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Neighbors | Zack Shively .Boardman Park hosted a Discraft Ace Race using the park's existing disc golf course on Sept. 9. For the event, the course became shortened so each player had one chance to either get their disc in the metal basket, or the "hole," for an ace worth two points or hit the basket for a metal worth one point.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively .Players struggled during the Ace Race on Sept. 9 because they were not familiar with the discs, had to account for wind and needed to wipe the dew off their discs. Pictured is one of the aces hit by Jon Ohlin during the game.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively .The organizers of the Ace Race at Boardman Park also created side events for additional prizes. During the putting contest shown, players attempted to throw their disc into the basket in a single throw. Other events included an event that rewarded accuracy on a longer throw and another event that championed the player who could throw the disc the furtherest.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively .The winners of the Ace Race and the side contests won gift cards to local businesses that sponsored the event. Pictured are, from left, Kevin Buck, champion of the Ace Race and longest drive contest, Jon Ohlin, winner of the closest to pin contest, and Kirk Gazdik, the victor of the putting contest. Buck also received a prize bag from Discraft, which included eight new discs in a new disc carrying bag.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively .A player attempted a long distance throw during the Discraft Ace Race at Boardman Park on Sept. 9. The players had not used the discs prior to the Ace Race as all the discs a prototypes provided by Discraft.
by ZACK SHIVELY
Enthusiasts of disc golf gathered in Boardman Park on Sept. 9 to participate in a Discraft Ace Race, a disc golf competition on a course modified for the event.
Dan Slagle, director of Boardman Park, and Shawn Golden, Kent State professor and avid disc golf player, put the event together, and Golden led the event. The park also had three additional contests for gift cards from local businesses that sponsored the event.
Golden and Slagle wanted to host the Ace Race at the park because they wanted to make use of the park’s disc golf course and provide the community with something entertaining while also raising money.
The participants in the event met at Lariccia Family Bocce Pavilion at 9 a.m., and they all started on the first course across from the pavilion. In a regular game of disc golf, players throw discs multiple times to get the disc in a raised basket. The park modified the course so each player only had one turn to throw the disc to the basket.
Discraft, the company that created the Ace Race, based the scoring on how close a player is to getting a hole-in-one, or an “ace.“ If a player’s disc landed in the basket, the player successfully got an ace worth two points. A participant whose disc hit the pole or basket but did not land in the basket scored a “metal” for one point.
The Discraft Ace Race is an international event sponsored by Discraft, a company that creates discs for disc golf. Discraft supplied the park with the prototype disc that every player used during the Ace Race. The company also provided a prize bag with eight discs for the winner of the event.
The players struggled to score many points. Competitors have to throw the discs given by Discraft, meaning that the participants have never used these particular discs before. The morning dew added to these difficulties as it weighed down the discs.
After the Ace Race, several of the players participated in the side competitions. Kirk Gazdik won the putting contest where the contenders threw aces from various close distances from the basket. Golden placed a basket 150 feet from the competitors for the closest to the pin challenge, where the challengers tried to get their disc closest to the basket, which Jon Ohlin won. Kevin Buck, winner of the Ace Race, also won the longest drive competition, meaning he threw his disc further than anyone else.
This year is the first time the park has offered the Ace Race. The park opened the disc golf course in 2016 and it stays open all year. Justin Edwards, member of the Mahoning Valley Disc Golf Association, helped design the course.