Patrick and His Passion for the Game of Frisbee Golf

 By Alixandria Stafford

Sometimes when life gets hard, maybe schools stressing you out or your parents are and all you need is a get away. For Patrick McDougall his get away was frisbee golf. Patrick loves the outdoors and hanging out with friends so for him frisbee golf is an escape from everything where you can just enjoy fresh air and time with friends. Its a beautiful, warm day outside, the grass is green, the birds are chirping and you look out in the distance and you see Patrick and his friends outside running around throwing a frisbee into big metal chain baskets and they're all laughing and just enjoying their moments together playing the game they love and in that moment nothing else matters. 

Patrick McDougall is a student at JCCC and his is spare time he is an avid player of Frisbee Golf. Now Frisbee Golf is the process of throwing a Frisbee into each of a series of metal baskets in the fewest number of throws. Patrick has been a member of the Frisbee Golf community for about Fifteen years now.

Patrick is a muscular guy who really enjoys the outdoors and spending time with his friends. He doesn't really like or use technology much. Typically you will find Patrick spending pretty much all his time outdoors, hiking, fishing, hunting, and of course on the field playing Frisbee Golf.

Patrick began playing Frisbee Golf in high school when a friend had informed him about the game and they started playing. He has been playing for about 14 or 15 years. 

For Patrick, “Frisbee Golf was a perfect reason to go outside and get fresh air. It was a getaway from parents and a great way to hang out with friends and connect with each other.” 

Someone who really influences and who Patrick looks up to is Ken Climo. Ken is a professional player of Frisbee Golf and has won a total of 231 professional games. Ken won the European Open  in 2007 and won the Japanese Open three years in a row from 1993-95. 

Climo is the first person Patrick began watching and Patrick says, “He is the original bad ass of Frisbee Golf.”  

Patrick spends a lot of his time on the frisbee golf field with his friends enjoying their company and the fresh air outside. He goes out everyday as long as the weather is nice and plays about 2-3 rounds of golf. Each round is about 2 hours depending on the amount of people at the course. He typically goes out around 10-2 because there aren't a lot of people out at that time. 

Patrick has never been in a frisbee golf league because he never really felt confident enough to play for competition like that, however, this year he had a confidence boost and decided to try playing on a league. He is going to begin practice in March or April when the weather is nicer. He enjoys watching events at Swope Park located in Kansas City, Missouri.

Patrick enjoys playing Frisbee Golf with other players because "You learn new aspects you didn't think about from other players" says Patrick. 

When playing he is best at driving the disc and his go to frisbee is the tee-bird. Patrick says "Using the tee-bird is the best choice for him because it goes perfectly for pretty much any technique of throwing you use." 

In Patrick's community he says "You'll never feel out of place and everyone is so nice and welcoming." 

When asked how long Patrick plans on being a part of this community he said "Throwing some frisbee will always be a part of my life" 

Bibliography

Wikipedia. “Ken Climo.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Feb. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Climo.