Disc Golf Dan
Somewhat like golf, yet with a better price,” explains Dan McKee, also know as Dangerous Dan. “What I like most about this game is when you’re out on a course, playing 18 holes, you’re really not thinking about anything else. It keeps me coming back.”
Due to the popularity of the sport, disc golf courses are springing up all across the metro. Edmond’s Mitch Park is home to the Tye F. Cunningham disc golf course, and like many other attractions around town, we are blessed with one of the better courses in the area. “Because of appearance, how technical the course is and the upkeep, this is one of the top courses around,” said Dan. “I know; I’ve played almost all of them.”
You will find that the rules are close to the same as regular golf. Most courses are made up of 18 par three and par four holes. The average distances on most holes are between 240 and 400 feet. Unlike the regular game of golf, one thing you don’t need is a caddy.
“All you really need is three discs,” said Dan. “You’ve got your driver, which has a sharper edge. You have a midrange, which is for what its name implies, and that is midrange shots. Lastly, you have your putter. It is for short, straight distances,” he said. “Why do I have so many? Well, I’ve been playing a long time and each disc will do something a little bit different. Also, once a disc hits a tree or a pole or even the ground several hundred times, its performance begins to drop off a little.”
Dangerous Dan has been playing for ten years. He recently moved back to Oklahoma, and back to his love for disc golf.
“I joined the park service some years back, and it was an amazing journey,” he said. “I moved out west to California, and then to Arizona and Colorado. I liked all of the outdoors; it was my calling, but I didn’t love it. Home for me has always been inside the borders of Oklahoma.”
The course at Mitch Park, Tye F. Cunningham, was named for the founder and designer. “He was a friend of mine, from way back,” Dan said. “He was fairly new to the game when the Edmond City Council held a meeting about the construction of this course. Tye attended that meeting, and by the end of it, they knew he was the man to head up this project.”
Cunningham designed the course, laid out markings and took aerial photos of the progress to make sure the course was being built in a manner justifiable to the game. He saw the project through, almost to the end. “He passed away in late 2004. I don’t believe he ever got to play a single round on the finished course,” Dan said. “The Edmond Parks and Recreational Department felt it appropriate to name the course after him.”
Dan recommends that anyone with any interest at all should get out and try the game. He will tell you to remember not to get frustrated or give up too quickly. And most importantly, “Be good to the game and it will be good to you, and please respect the course. Respect others playing around you, and treat the game as you would want to be treated.”
