Finding frolf

WASILLA — Hidden away among the quiet woods behind Larson Elementary is the only golf course in the Valley where players don’t need clubs, special shoes and plaid pants — or even balls, for that matter — to complete a round.

It’s the Alcantra Disc Golf Course, which winds its way over a nine-hole layout behind the baseball and softball fields of the Mat-Su Borough’s Alcantra Sports Complex, giving players of the Frisbee-based sport a chance to show who’s got the best arm around.

On Sunday, Valley teens Aaron Bean, Sam Thomas, Cassidy Nelson and Ryan Enderson squared off for a round, taking about a half-hour to make their way around the course. After the dust — well, mud in this case, as the course is still a bit soggy — had settled, Thomas had recorded the best score of the day.

“I’ve been playing for a couple years now,” Thomas said.

The other three said they’ve recently picked up the sport after getting turned on to disc golf by Thomas, who began playing in Anchorage, which has several courses open to the public.

“He kinda got us into it,” Bean said of Thomas.

Displaying his prowess with a disc, Thomas then proved he’s got some skills by casually whipping the hard plastic disc around a tree and into the chain link “hole” set up about 40 yards away.

Disc golf, which is also called Frisbee golf (or “frolf”) has been around since the mid-70s, and is growing in popularity every year, according to the Professional Disc Golf Association, which claims more than 16,000 active members on its Web site.

The sport is simple in theory, and all that’s needed to play is a course and an inexpensive disc, which can be purchased at most sporting goods shops for about $10. Advanced players use several difference discs, with different weights and sizes used for curved shots, long shots and short “putts.” For amateurs, however, such high-tech gear isn’t really necessary.

“You can play a round with just one,” Thomas said.

As in traditional golf, players start off at a tee box, where they throw their disc in the direction of the “pole hole,” a chain-mesh enclosure set up a couple hundred yards away. At Alcantra, most of the holes are in highly-wooded areas, so accuracy is at a premium. As Sunday’s foursome tried getting to the ninth hole, both Nelson and Enderson’s tosses looked quite good off the tee, only to smack into trees and fall to the ground.

Once a disc lands, players then throw again from that spot. Taking the fewest shots into the basket is the goal.

There is no fee to play at Alcantra, and an online brochure and scorecard can be found by visiting the Borough’s trails Web site at www.matsugov.us/RecServices/trailshomepage.cfm.

The sport is ideal for anyone wanting to spend some time outdoors in a relaxed atmosphere, the teens said, and at Alcantra there’s the added bonus of being close to the complex’s network of trails and ballfields.

“It’s something fun to do,” Nelson said. “And the soccer fields are right next door.”

The Alcantra Sports Complex is located adjacent to Larson Elementary, which can be reached from Wasilla by taking Wasilla-Fishhook Drive to 2722 E. Seldon Road.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com