New Jersey Disc Golf has come a long way very quickly if Stafford Woods is any indicator of what is happening there. I noticed when I got my players pack the disc and t-shirt had a graphic with an outline of the state and map pins dropped where the courses are located.
- Thompson Park est. 2015
- Doc Cramer est. 2014
- New Brooklyn est. 2013
- Ocean County Park est. 2013
- Stafford Woods est. 2012
- South Vineland est. 2007
- Riverview est. 2006
- Landis Park est. 1998
- Cape May est. 1982
As you can see, South Jersey had two courses until 2006, then added two more in ’06-’07, then BOOM! Five new courses since 2012! That is very impressive growth – not just impressive but daaaaaaam impressive. Anyway, Stafford Woods was awesome. I’ve never played a more forgiving yet heavily wooded course. The woods are old growth so there isn’t a lot of brush on the forest floor which made it easy to find your disc. It was funny, you could hit a tree off your drive and ricochet 50 ft. off the fair way and still have a legitimate line to the basket, just a different route through the trees. The courses I am used to are wicked if you get two feet off the fairway, thorns, prickers and poison ivy make you sorry you got even slightly off course. The guys I played with in Jersey were all cool, there was a healthy dose of funny trash talking but when it came down to it, the guys were showing me lines and guiding me through the course – always trying to help my game and encouraging each other. Good sportsmanship in other words.
The first round went well and I topped my card with a 65. That was good enough to put me in the second spot on the lead card (MA2 division) for the second round. The leader had a three throw advantage to start but that evaporated after the first two holes. We went throw for throw for a half dozen more when we got to the open fields. He was able to take advantage of his long drive abilities and built a four throw lead, then we headed back into the woods. He was able to stay consistent and played out the round making pars, I made a valiant run at the end picking up birdies on the final three holes ultimately falling short by a single throw. The winner and I both agreed the day had been about as fun and exciting as it could get, 36 holes of competitive disc golf decided by a single throw 119 to 120 – that’s awesome! The second place finish still paid out a couple new discs and I won a closest to the pin prize which included a hat, t-shirt and some other swag.
