Next weekend sees the Auckland champs of the little known sport of disc golf. Similar in many ways to traditional golf, the frisbee-based sport is gaining in popularity as a fun way of competing in some of the country's best parks. James Russell gives it a try.
There's a good reason they call Bob Gentil "The Master", and it doesn't take long to discover it. A regular visitor to the podium on the New Zealand disc golf competition circuit, Gentil has a deft but powerful touch with a frisbee. Best known as a long-time radio host, his throws are graceful, starting off low and rising, weaving through trees and around hedges.
Yes, that's right. There's a New Zealand disc golf circuit and it just saw the end of its 32nd year. In the United States, Europe and Japan, the best disc golfers make a living from it, but most play the game on a casual basis.
The game is very similar to golf. For instance, you experience the same delusional visualisation of the shot you are about to play and the same internal self-flagellation over the shot you actually played.
On the odd occasion it all goes to plan and the disc sails beautifully towards its target.
There are "drivers", and the equivalent of irons - mid-distance frisbees - and putters. You play nine, or 18 "holes", and each has a par value. Holes consist of custom-built baskets or, in New Zealand, usually posts driven into the ground or trees marked with tape.
There are, of course, marked differences too. There are no green-keeping groundsmen, and there are no clubrooms. And as you might imagine, it's cheap to participate.
Gentil and his band of merry men are the driving force behind the sport in New Zealand, which, according to him, has courses good enough to rival the best in the world. A national champion many times over, Gentil laments the lack of official support for the sport, and fears that disc golfers may be run out of their favourite haunts.
Though they are vocal and vigorous in their promotion of the sport, testament to this lack of interest is the fact a Waiheke Island course is the only basketed course in Auckland.
Perhaps the brightest gem in the crown of Auckland's disc golf locations is Monte Cecilia Park in Hillsborough. With its sweeping valleys, grassy slopes and exotic trees, the park provides a stunning backdrop for a round. Hole names include "The Full Monty", "Visiting Paddy" (a local man living on the edge of the park who came to see what Gentil was doing) and "Dirty Dogleg". Pity the disc golfer whose poor throw transforms itself into the dreaded "wheel", cruelly rolling to the bottom of these steep slopes, further from the target than the original tee-off site. Raucous, gleeful laughter from fellow players is the general accompaniment to a throw of this ilk.
The disc is, of course, thrown like an ordinary frisbee - a backhanded wrist flick - unless you happen to be from Taumarunui. Not a slur on the evolutionary journey of the folk of this region, but a historical quirk.
The locals of Taumarunui were taught to throw by enthusiast Pete Boyle who, due to an injury, was only able to throw comfortably with a forehand motion - called a sidearm throw. Pete and his disciples all throw this way, and are known as "the lost tribe". They are also are the enthusiastic hosts of an annual disc golf competition held in Taumarunui, which boasts three courses.
Getting started
The most basic "kit" needed is made up of three discs - a driver, a mid-range disc and a putter. Prices of the discs range from about $15 to $35. Players may own up to a dozen discs, each with its own flight characteristics suited to different holes or throwing styles. Take a look at the website set up by Gentil, discgolf.co.nz, which features the location of local courses, often with PDF files of the course holes.
There are eight courses in Auckland - five at Cornwall Park, and one each at Monte Cecilia Park, Onetangi Sports Park on Waiheke Island, and Browns Bay on the North Shore.
Auckland Disc Golf Champs
* September 10-12, Onepoto Domain, Northcote
* Spectators free and welcome
* More information: discgolf.co.nz
