration — complete with a tree tunnel golfers need to throw through.
