Tyler Disc Golf Clubs

The Beginning

The beginning of east Texas disc golf has its roots in Noble E Young park where Philip Wheeless created the first object course. It was an 18 hole course in a park that had a playground and a paved running trail that surrounded the course. When we were notified that we would have to leave Cain Park; they put in a skateboard park, we were given space in Lindsey. I designed the first Lindsay course, a 9-hole course with two tees, and it has taken off since then with many people putting in time and money to build a quite respectable disc golf community. Someday I'll have to put together a history lesson on Tyler Disc Golf. There have been several different organized efforts to promote disc golf in East Texas although there has only really been two or three names.

Rose City Disc Club

The first was Rose City Disc Club, put together first when Lindsey was an object course. RCDC was primarily responsible for getting baskets put in and later held Ice Bowl events. The Rose City Disc Club disbanded in 2000, but it the name has been revived several times for certain events. The Inaugural 54 in August 2001 and The Bellwood Open were two of the earliest events. Now they are back and RCDC Minis are being held Saturday at 10AM, Sunday at 2PM and Wednesday at 5PM when there is enough daylight. The major RCDC tourney is the Piney Woods Pro-Am.

East Texas Disc Golf Association

In the early days there was also the East Texas Disc Golf Association. It no longer exists; it was what I was doing for east Texas disc golf. The goal of ETDGA was to grow beyond the Tyler courses and it was in part successful. Simply, I tryed to promote disc golf in East Texas, first by running local weekly tournaments, area special events (Ice Bowl, East Texas Doubles).

I also liked the course in Athens, but it wasn't very active as a course. I soon started having monthly tournaments there, and later organized PDGA sanctioned tournaments, including the East Texas Open and Paul Giles Memorial. As interest grew, they established a club there and starting having weekly events, and then took over the Paul Giles Memorial after I had to drop out for a while. I also tried to promote disc golf through news releases and the East Texas Disc Golf newsletter.

Tyler Christian Disc Golf Club

Another club that started this year is the Tyler Christian Disc Golf Club. It meets on Thursdays at 5:00, with rounds starting at 5:30. Schedule will change as winter approaches. The rounds alternate between the ROC, Lindsay Cedar, Hickory, and Dogwood while also alternating singles and doubles.

More

Other supporters of disc golf in Tyler is Thom Clark, the new ROC guy. He is having an Ace Race later in the year and I suspect there will be more in the future.