Switched Keys

A few weeks ago I was playing disc golf at Lindsey when someone mentioned the early history of disc golf in Tyler and how I was a part of it. The discussion went on until it mentioned my involvement in the foundation of RCDC. It's true that I was one of the founding members, but soon after it was formed, I started a different organization that was more open to others and interested in helping all of East Texas with disc golf.

The ironic thing was that I was in favor of expanding the course beyond the open areas of the park and into the woods besides Cedar. We were limited to what is now part of Cedar (1-12) and Hickory (1, 2, 6, 9-11, and 18). We played a few holes along what is now Dogwood #16 and #17, and elsewhere, at special events but RCDC leadership opposed getting out of our boundaries, or playing into the woods. The limited opportunities for developing the course was one of the main reasons I had the East Texas Open/Paul Giles Memorial in Athens instead of at Lindsey in Tyler.

Now the three courses at Lindsey cover areas of forbidden territory on all sides of the park. It's funny how I got what I wanted after all. It's certainly not the first time that I've been ahead of my time, and I'm sure others have seen that concept in their ventures as well. On the flip side, if you never venture, you will always be behind the times.

By the way, disc golf in Tyler has an interesting history, and maybe we should begin recording that history so we can share it with grandkids when they are watching disc golf at the Olympics. Wouldn't that be cool??