A hobby turns into something more

Amanda Jarvey, 36, prepares to fling a disc towards a hole, or basket, at Fox River Park in Silver Lake while her husband, Andrew, awaits. The Jarveys took up the sport as a way to improve their health make new social connections (Jason Arndt/The Report).

New sport gets an area family outside together

By Jason Arndt
Editor

What started as a hobby about three years ago opened a new set of physical and social benefits for the Jarveys of Silver Lake.

The hobby, disc golf, helped Amanda and Andrew find an endeavor they both can enjoy, offered a healthy alternative for their children and improved their own health.

Like traditional golf, disc golf carries similar challenges, including scoring and course challenges such as trees, shrubs and terrain changes.

In disc golf, however, players discard the golf ball and clubs and replace it with a flying disc or Frisbee. Players target a raised basket instead of a hole.

“When I first started out, it was a very social sport, we would have anywhere from eight to 12 of us get together and just go out and have fun,” said Andrew, 39, who recalled picking up a disc in 2014.

Amanda concurred, adding the two took an immediate liking to the sport.

“Our friend took us out, it was like a big group of us, both of our families were together and came out, had a bunch of discs and just tried it. I fell in love with it immediately,” said Amanda, 36.

Since then, the Jarveys have played in a wide array of tournaments throughout Wisconsin, including stops in Saukville, Madison, Milwaukee, Lake Geneva, among other places.

The more they traveled, the more competitive the two became, including a tournament win by Amanda in Saukville and in Kenosha County, Andrew won a contest.

“We started taking it a little more seriously after that, disc golf is one of the sports along the lines of darts, bowling, pool, bags and horseshoes,” Andrew said. “After a year and a half of playing, we played our first tournament.”

For Amanda, she saw her friends as motivation.

“I started getting competitive because all the people we play with are in tournaments,” Amanda said at Fox River Park in Silver Lake. “They make me strive to get better. I started working on it in practice, coming out here by myself and working on my throws.”

Competitive events also brought other benefits, including cardiovascular health and strengthening the Jarvey bond.

“I think I have lost probably 75 pounds over the last three years or so, just by playing and staying active in the sport,” Andrew said.

The lowdown
WHAT: Disc golf
WHERE: Fox River Park, 9521 304th Ave., Burlington, one 18-hole course, 9-hole course; Silver Lake Park, 27000 85th St., Silver Lake, 18-hole course.
ONLINE: To find a course, visit www.pdga.com

Constructive alternative
Amanda, who wanted to find an activity the family could enjoy, said disc golf gave her a new outlook.

“It was more of going out and doing something that was a hobby with my husband, I didn’t want to go to the casinos when I got older,” Amanda said. “It was my goal and wanted to have a hobby we could do together.”

Meanwhile, for the Jarvey children, 11-year-old BrookLynn, 15-year-old Maggie and James, who is 18, the sport encourages them to drop the technology.

Technology includes cell phones, iPads, and video games, according to the Jarveys. They’ve said they don’t mind them using the technology as they grow into adults and that they could even look to play on some of the top Japanese casinos online if they so wished, but it’s good to have them enjoying other activities as they are in their younger years.

“Kids nowadays want to do more things on their iPhones and iPods. It is tough to get them out of the house. When we first started playing this, they were into it for the social aspect,” Andrew said.

Although the children don’t play often, Amanda reports some of them tag along at the disc golf course, including Fox River Park and Silver Lake Park in Western Kenosha County.

“Even if they don’t want to necessarily throw, they can come out and walk the course, maybe climb a tree,” Amanda said. “It is nice to get out with nature and not have them on their cell phones or on video games all day long.”

Open to anyone
According to Amanda, disc golf is all-inclusive, and not just for college crowd and men.

Although Amanda reports not enough women play, she felt encouraged the more she practiced on the course.

“There really isn’t an age range, anyone can play, and I thought I would have a hard time because couldn’t throw as hard as the men do. It was really not true, if you took a little effort, and just practice, you can become very good,” Amanda said. “I wish more women would play, it would be nice to see a lot of women out here.”

While the sport is inclusive of all people, disc golf offers more economic benefits, compared to traditional golf.

Fox River Park and Silver Lake Park, which have a collective 45 holes, is free and open to the public.

“Most of these courses are free to play,” said Andrew, noting some Milwaukee-area courses charge a fee.

“Here in Kenosha County, these are all county funded, the Kenosha County Parks Department has the best group of guys as far as maintaining any park. What we have in our backyard is an absolute gem and wish that more people knew about it,” he continued.

Sport prospers in Walworth
While the Jarveys spend most of their time on courses in Kenosha County, including the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, they also played on the White River Disc Golf Course in Lake Geneva.

The White River Disc Golf Course, located at the intersection of Geneva, Mill and Sage streets, carries different challenges.

“We play in Lake Geneva quite a bit; Lake Geneva has a gorgeous course out there,” Andrew said. “It is in the back of what I think was the old Hillmoor Club.”

“One of my favorite holes there happens to be over a pond, it is a pretty long shot,” he said. “The penalty is, if you are short, you are going to be out $15 to $20 on a disc, but it is still my favorite.”

Aside from the White River Disc Golf Course, Walworth County has other courses, according to the sport’s governing body Professional Disc Golf Course.

In Whitewater, both Lakeview Elementary and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater have their own courses.

Also, courses are available at East Troy Middle School, Duck Pond Recreation Area near Fontana and Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva.

Other courses include two in Mukwonago, the Phantom Disc Golf Course and Miniwauken Park, and in Palmyra, Carlin Weld County Park has a course.

As Kenosha and Walworth counties have shown growth, there is just one course in Racine County, Johnson Park.

Brandon Theriault, who owns Plan B Disc Golf Depot in the City of Racine, reportedly helped design the Johnson Park course.

“Brandon has been open for two years now, he was one of the ones who spearheaded the effort to get that course in the ground in Racine,” Andrew said. “He is a true ambassador to this sport, Brandon really loves to give back.”

Expanded network
Through the Jarveys journey, the sport has widened their network of friends, some of whom they are closest to.

“A large percentage of the friends we have, or associate with right now, we have met by playing disc golf,” Andrew said.

The hope, Andrew said, is to see the network expand. Andrew suggested websites like the HyzerFlipped disc golf blog for people who want to find out more and get involved.

“I wish that more people would try it, and get into it, and actually further the sport,” Andrew said. “It is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States.”


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