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Disc Golf Takes Off – Smiley Pete Publishing

Disc Golf Takes Off – Smiley Pete Publishing

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It may be a testament to disc golf’s growing popularity that a line had formed outside of Bomb Discs before the doors were even open.

Stephen Cassity, who co-owns Bomb Discs with Jimmie Newsome, said the shop’s opening day was a busy one. Located on Moore Drive, the disc golf retail store and training facility opened on April 9 to a steady stream of customers.

Disc golf has grown in popularity, especially since the beginning of the pandemic, Cassity said.

“It gets people outside. It’s cheap, and there are disc golf courses in several of the local parks around here, so playing is free. It became something people could do safely,” he said.

In fact, getting involved with disc golf during the pandemic was the impetus for starting the business, he said. Cassity, a disc golf player for years, introduced Newsome to the game.

“I got started in disc golf last summer. There was not a lot going on because of the pandemic, and Stephen actually reached out to me and asked me if I’d ever played disc golf before and I hadn’t,” Newsome said in a video on the company’s Facebook page. “He invited me out for a round. We played at Botts Park in Mount Sterling, and ever since that round I’ve been hooked.”

As Newsome got more involved in the game, he turned to the internet to buy discs to use. But, after about six months of buying new discs online and realizing they sometimes weren’t exactly what he wanted, Newsome suggested to Cassity that they start a retail store that specializes in the sport.

The store sells new and used discs, as well as other disc golf items like grip enhancers, bags, water bottles and other accessories. Cassity said a starter set of discs — a putter, a mid-weight disc and a driver — starts at about $15.

The store is also home to a training facility where players can practice putting at one of three nets and learn more about how to play the game.

“We have a throwing net for people to throw into, and we can take a video of them and help them with their throw,” Cassity said. “And we have a speed gun, not just because everyone wants to see how fast their throw is, but because the speed of your throw helps us figure out what kind of a disc you should get.”

Cassity said he doesn’t see the popularity of disc golf fading any time soon. Nationally, the sport continues to grow in popularity. Locally, disc golf groups have grown exponentially. One group that plays at Shillito Park had about 70 members prior to the pandemic and has grown to about 120, Cassity said.

The sport’s popularity led ESPN to air the Disc Golf Pro Championship for the first time in November. And, on March 2, professional disc golfer Paul McBeth signed a 10-year, $10 million contract with Discraft Disc Sports — becoming the highest-paid disc golfer in history.

“I don’t think we’re in a bubble. I think this is going to continue to grow,” Cassity said.

PGA TOUR Champions and GRAIL Announce The Galleri® Classic | Business

PGA TOUR Champions and GRAIL Announce The Galleri® Classic | Business

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RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. & MENLO PARK, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apr 19, 2022–

PGA TOUR Champions and GRAIL, LLC today announced a partnership to host a new professional golf tournament in Rancho Mirage, California. The Galleri® Classic, named after GRAIL’s multi-cancer early detection test, will debut March 20 – 26, 2023 at the renowned Mission Hills Country Club. This marks the first time PGA TOUR Champions has hosted a tournament in Coachella Valley since 1993.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220419005389/en/

The Galleri Classic will feature 78 PGA TOUR Champions professionals, including World Golf Hall of Fame members, who will play 54 holes of stroke play for a purse of $2.2 million. The Galleri Classic will be the latest addition to the PGA TOUR Champions schedule and will benefit cancer-related causes.

“We are thrilled to partner with GRAIL to bring PGA TOUR Champions golf back to such a storied community at the Mission Hills Country Club,” said PGA TOUR Champions President Miller Brady. “World Golf Hall of Fame members and legends of the game will enjoy a tremendous week of competition here, while providing the passionate, local golf fans with a unique, incredible experience, and we look forward to making a positive impact in the community for years to come.”

As an annual stop on the PGA TOUR and a host for PGA TOUR Champions events for 12 years, Coachella Valley has an incredibly rich golf history. Several current PGA TOUR Champions members have won here including David Duval, who made history with his final-round 59 to win the 1999 American Express, class of 2022 rookies Justin Leonard (2005 American Express) and Brian Gay (2013), two-time winner Corey Pavin (1987 & 1991), Mike Weir (2003), Joe Durant (2001), Fred Couples (1998) and Jay Haas (1988). Additionally, many World Golf Hall of Fame members have won in Palm Springs including Hale Irwin (1998 Senior Match Play Challenge), Raymond Floyd (1993 Gulfstream Aerospace Invitational), Chi Chi Rodriguez (1991 Vintage Arco Invitational), Lee Trevino (1990 Vintage Chrysler Invitational), Bob Charles (1987 Vintage Chrysler Invitational), Peter Thomson (1985 Vintage Invitational) and Gene Littler (1983 Vintage Invitational).

“GRAIL and PGA TOUR Champions have a shared commitment to positively impact the lives of people and communities that we touch. At 50 years of age and older, Champions Tour Players have likely had

personal experiences with cancer and can inspire the next generation to improve health care,” said Bob Ragusa, Chief Executive Officer at GRAIL. “We are excited to join forces to build awareness for multi cancer early detection and raise proceeds for cancer-related causes.”

GRAIL is a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. Galleri, a first-of-kind multi-cancer early detection blood test offered by GRAIL, has been shown to detect many cancers that are not commonly screened for today. When a common cancer signal is found, test results can point to where in the body the cancer is located with high accuracy to help healthcare providers guide the next steps to diagnosis. Galleri is intended for people with an elevated risk of cancer, such as those aged 50 or older, and is to be used in addition to recommended cancer screenings.

“We are proud to continue our professional golf history here at Mission Hills Country Club dating back to 1972,” said ClubCorp CEO David Pillsbury. “So many of the current legends on PGA TOUR Champions have a history of competing at events in the Coachella Valley. Mission Hills Country Club has proved to be a perfect host to professional golf events from the challenging major championship golf course to all of the amenities for fans, sponsors and players. This will quickly become one of the very best venues on the PGA TOUR Champions schedule and most importantly will continue to have a positive impact on the local community.”

Mission Hills Country Club, known worldwide for its rich history and tradition after hosting professional golf events for the last five decades, has evolved into a Coachella Valley golf club for all seasons. The 18 th hole and “Poppie’s Pond” are traditionally one of the more memorable and historic finishing holes in professional golf. The ClubCorp owned facility offers a unique golf experience, with three very diverse golf courses designed by some of the biggest names in golf course design (Arnold Palmer Course, Pete Dye Challenge Course and Dinah Shore Tournament Course). All three courses have six tee locations allowing players to play the course at their desired comfort level.

All rounds of The Galleri Classic will be broadcast nationally on GOLF Channel, the TOUR’s exclusive cable-television partner that reaches close to 70 million U.S. households and in excess of 170 countries and territories, reaching more than 340 million potential households, and distributed in 15+ markets via GOLFTV.

The Galleri Classic will be managed and operated by Wasserman. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Wasserman is a global sports, entertainment and lifestyle marketing agency offering expertise in Event Management, Athlete Representation, Marketing and Media. Wasserman Events manages and operates multiple tournaments on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions and LPGA. Additionally, Wasserman organizes several corporate events and consults for a variety of sponsors on their partnerships across the professional golf landscape.

To access and download imagery from Mission Hills Country Club, click here.

ABOUT GRAIL

GRAIL is a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. GRAIL is focused on alleviating the global burden of cancer by developing pioneering technology to detect and identify multiple deadly cancer types early. The company is using the power of next-generation sequencing, population-scale clinical studies, and state-of-the-art computer science and data science to enhance the scientific understanding of cancer biology, and to develop its multi-cancer early detection blood test. GRAIL is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA with locations in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and the United Kingdom. GRAIL, LLC, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN).

For more information, please visit www.grail.com.

About Galleri ®

The earlier that cancer is detected, the higher the chance of successful outcomes. The Galleri multi cancer early detection test can detect cancer signals across more than 50 types of cancer, as defined by the American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging Manual, through a routine blood draw. When a cancer signal is detected, the Galleri test predicts the cancer signal origin, or where the cancer is located in the body, with high accuracy to help guide the next steps to diagnosis. The Galleri test requires a prescription from a licensed health care provider and should be used in addition to recommended cancer screenings such as mammography, colonoscopy, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, or cervical cancer screening. It is intended for use in people with an elevated risk of cancer, such as those aged 50 or older.

For more information about Galleri, visit www.galleri.com.

Important Galleri Safety Information

The Galleri test is recommended for use in adults with an elevated risk for cancer, such as those aged 50 or older. The Galleri test may not detect a cancer signal across all cancers and should be used in addition to routine cancer screening tests recommended by a healthcare provider. Galleri is intended to detect cancer signals and predict where in the body the cancer signal is located. Use of Galleri is not recommended in individuals who are pregnant, 21 years old or younger, or undergoing active cancer treatment.

Results should be interpreted by a healthcare provider in the context of medical history, clinical signs and symptoms. A test result of “Cancer Signal Not Detected” does not rule out cancer. A test result of “Cancer Signal Detected” requires confirmatory diagnostic evaluation by medically established procedures (e.g. imaging) to confirm cancer.

If cancer is not confirmed with further testing, it could mean that cancer is not present or testing was insufficient to detect cancer, including due to the cancer being located in a different part of the body. False-positive (a cancer signal detected when cancer is not present) and false-negative (a cancer signal not detected when cancer is present) test results do occur. Rx only.

Laboratory/Test Information

GRAIL’s clinical laboratory is certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) and accredited by the College of American Pathologists. The Galleri test was developed, and its performance characteristics were determined by GRAIL. The Galleri test has not been cleared or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. GRAIL’s clinical laboratory is regulated under CLIA to perform high-complexity testing. The Galleri test is intended for clinical purposes.

ABOUT PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

PGA TOUR Champions is a membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older, including 34 members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. The Tour’s mission is to provide financial opportunities for its players, entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back and generate significant charitable and economic impact in tournament communities. Follow PGA TOUR Champions online at PGATOUR.com, at facebook.com/PGATOURChampions, on Twitter @ChampionsTour, on Instagram @pgatourchampions and on TikTok (pgatourchampions).

All events are televised in the United States, with most receiving complete coverage on GOLF Channel, the exclusive cable-television partner of PGA TOUR Champions. Tournament programming is available via 20-plus TV linear partners in 170-plus countries and territories, with 25 channels carrying long-form and/or highlights coverage, and 170-plus hours of live coverage distributed in 130-plus countries and territories. Programming is also available via the OTT platform GOLFTV powered by PGA TOUR in every market outside of the United States (240-plus countries and territories), excluding China, Korea and Russia, with live coverage distributed in 130-plus countries and territories.

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220419005389/en/

CONTACT: Allie LeClair, PGA TOUR Champions, 920-901-9032,allieleclair@pgatourhq.com

Trish Rowland, GRAIL,trowland@grailbio.com

KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA CALIFORNIA

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BIOTECHNOLOGY GOLF SPORTS HEALTH ONCOLOGY

SOURCE: GRAIL

Copyright Business Wire 2022.

PUB: 04/19/2022 12:00 PM/DISC: 04/19/2022 12:02 PM

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220419005389/en

As pandemic drives outdoor recreation, Glide Disc Golf sees scores of newcomers to sport | Business News

As pandemic drives outdoor recreation, Glide Disc Golf sees scores of newcomers to sport | Business News

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In some ways, Glide Disc Golf was a microcosm of the Madison retail experience in 2020.

Deemed nonessential, it was shuttered for two months. The Far East Side shop was broken into one of the late May nights State Street was looted. Products became limited as COVID-19 disrupted international supply chains. Owner Mike Batka strained to get a clear answer on allowable capacity when his 950-square-foot store reopened.

In other ways, the niche sporting goods shop is an outlier.

Propelled by a growth in outdoor recreation as people sought safe and socially distanced activities, 2020 proved to be the best sales year for the company, now in its 13th year, Batka said.

Further defying the odds of a public health crisis that’s massively benefitted online retailers, the vast majority of Glide’s revenue is in sales at its brick-and-mortar store.

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“I’m not going to attribute it to some high level of business acumen. There is something to be said about being in the right place at the right time,” the 46-year-old Batka said. “In a relatively frustrating, depressing, unknown environment, just day-to-day life, Glide served to be a bright spot and an escape and outlet for a lot of people.”

It wasn’t just disc golf people flocked to last year.

A report earlier this year from the Wisconsin Policy Forum found across-the-board increases in outdoor recreation and hunting from Department of Natural Resources data. Other items like kayaks, canoes and cross-country skis flew off the shelves at other retailers.







New players who picked up disc golf as a pandemic hobby came into the shop for advice and guidance, while die-hards of the sport want the tactile experience of holding a disc before purchasing it, Batka said.




Opened in the spring of 2008 — in time for the Great Recession — Glide experienced steady growth the first few years, Batka said, and a jump in revenue in 2012 after moving to a larger space within the strip mall where the business is located.

Heavy rain in 2018 had an “adverse affect on us” as water-logged courses and swarms of mosquitoes kept people from playing, Batka said. But revenue bounced back the following year.

When Gov. Tony Evers issued his “safer at home” order last spring, closing nonessential businesses, Batka prepared for another financial hit.

Glide was “really busy right out of the gate” when the shop at 4222 Milwaukee St., next to a disc golf course in Hiestand Park, reopened in mid-May. The growth was driven by new players interested in picking up a pandemic hobby.

The leisurely and relatively inexpensive activity appealed to retirees, cooped-up school children and musically deprived concertgoers looking for a new outlet.

The store required face masks even before Evers issued a state mandate, said Batka, whose wife is a nurse, and free disposable masks are given to customers without one.

This year continues to look promising. First-quarter sales are up compared to the same time period last year, which was largely pre-pandemic, Batka said.

The surprising growth of 2020 was a team effort, he said. It allowed Batka to provide his two employees with 18% raises, give year-end bonuses and stay committed to an initiative where businesses donate at least 1% of sales to environmental nonprofits, which represents approximately 4% of the store’s profits.

“I would certainly have preferred to have a normal year with my kids in school and have had a year that was more similar to 2019,” he said. “But I guess if there was a silver lining to 2020, it did lead to a relatively good year for us.”







Supply troubles

Like other businesses, Glide continues to have troubles placing product orders as the pandemic interrupts international supply chains.




Specialty shop

Nestled in an obscure strip mall off Milwaukee Street just east of Stoughton Road, Glide is the only sporting goods store in Madison dedicated solely to disc golf.

The shop stocks about 10,000 discs at any one time, generally ranging from $10 to $20. Backpacks starting at $29 and going as high as $299 for limited edition ones line one wall of the store, while the other side has custom apparel, baskets players use as the target in the sport and other accessories.

The store does compete with big-box retailers in Madison that offer disc golf products, such as Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods, he said.

Having first played disc golf in 2000, Batka speaks passionately about the sport and its history, the types of discs, and the national and international manufacturers he’s been spending more time calling and emailing to keep the store stocked in the face of product shortages. Batka and the two part-time employees — both avid disc golfers — offer advice and guidance to new players.

“You can’t necessarily get that guidance buying from a website,” Batka said.

The store also appeals to die-hards who drive in from places like Milwaukee and Rockford, Illinois, to browse, Batka said.

For veterans to the sport, being able to feel and see the discs before making a purchase is important, he said. They also often have specific preferences on the texture, weight and color of discs.

Locally, sales of disc golf permits through the city’s Parks Division to play the three seasonal courses presented a mixed picture.







Good location

The niche sporting goods retailer is the only shop in Madison devoted solely to disc golf, and it’s located right across from a disc golf course in Hiestand Park.




The city sold 1,908 annual disc golf permits in 2020, a significant bump compared to about 1,450 in each 2018 and 2019. At the same time, the cheaper daily permits took a year-over-year dive from 5,284 in 2019 to 3,279 in 2020.

A backstory

Soon after graduating UW-Madison in 1997 with a degree in economics, Batka embarked on a decade-long nomadic professional journey.

He interned with a minor league baseball team in Michigan, worked investments for a financial services company in Milwaukee, sold professional shredding services and got a job at UPS — initially for the health insurance that turned into a yearslong stint of moving up the ladder.

For someone who had always wanted to work in sports, Batka — the Bucky Badger mascot his senior year of college — said nothing seemed to fit.

The idea of opening his own shop was planted at a disc golf tournament in Madison. It was there Batka said he spoke with Mike Newhouse, who previously owned a disc golf store in the same strip mall Glide would open up in.

One more short-lived stint at an Illinois-based sales company finally had Batka realize: “I don’t want to live like this.” By late 2007 he signed a lease, and Glide opened the following spring.

“I saw the sport growing, I wanted something that I was passionate about, and I never felt like I found my niche” before opening the store, Batka said.

The leisurely and relatively inexpensive activity appealed to retirees, cooped-up school children and musically deprived concertgoers looking for a new outlet.

WATCH NOW: Pleasant Prairie Park is home to village’s first disc golf course | Business

WATCH NOW: Pleasant Prairie Park is home to village’s first disc golf course | Business

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PLEASANT PRAIRIE — Melting snow. Chirping birds. Sunny skies. Warm winds.

As the weather turns from winter to spring, that could mean only one thing as the Village readies its newest playing field with roundish objects, chain-link, above-ground baskets awaiting as you gathering of yourself, your family and a bunch of friends. (Hint: It’s not basketball)

On the west end of Pleasant Prairie Park at 108th Avenue north of 84th Street is the village’s first disc golf course, which was all but completed in October and is soon to be open for use by the public this spring.

The par 3, nine-hole course, while smaller than some in the surrounding area is “a little bit of a challenging, technical course” with its share of trees and other topographical terrain and sight-line bending features, according to the village’s Public Works Director John Steinbrink Jr., who presented to the Parks Commission an update of its progress Tuesday night. The Commission voted unanimously declaring the course ready for use this spring, weather permitting.

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“We’re very excited to have it. We just wanted to make the commission and the rest of the public aware that it is something that is complete,” he said. “As soon as the ground thaws it will be ready.”

The disc golf park is part of a development plan for Pleasant Prairie Park, which added 4.4 acres to the previous 22-acre property on the village’s northwest side.

Other improvements on the west end of the park include grading, seeding and connecting the property, which had ended at 104th Avenue and is now extended to 108th Avenue. Pleasant Prairie Park’s east end also underwent improvement in October with two previously gravel parking areas receiving a coat of asphalt enhancing the other already established amenities from the youth soccer field, basketball hoops, tennis courts, a playground area and green space. Restroom facilities were added, too.

On the west end of the park, a new east-west gravel road that bisects nearly all of the course is currently closed for use by motorized vehicles, so no golf carts can travel there just yet. But, it is currently open to foot traffic, Steinbrink said.

“It’s closed right now and we’ll have to come up with a schedule for when we want to open it,” he said. “Right now it’s closed because the grass (around it) is still establishing. The last thing we’d want is somebody going in there in the night-time hour and not being able to see well, possibly drive off the path and do some damage.

“It’s accessible for pedestrians, but we don’t have a time frame where we’re looking to open it,” Steinbrink said.

Soon to come with the village’s disc golf course will be score cards. Steinbrink said he hopes to eventually work with a sponsor to help pay for the costs of distribution. A course map is also anticipated to be available online along with the signage at the park.

Steinbrink said he had never played the sport, which is popular among local enthusiasts, who’ve had to go to other nearby facilities, until he tested the village’s new course. Among other courses in the area are at the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Somers and Lincoln Park in Kenosha, both 18-hole courses.

“I never played before that first day and I was still able to throw a Frisbee semi-close to where it had to go without too much distress or too much loss on the disc,” he said.

“It’s a lot of fun. Looking forward to it,” he said of the village’s upcoming parks and recreation season. “There’s a lot of sports that as we age, and like me, we can’t play. Here’s something that I think I’ll be able to accomplish and maybe other people (also), for years to come.”

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