BY ANDREW BAILEY
BG Independent News Correspondent
GAS Disc Golf is aiming to grow the sport’s community in Wood County by building an 18-hole course at Mary Jane Thurston State Park in Grand Rapids.
The course is projected to be open for play in the summer of 2022, Vice President Kevin Vollmar said.
It will feature 11 holes in the picnic area of the park. The other seven will be in the campgrounds and take players into the woods, while not disturbing campsites.
The campground’s holes are still in the planning phase though, Vollmar said, because they need time to clear out space for the holes.
The non-profit held a fundraiser Saturday afternoon with five of the proposed holes open for play. With Weenie Dawgs and five breweries — Wild Side, Maumee Bay, Funky Turtle, Quenched and Tempered, and Patron Saints — the picnic area of the park was set for disc golfers to tee off.
They also had a live performance from The Jolly Gabbers, whose front man is GAS Secretary Tyler Burg.
GAS President Cody Wright said the course’s difficulty will be “lower advanced.” They may incorporate more difficulties after the course opens, by building more tee pads on each hole.
“We want to get to a point where people of all skill levels are welcome and can enjoy the course,” Vollmar said. “Eventually, we want newcomers and longtime players to have the same amount of fun.”
Toledo resident Christian Ward liked the layout out of the holes and said it was a fun challenge for him, after a year-and-a-half of playing.
“I’m excited to come back and see it when it’s finished,” he said.
Formed in May 2021 by five avid disc golfers after Wright’s bachelor party, the organization sponsors competitions and forms leagues to play at Carter Park in Bowling Green and Woodlands Park in Perrysburg — which they consider their “home courses,” along with Mary Jane Thurston State Park.
GAS’ mission is to promote disc golf with a community focus, while paying respect to the environments the courses are in. Vollmar said disc golfers are generally eco-friendly, and courses work themselves into nature more than regular golf.
“You might see people walking around trails, and sometimes going off it, but ultimately, there’s a lot of this area that goes unused. So, putting out a course can highlight places people might not normally go to when they’re out here,” Wright said.
After playing the five holes, casual disc golfer Jeremy Pultz said it was nice to see more people coming to the park. “This course is adding to how great the park already is,” he said.
And courses can be beneficial to local economies. Wright and Vollmar said they hope their course can drive foot traffic to their hometown of Grand Rapids.
“Hopefully the course will draw even more people from around Ohio, it’s just one more reason for people to visit Grand Rapids,” Vollmar said. “When players are done on the course, they’ll go into town and patronize the businesses.”
As GAS continues to grow, Wright said they plan to host larger events and leagues.
The sport is growing fast, Wright said, and GAS thanks Mary Jane Thurston State Park Director Kathryn Reimund for working with them on the course.
How did GAS get its name?
GAS — which is not an acronym — comes from two different stories, Wright said.
Foremost though, “it’s whatever you want it to be,” he said.
While forming the organization, they were playing around with the scenario that they were creating a disc manufacturing company instead. This led them to making their hypothetical disc manufacturing company automobile-themed, and naming it after gasoline, or “what makes it go, what makes it actually work.”
The other story, a more personal one, is tied to the sport itself. While in Columbus for Wright’s bachelor party, the guys gathered for an afternoon of disc golf, naturally. One of their friends who had never thrown a disc before stepped up to the tee pad and had a perfect forearm shot, landing it underneath the basket.
“It’s a lot like golf or other sports, where you have an amazing shot and then you’re hooked,” Vollmar said.
Their friend ended the course with no discs, after losing all of his, and some that he borrowed too.
On their way back, they stopped at gas station, and their friend walked out with six discs in hand. The group was surprised the gas station sold discs, but glad that the sport had a new fan.
“That story speaks to GAS, how we want to show people how fun disc golf can be,” Vollmar said. “And who would’ve thought he’d get his next set of discs at a gas station?”
