Bluegrass State Winter Games Disc Golf Event
Bluegrass State Summer Games Disc Golf Event

Bluegrass State Games

The Bluegrass State Games is a non-profit program sponsored privately to promote amateur athletics across the Commonwealth. It is designed to provide Kentuckians of all ages and skill levels, a wholesome avenue for positive development through sports and physical activity, to promote and develop amateur athletics, and to provide the amateur athlete an opportunity to showcase their talent and receive statewide recognition.

For sport details, entry, lodging information, and results online, visit the Bluegrass State Games web site at www.bgsg.org or call 1-800-722-BGSG (2474). Entry booklets are mailed to athletes who have participated in the past and are available at all Kenton County libraries.

In local support of the Games, Kenton County Parks & Recreation Programs Coordinator, Steve Trauger, and his wife, Kim, are Sport Commissioners for the Disc Golf event in both Winter and Summer Bluegrass State Games. For information about Disc Golf in the Bluegrass State Games, call (859) 525-PLAY (7529).

Disc Golf. Kentucky is the first and only state to offer Disc Golf in a Winter State Games format. The Disc Golf event, for both Winter and Summer games, beginning in 2003, takes place at Banklick Woods Park in Independence, Kenton County. The best players in all of Kentucky compete for Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals in divisional play.

The tournament consists of 36 holes. Amateur and Professional divisions for Men and Women, Boys and Girls will be contested. If you are not sure what division you should enter, we will help you decide. If you have never played in a tournament, you are an Am and will be for a long time. You (and your friends!) will decide when you are ready to turn Pro.

Disc Golf at the Bluegrass State Games is a tournament, true. Competition is both friendly and fierce. It may be the first tournament (or only tournament) that many players ever enter and here is the reason why. For Round 1, scorecards are mixed randomly so that a rookie may be able to play in a group with a veteran who can throw 450 feet (or farther), can throw backhand and forehand, and rollers (both ways), a "tomahawk", a "scoobie", make putts from 50 feet consistently, and, most importantly, knows all the rules. That rookie may even get to play Round 1 with a World Champion.

That's a round of Disc Golf that will be remembered a long time.

Banklick Woods Disc Golf course is one of the most popular and frequently played courses in the state. A heated / air-conditioned building provides a tournament headquarters for officials, and players have a sheltered place to prepare for play, regroup before Round 2, and enjoy the awards ceremony at the end of the day.

A player's meeting begins (promptly) at 9:00 am; groups and tees are assigned, and followed by a shotgun start at 9:30 am. Round 2 begins one hour after the last group has completed Round 1.

When everyone has completed the first round, and after a break for lunch on your own, scores are tabulated, scorecards sorted again, and players divided now into respective divisions to play Round 2 with those of closer ability.

"Let the Games begin!" Now, the "tournament" begins. Now, everyone knows the scores of everyone else and if they might be in the running for a medal. Now, the concentration and effort become even more apparent. New rivalries begin and old rivalries begin again.

Upon completion of Round 2, while tournament officials add up the scorecards and determine divisional winners, a Closest to the Pin (CTP) contest for donated prizes takes place.

 An awards ceremony immediately follows the contest. The three players in each division with the lowest scores win awesome Gold, Silver, or Bronze medals. Ties for the medals are resolved by sudden-death playoff. Everyone else cheers for the winners, hopefully has enjoyed a great day in the outdoors playing a game that they love, and met a whole bunch of new friends.

That's the beauty of the Bluegrass State Games. Hey! We're all from Kentucky! We all go home winners!

What are you waiting for? Come on, Kentucky! Register today!

Questions? Call Steve Trauger, Sport Commissioner, Kenton County Parks & Recreation (859) 525-PLAY (7529), or the Bluegrass State Games Office 800-722-BGSG (2474).

What is Disc Golf? Disc Golf, if you haven't played it yet, is like (ball) Golf but played with a flying disc (or Frisbee) on a Disc Golf course. Terminology is about the same for both sports.

The initial "drive" (or long distance throw) down a "fairway" is made from a "tee", followed by subsequent "approach" throws (which are shorter and depend more on accuracy than power), until a "putt" (a short, very accurate throw) allows the disc to come to rest in the "hole" (a metal basket with chains hanging from the top), thus completing the hole.

The fairway, or the land between tee and hole, is the fun part. A fairway may be wide and open or tight and twisting and rolling and wooded and may include hazards or obstacles, such as trees, bushes, thickets, long grasses, creeks, ponds, and lakes. Don't forget boundaries, which may also need to be considered. A fairway may be 200, or more than 1000 feet in length. The fairway, and all its obstacles, must be successfully negotiated for the player to complete the course in the fewest number of throws, which is the ultimate goal. Selecting the right flight path for your disc to follow is the challenge.

Then, there are the discs. Disc Golf discs are designed to perform particular tasks: to fly fast and far, slower and not-so-far, to fly straight, curve right or left, roll, or even to float. Although you need just one disc to play, disc selection (for each throw) will become another piece of the puzzle that you will forever be trying to solve. But that will come later. When you are a "better" player. And, believe it - that's another story

Typically, 9, 18, 24, or even more holes make up a course. Most Disc Golf courses are free to play (ball Golf has greens fees) and until Disc Golf becomes too popular, getting in a round will continue to be "at your convenience." The discs are relatively inexpensive to purchase ($7-15) and the rules are simple so you can start having fun right away.

Terrific scenery and seasonal changes only add to the beauty of the game. Did we mention that you can play Disc Golf all year long? Even in snow? Considering you can play the game from "school age to old age", Disc Golf is a game whole families can enjoy - together, even!

There are now more than 20 Disc Golf courses in Kentucky, including courses in Banklick Woods and Pride parks in Kenton County, Boone Woods and Idlewild parks in Boone County and Highland and A.J. Jolly parks in Campbell County. There are 1,100 listed in the www.pdga.com online course directory - nearly 1,000 in the USA, including Banklick Woods, in the Kenton County Parks system.

Banklick Woods was one of the courses played during the PDGA Professional World Championships in 1988 and again in 1998 and the PDGA Amateur World's in 1995. An annual, PDGA-sanctioned event, the Disc 'N Dat Bluegrass Open, takes place here on Memorial Day Weekend each year. For a current list of PDGA tour events, visit www.pdgatour.com

P-D-G-A. That's Professional Disc Golf Association , the non-profit players' organization responsible for sport promotion, membership registration, rules implementation, and the other stuff that governing bodies do, like sanctioning tournaments, training and testing of officials, publishing a quarterly magazine (Disc Golf World News), and providing direction and assistance regarding all things Disc Golf. The PDGA celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2001.