Disc golf is a sport that is full of literal obstacles. Whether you are trying to miss those infamous trees, sail over bushes, or completely avoid OB areas, disc golf is much more fun and interesting because of obstacles. One of the worst obstacles is water. Disc golf water hazards include ponds, lakes, streams, ditches, reservoirs, and in the case of a course I played a few weeks ago, the Colorado River! (Watson Island DGC)
Losing a Disc
When your disc hits water, not only do you get the penalty stroke, but you risk losing your disc. That’s double jeopardy! Watching your disc hit the water and sink out of sight is a frustrating part of our sport. There is a solution to that potential disaster, but it is a double-edge sword. Let’s talk for a minute about: the floating disc!
Some disc golf discs float on water. I don’t mean a disc that happens to land perfectly and stays afloat. I mean there are discs that float due to their weight or plastic type. While this is sometimes a good solution to water hazards, and is probably the best solution, there are times when it doesn’t work.
Hitting a pond or other body of water with your disc can be frustrating when your disc sinks. In some water you might still be able to see it, but other times the water is too deep or murky and your hopes of finding it again sink with the disc. However, just because you have a floating disc it doesn’t mean that you’ll get your disc back. Let’s look at a few scenarios and talk about to pros and cons of floating plastic.
Rivers
Picture yourself on a course where a river comes into play. You throw your floating disc and, sure enough, you land in the water. If the water is fast enough, you’ll just get to wave as your disc floats away to the ocean and beyond. On the other hand, if the water isn’t moving very fast, you might be able to catch the disc with a retriever. Even if that means running along the bank while you make the attempt. Whether or not you decide to use a floating disc in that situation depends on the speed of the river and how many opportunities you might get to fish your disc out of the water.
Ponds/Lakes
Throwing your disc into a pond or other still body of water is there the floating disc shines. By NOT having the disc disappear into the depths of the water, floating discs give you an opportunity to try to get them back. The down side is if they land farther out than your retriever can reach. You might have to wait until the wind blows it towards shore, which may or may not happen while you are still at the course. Overall, it’s still a good play to reach for the floating discs when throwing over a pond, lake or other still body of water.
Floating discs might not be the ultimate solution to dealing with water, but they are a really good option. Even though you might still end up losing a disc, it will give you a better chance of going home with all your discs.
Let’s look at some of the floating discs available on Discount Disc Golf.
The Zhu is a fairway driver from Yikun. It has overstability and flight that is similar to a TeeBird. The Zhu is available in Swift plastic, which floats!
The Allosaurus is a speed 12 disc from Dino Discs. If you can handle the high speed, you’ll like the understability that can mean long, bombing ‘S’ curves. The Allosaurus is available in Egg Shell plastic, which floats.
The Spinosaurus is also a speed 12 driver from Dino Discs. It is overstable and will take a more skilled player to throw it. Just like the Allosaurus, the Spinosaurus is available in light weight Egg Shell plastic
The Cumulus is a beadless putter from Guru Disc Golf. It has a straight flight. It comes in Safety Line plastic and it floats.
