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Technique of the toss

Amateur disc golfer's goal is to compete at the professional level.

By KELLIE DIXON, Times Staff Writer
Published August 28, 2007

Michael McElroy lets fly a drive while practicing disc golf Wednesday. - Pasco resident Michael McElroy is competing in the upcoming Labor Day Luau disc golf tournament at the Quarry in Brooksville.
	[Jim Damaske | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Jim Damaske | Times] Michael McElroy's bag of of golf discs. McElroy has been playing disc golf, a sport in which the players throw discs at the target, since he moved to Florida in October 1997. [Jim Damaske | Times] No it's not the Old Course at St. Andrews and you're not supposed to grill chicken in it, it's the hole used in disc golf.

CLEARWATER -- Michael McElroy isn't a fan of pushups, but the New Port Richey resident believes that logging countless reps has helped him in the amateur disc golf ranks.

Pushups were McElroy's punishment for losing a round of disc golf to practice partner and professional player Scott Scholten. The friendly wager was two pushups per stroke, so if Scholten won by eight strokes, McElroy owed him 16.

"You get better and better as a result," McElroy said. "I actually beat him one time. I don't know if it was just my day or not."

McElroy, who has been playing since he moved to the area in 1997, has gone from playing on weekends to entering tournaments last year. In April, he won his first tournament - the Fun N' Sun amateur in Clearwater. He will play in this weekend's Labor Day Luau at the Quarry Golf Course in Brooksville. McElroy plays in the Fabulous Florida Disc Golf Tour and has had five top-10 finishes in his division. He is tied for second in points in the intermediate division.

McElroy has picked up training tips from Scholten, and the 34-year-old amateur disc golfer is hard on himself. If McElroy poorly putts one disc of 10, he'll putt them all over again. Muscle memory is key in disc golf, and he tries to make the same back-handed toss each time.

McElroy, who works full-time in construction, jokes that his co-workers don't entirely understand his passion for disc golf.

"Most of the guys at work think I'm out playing a hippie game," McElroy said. "But it's so far from that. The biggest misconception of disc golf is people think we're going out to the field to play Frisbee."

While often laid back, the sport can be intense, and participants are serious about their performance. McElroy carries a bag with roughly 20 discs that range in size and thickness. Some are drivers; some are putters.

Occasionally, as motivation, McElroy will wager one of his discs to his group. He might offer it to whoever can make it closest to the hole. If he loses, he'll give up the disc. But the challenge pushes him, and he hopes one day to leave the amateur ranks.

"My ultimate goal is to not just play in the pro division, but to compete at a high level," McElroy said. "If I can compete with some of the guys that are at the top eventually. I know it takes a lot of work."

Contact Kellie Dixon at kdixon@sptimes.com or (352)544-9480.

[Last modified August 27, 2007, 19:20:08]