By Tanner Anderson, Page Editor
What is 650 feet long and can be found in Sherrod Park? Hole five at the new Wildcat Disc Golf Course.
Not only does ACU have the bragging rights to the longest disc golf hole in Abilene, it also has a one-of-a-kind course created by disc golf professional and world champion, Jay Reading.
Reading, who attended the University of Northern Iowa, played football and blocked for NFL quarterback Kurt Warner; but to relax, he and his friends turned to disc golf.
Now Reading and his wife, Des, are world champion disc golf professionals who participated in ACU’s new disc golf course inauguration Tuesday afternoon. The Wildcat Disc Golf Course is a nine-hole course found on the Sherrod Park property by Smith-Adams Halls.
Within a year, the university realized the project’s conception and creation.
Reading became involved with the new disc golf course after he met Deonna Shake in April 2008 at the National Physical Education Conference. Later, the two brainstormed and devised a way to create a course on campus.
Shake, instructor of exercise science and health, teaches a disc golf class this semester and was the project director and manager in charge of the disc golf course’s creation.
“The main thing is we’re about to construct a new wellness center; so we tried to think of courses we could offer outside, so that we wouldn’t have gym space problems when they are under construction,” Shake said. “So we thought disc golf would be one of the several new courses we would offer.”
The grand opening of the course was celebrated by a red ribbon cutting and a disc- throwing display by Jay and Des Reading and other local disc golf players. Each disc golfer displayed different techniques and throws, while the Readings explained the proper grips used to create the desired throw.
Nine holes are located on the course, and each hole is sponsored by groups or social clubs on and off campus.
“I really want this to bless a lot of people, and I think it will, from youth groups to [other universities],” Shake said.
She said the course is free to the entire Abilene community, and all an individual needs to play is a disc.
“The amount of elevation change is very unique to disc golf in Abilene; we are also bragging about the longest hole in Abilene,” Reading said. “So this course has two features that are not found anywhere else in the city, so I designed this area for both experienced and beginning disc golfers in mind.”
Reading said disc golf has two essential elements: timing and technique. He said once a player learns to throw the disc flat and level and let the disc do all the work, the game is turned on and becomes magic.
