![]() ![]() Jim Palmeri #23 (left) handing Dan "Stork" Roddick #003 (right) the keys to his prize for winning the 1974 American Flying Disc Open. They called the event the American Flying Disc Open (AFDO), and to attract the attention of the Frisbee community, they put up a brand new 1974 Datsun B210 to be awarded to the winner. They decided to make the 1974 City of Rochester Disc Golf Championship a national tournament to find out just how many other people around the country were playing disc golf. They were amazed to hear of the Frisbee culture that existed well beyond their little sphere of activity. In 1973, this avid group of disc golfers first happened upon a copy of the IFA newsletter. By 1973, they had even promoted two City of Rochester Disc Frisbee Championship events which featured disc golf as the main event. ![]() Despite having never heard of the International Frisbee Association (IFA) that Ed and Wham-O had put together, or ever seeing a copy of the IFA Newsletter, Jim Palmeri, his brother, and a small group of people from Rochester, NY, had been playing disc golf as a competitive sport on a regular basis since August of 1970, including tournaments and weekly league play. Apparently, for some reason, at that time, disc golf didn't fit into the promotional plans that Wham-O had for its Frisbee brand flying discs.īut, the game of disc golf did indeed exist. Surprisingly, there was only a very brief mention of the concept of Frisbee golf, and that was buried in a section titled “the obstacle course.” There was no further description of Frisbee golf anywhere else in the book. In 1972, he wrote the very first book on the emerging sport, “ The Official Frisbee Handbook” in which he described the wide range of activities and events that could be played with a Frisbee. Goldy Norton was Wham-O’s west coast publicist. ![]() Unfortunately, that was the last significant mention of Frisbee golf by Wham-O for over seven years. The combination of Donnelly’s - and especially Sappenfield's - early promotion of Frisbee golf was an important factor that led to the emergence of disc golf as an organized sport in 1974. Sappenfield went on to work full time for Wham-O until the company was sold in 1985. One of the first things he did was to convince "Steady" Ed Headrick that it would be a good idea to include a Frisbee golf event in the big All Comers Frisbee Meet that Wham-O was in the process of planning. Wham-O was impressed with George’s efforts, and offered him a part-time job as a promotions consultant. When Sappenfield finished college in 1968 and became the Parks and Recreation supervisor for Thousand Oaks, California, he sought support from Wham-O for a Frisbee golf tournament that he planned to promote. Sappenfield and Donnelly became friends and shared their ideas about golfing with Frisbees. In 1966, George found out that his recreation class instructor, Kevin Donnelly, had also promoted Frisbee golf for children a few years earlier. While playing golf one afternoon, he thought that perhaps the kids on his playground could play golf using Frisbees. In 1965, George Sappenfield #376 worked as a recreation counselor during his summer break from Fresno State University. Indeed, most of these instances were isolated not only geographically, but also isolated in time, so they couldn't have known about each other.”ĭisc Golf Pole Hole Patent image courtesy of the Disc Golf Association. Each account was an isolated instance of recreational disc golf play, and none of the participants knew of anyone else playing disc golf. There are many historical accounts of people playing golf with a flying disc, some of which pre-date the advent of the plastic flying discs by many years. “Sorry, but this turns out to be impossible to answer. In his Brief History of Disc Golf on , Disc Golf Hall of Fame member Jim Palmeri #23 responds to that question as follows: Even a question as simple as “Who first played disc golf?” has no clear and concise answer. The concept of disc golf itself however has a long and blurry history. The second was the basis of all disc golf targets today, the Disc Golf Pole Hole (U.S. Patent #3359678) in 1966 as an employee at Wham-O. Of his dozens of patented inventions, two of them hold infinite importance to our sport. “Steady” Ed Headrick #001 is considered the Father of Disc Golf. Photo of Simon Lizotte #8332 courtesy of LEL Photography. Photo of “Steady” Ed Headrick #001 courtesy of the Disc Golf Association. Story by Matt Gregoire #28647, Joe Feidt #362, and Jim Palmeri #23. ![]()
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