Frolf: A True Experience

If you are a prospective student touring Wittenberg’s beautiful campus, you may notice these 4- foot high chained holes scattered throughout the campus. That seems to be a typical occurrence for newcomers looking at Wittenberg for the first time. Prospective student at the time, Merrick Austin, remembers thinking, “What the heck are these things?” A year later, a freshman at Witt, he was more than familiar with what these objects were.

Frisbee disk golf, or “frolf” as many of Wittenberg college students call it, is a game where you aim to throw a disk into a chained hole. There are a variety of pars, from three to five, just like in real golf. There also are a variety of types of disks ranging from drivers to putters. Some people who just play occasionally for fun just have one disk while others have an entire case of Frisbees.

Disk golf first originated in the late 1960’s. The first Frisbee golf courses were “object courses” where people could use anything from trees, light poles, garbage cans, to fire hydrants as targets. Since then though, the sport has really developed and now has legitimate chain catching devices and a variety of equipment.

Wittenberg’s Frisbee golf course attracts people left and right. On weekends, if the weather is nice, the course is usually filled with students frolfing. “There’s nothing better in college than a nice sunny day, no homework, and playing frolf with all your homeboys”, said junior Robbie Farquhar.

People sometimes even have to wait to tee off at certain times. Frolf at Wittenberg has been become so widely recognized that sometimes people outside of Wittenberg’s community come to Springfield just to play on Wittenberg’s course!

Wittenberg sophomore, Benny White, got in hole in one earlier this year and described it as “one of the best moments in his life”
Although Frisbee golf may look easy, don’t let it fool you. Frisbee golf takes a good amount of skill and requires much practice to become good. It is nothing like tossing a regular Frisbee. One has a variety of factors to take into account when playing such as how to throw the Frisbee, what Frisbee to use depending on how far away from the hole you are, and other natural factors such as adapting to wind conditions and avoiding various trees.

Many students at Wittenberg have never even heard of the game until they came to school here at Wittenberg. Now, students play rounds of nine holes day in and day out. “It’s an enjoyable game to play with friends that you can do for hours,” said junior, Alec Nicolovski. If the sun is out and the wind is calm, why not play some frolf.