Disc golf in the news

I found a newspaper article today about a boy being hit in the head with a disc while riding a bike at Central Park in Huntington Beach, CA. Here's the link if you're interested in reading it. 

http://www.ocregister.com/news/course-234537-disc-discs.html

[Disc Player Sports]

How about some yellow warning signs?
Caution
Disc Golfing
In The Park!

[Jim Coonradt]

This is a problem whenever you have a course where people walk or play near the course. That is why I love mountain courses where there are no bystanders. What is the rule if you are walking near a ball golf course and get beaned? You knew there was a course there. They would have to show negligence to attempt a legal action. It's kind of weird because I was just reading about the other case on dgcoursereview.com. Our course here in Colorado Springs has a walking path around it and somebody could get beaned at any time. The city put up caution signs but they were quickly stolen. Can't count on the city for much. The best thing that they could do with our course is remove the walking path, but I know that will not happen. People be careful! That other link is:

http://www.ocregister.com/news/claim...sbee-city.html

[Nic777]

Wow what a nicely written article on describing what DG is, cant buy publicity like that :D
But yeah this is a big worry, our local course sometimes has a lot of non DG player traffic in it and some players take too many chances with bystanders around, ive had discs whizzing past my head from inconsiderate players.. it just takes one bad throw.

[Shawn Boucké]

At Central Michigan University's course, people are always walking around, and it is very crowded. That does not compare to the people who sit by the water on hole one like it is a beach. The water is green, and people are obviously throwing discs, c'mon people. It's scarier when they have very little kids, and just wave for you to throw over them

[Nascar Dave]

Here's the article about our Ice Bowl this coming Saturday. Only mistake was No Whimps, No Whines.

http://www.star-telegram.com/weatherfordtelegram/living/story/19546...

[Jim Coonradt]

I had a friend get beaned recently after he had finished his round and was walking back from hole 18 (Cottonwood). There is absolutely no way that someone should have thrown a disc that poorly and hit him. The schmuck had to shank one almost ninety degrees to hit him. Anyway he was bleeding all over the place. These hack amateurs that think that they are just going to come out and have fun can cause some real damage. If you are that bad then maybe you should go practice in a field before you endanger others. Come on people. Discs can be dangerous. Think before you stink!

[jim]

if only it were that easy! should be like a drivers license program; mandatory training and then pass a test to get your disc license!

[Tom Westphal]

Hey, we have a problem at Begg Park on Hole 6. It's a long downhill hole where certain people from the adjacent apartment complex like to put up a volleyball net right in front of the basket. Now they don't leave the net up 24/7, but quite often after work hours when it's the only time I can get out during the week, the net is up and 10-12 people are playing volleyball. I AM NOT INTENDING ANY SORT OF PREJUDICE HERE, but they are immigrants who don't speak very good English and probably don't understand what disc golf is. Someone has actually seen them use a basket as a barbeque grill. I'm sure they don't know that they're in the fairway, but it is a public park and it seems fruitless to try to explain to them what is or isn't a good idea on where to play. What can you do? Thank god no one has hit them yet AFAIK.

Tall Tom

[Cinque]

I hope one day we have hundreds of courses that are just dedicated to our sport. I get so angry inside when I see someone hanging out in the fairway, or just cruising through. But then I need to remind myself that they probably don't know what they're doing. Even that excuse is getting a little old though.

[Ryan S. Flahive]

our best course in Santa Fe has a walking/biking trail going through the middle of it, and could possibly come into play on 7 holes--its heavily used and pedestrians are always around--but our course rules distinctly state that all paths are O.B. and pedestrians always have the right of way--so don't throw if there is anybody around or if you might be bad enough to hit them. Simple common sense.

To my knowledge, no body has ever been hit by a disc on this course. We must share the park, be courteous, and most importantly, be aware of our surroundings.

[Greg]

"...the lightest discs are the drivers...???" and the "...heaviest are the putters...???". Hmm, o.k.
That is really a shame for this kid, but thank goodness he was wearing a bike helmet. Tough situation for sure. All the disc golf courses in my area are public parks, ski resorts, walking trails/canyons, etc. Unlike other sports, when a round of disc golf is being played, the public can walk, jog, ride bikes, etc., through, under, over and around a disc golf course. It can get pretty hairy as you all know.
I still say as long as that is the case, the bulk of the responsibility is on the disc golfer to take all precautions before unleashing a throw. However, should the city be sued by the kid's parents or the charity walker that got hit? Seems to be the popular thing to do in this day and age.
On the other hand, sh*t happens and you shouldn't expect to sue the city for every careless act, or act of God, that occurs.
If this kind of thing happened when I was a kid (early 70's...yikes!), I would have gone home and my mom would have fixed me up. If it required an ER visit, then it did and I can tell you I was in the ER plenty the way I played back in the day. Sometimes I got hurt cause it was my own fault, other times somebody else did something stupid and I paid the price. But never, not once, did my parents ever think of suing the city, a business, or another family. When kids play outside, they get hurt sometimes. It just happens. Just be glad his head was protected somewhat, and he's alive and well to go out and bike another day.

[El Kabong]

SORRY Started a new thread on this issue before I found this one....

I am guessing this happened on hole 4 where the bike/jogging/walking path goes right in front of the teepads and is lined on the right side with short bushes. If the kid was behind those it woulda been rough to see 'im. We often have to wait for ped/bike/jogger traffic there....even at 6:30 in the morning. Hole 4 teepad is also the closest part of the course to the kids playground. Last fall we had a semi-close call with a little kid on a bike but we saw him in time and held up the guy who was teeing off.

That area needs revision or at least some signage...but what six year old on a scooter gives a hoot about signs?

I just hope the fallout doesn't kill the course.