'A sport that you love'

Disc golfer and his son take on Spring Lake Park

Tim Tucker, 34, was passing through Texarkana on his way to visit family and stopped by Spring Lake Park to play his favorite sport-disc golf-with his 10-year-old son, Tommy, on a recent Saturday afternoon.

Tucker is from Grenada, Miss., and frequently plays at Cemetery Ridge Disc Golf Course in Hugh White State Park.

"This is my first time playing at Spring Lake Park, and the trees here are kinda an intense part of the course," Tim Tucker said. "If the disc hits a tree, it can throw your shot way off course. It can also dent and bend your disc. I am pretty good at avoiding the trees but occasionally I will hit one.

"I enjoy the exercise and just being out in nature. My son and I get to spend quality time together doing something that we both love. It's a really fun sport."

Disc golf is a rising recreational sport with courses all over the globe.

Disc golf uses a lot less equipment and takes up less space when compared with traditional golf. The game can be played solo or with teams.

"I have played on about 15 different courses," Tim Tucker said. "Each time I play at Cemetery Ridge it's fun but after a while it gets a little stale. I enjoy the unfamiliarity of playing on a course that is new to me.

"I would compare it to playing different board games-there are different strategies that are unique to each course."

A player uses a specially designed throwing disc to throw down fairways in order to putt a disc into a chain basket.

The differences in the playing area compared with traditional golf is that some courses include trees inside the fairways. In traditional golf the fairways are open.

"Spring Lake Park's course is interesting in that it contains many pine trees as obstacles," Tim Tucker said. "I have to finesse my shots, sometimes using a hook or slice, in order to avoid the trees."

Disc golf's inception came in the 1970s and the sport is regulated by the Professional Disc Golf Association.

Tommy Tucker has been under the tutelage of his father for two years and has dreams of playing professionally in the future.

"The best part about disc golf is that it is fun," Tommy Tucker said. "I enjoy spending time with my dad, and he is a great teacher. The heat is something that we have to deal with, and dad makes sure to always pack a lot of water."

There are four different kinds of golf discs: distance drivers, fairway drivers, midranges and putters.

The Tuckers each carry disc bags which house the different kinds of discs along with water. The disc bag looks like a small soft-sided cooler.

"I never wanted to play professionally," Tim Tucker said. "Being out in nature and spending time with my son is the best reward. I think one day Tommy will make it to the PDGA. Nothing is better than making money by playing a sport that you love."

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