It’s a Tuesday afternoon, and the Disc Golf course at Low Gap Park is filled with players battling the afternoon winds and engaging in friendly competition. Disc Golf is one of the world’s fastest growing sports, and locally, the scene is thriving, according to Joseph Haggard, member of the Basket Beaters Disc Golf Club of Mendocino County.

Haggard is participating and co-coordinating the 2022 NorCal Winter Charity Series (NWCS), a series of 11 Disc Golf fundraising events that commenced in December 2021 and will conclude in April.

Each event is a contest in which competitor fees are donated to a local organization in Lake, Mendocino, Sonoma or Humboldt Counties. The events rotate between disc golf courses throughout the four-county area and typically raise between $1,000-$2,000 for each agency.

The first event of this series was a fundraiser for Ukiah’s Toys for Tots. The Lake County recipients for this year’s NWCS were the Animal Refugee Response and the Clear Lake Gleaners. Along with Toys for Tots, Ukiah-area beneficiaries included the Redwood Coast Recreational Center in Gualala, the Pacific Environmental Education Center in Fort Bragg and the Anderson Valley Firefighter Association. Sonoma County’s Social Advocates for Youth was also a beneficiary this season.

The next event takes place on March 19th at the Low Gap Park Disc Golf Course, and the public is invited. It will include 2 rounds of 18 holes with trophies awarded to the top finishers in each division. The funds raised from this event will support the Waldorf School of Mendocino County.

The next event in the series takes place on Mar 26-27 in Little River, benefitting the Mendocino Coast Children’s Fund, with the series finale scheduled for April 9-10 at Brooktrails, in support of the Brooktrails Fire Department.

“Everyone buys in to the event at different levels,” Haggard explains. “Generally, between 50 to 90 people compete. Once the cost of trophies, course rentals and other expenses are covered, the balance is donated to local organizations, as opposed to a competitive event where participants win a cash prize.”

The NWCS was created in 2014 by Point Arena resident Derrick Robbings, as a way to have more competitive winter disc golf events in the Mendocino/Lake County region. In 2008, Robbings was introduced to “Icebowls,” a smaller, winter iteration of the Charity Series. With the help of Lou Rethelford, he birthed a Fort Bragg Icebowl.

“I ran the Fort Bragg Icebowl since 2010 and thought a series would be a good way to inspire people to go to all the other regional Icebowls,” says Robbings. The NWCS has evolved to create a more competitive atmosphere and encourage more players.

“Today, the NWCS, players earn points, which incentivizes people to enter the entire series,” notes Haggard. “Then we have a final competition and an awards event at Brooktrails for the top finishers.”

Willits resident Levi Fagundes joined Robbings in 2015 and has been the event co-organizer and point keeper.

“We both run several separate events each year and both help others get comfortable running their own events. We quickly saw what an impact these events have, as players got into their series points and started travelled to the events. Everyone began to take pride in the large donations,” Robbings continues.

“These types of events provide goodwill in the community and allow us to have more courses. The last several years, we’ve have had 11-12 events annually in Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake and Humboldt Counties,” says Robbings. As of 2020, the competition had raised over $100,000 for local organizations. “The local scene around here is strong,” he emphasizes.

The event is a coming together of many disc golf organizations in the four-county region.

“Shayne Dillahunty and the Lake County Basket Cases are amazing and have been a part of the series from the beginning. Tristan Smith and the United Flyers of Sonoma have made the largest donations for three years running. Par Infinity of Humboldt County has joined with us for the last several years.”

Touted as “golf with a Frisbee,” the allure of disc golf has continued to grow, with the majority of the event organizers competing at the professional level as members of the Professional Disc Golf Association. Haggard has been playing for eight years, and recently competed in Las Vegas at the Disc Golf Pro Tour, where he played against some of the top competitors in the world.

“I first started playing at UC Santa Cruz. My brother River introduced the game to me. I started out putting together circles of rocks with sticks in the ground, trying to get the disc into the circle of rocks. Then I evolved to playing the game with baskets,” Haggard smiles.

“What I personally love is that anyone can be involved, from kids to senior citizens. It costs about $20 to get your first set of discs, and many courses are free. You can do it with anyone, and you’re outdoors. I’m still learning every time I come out. Every day is a little different- the weather, the course- it keeps you in the moment. Especially in our world these days, it’s so nice to have an activity where you can take a deep breath and do the best you can do in the present moment. Everything else goes to the wayside. It’s just you, the basket and your friends.”

At the courses, there is a collegial feeling amongst folks coming out to play, and it’s not unusual for strangers to team up and share skills.

With disc golf, you can be teaching, learning or competing. Everyone has opportunity to be in all three of those roles,” says Haggard.

With opportunities like the NWCS allows Haggard to use his skills to help others.

“Being able to raise money for the community is the dream come true- doing what we love while having fun,” he concludes.

Disc Golf courses can be found at the North and South portions of Lake Mendocino, Low Gap Park, the Ukiah and Fort Bragg campuses of Mendocino College, Brooktrails, KOA Willits, Mendocino High School, in Gualala, Westport, and in Boonville at the Anderson Valley Brewing Company, along with many private courses. In Lake County, there is a course at Highland Springs.

Those interested in competing in the Low Gap event may register here. For information on upcoming events or to learn about the Basket Beaters Disc Golf Club, visit them on their Facebook page.