They Aim to ‘Putt’ It All Away : Disc Golf Open Attracts Some of World’s Best

Eric Jewell eyed his target, then uncorked a soaring shot that curled around a tree and landed about 110 yards away, just shy of a hole-in-one. He easily made the tap-in “putt” for birdie.

Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin: Don’t move over. Jewell, 26, of Villa Park was golfing in a U.S. Open, all right. But he was competing with a plastic disc known to most as a Frisbee.

“Disc golf” and six separate events lured Jewell and 219 others--among them 20 who have set disc “world records”--to La Mirada Park for what sponsors are calling the 1990 U.S. Open Flying Disc Championships. The events will run through Sunday.

It may sound, well, flighty, but with corporate sponsors providing $42,000 in prize money to the top finishers, be assured that this U.S. Open is no joke to those involved.

“The competition is top-notch,” said Dan Mangone of Fullerton, the tournament’s chief organizer. “With 20 current or former world record holders, you can imagine how tough it is.”

Referring to the expansive 27-hole disc-golf layout at the park, Mangone said: “It’s so unique that people from around the world come to have their pictures taken here.”

Indeed, the seven competitions that make up this U.S. Open also are distinct--even if some of the terminology and strategies appear to have been borrowed.

“I’ve got decent power, but the main thing in disc golf is, you have to be a great putter,” said Steve Valencia, 18, a two-time national disc golf champion, discussing the sport before he took to the course.

Valencia added something that any weekend hacker with clubs could confirm: “If your putting’s not on, you’re not going to score that effectively.”

As with conventional par-three golf, the disc “holes” are typically 300 feet to 700 feet long. Players must negotiate trees and occasionally water bodies before landing their discs in a receptacle roughly five feet above the ground that is affixed to a metal pole.

Valencia, a graduate of La Mirada High School, said he has already won $5,000 in disc competitions, plans to enter tournaments later this summer in Texas and Missouri. On Monday, he fired the best disc golf round of the field, a 45, or 9 under par.

The day’s most-talked-about achievement, however, came hours earlier at the side-arm-shooting hand of Conrad Damon, a computer programmer who said he is eschewing the office in Brea this week to manage discs of the airborne genre.

“This morning I tied the world record for accuracy,” Damon reported happily.

As with major league baseball’s World Series, the disc-throwing crowd goes international when describing records. But unlike baseball--which has yet to place a foreign team in its “world” championship games--the disc-golf open has competitors from other nations--Australia, Austria, Canada, Finland, West Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

Fewer than 100 spectators showed up for the opening rounds Monday, although Mangone said he expects as many as 15,000 for Saturday and Sunday. But those on hand Monday appeared to appreciate the expertise of the competitors.

“It’s interesting to see the different solutions they find to the problems,” said 22-year-old Adrienne Moll of Solana Beach.

By far the most elaborately outfitted competitor was Tim Selinske of Covina, whose pull-cart toted a bag of 13 different-size Frisbees (a standard assortment for serious players), water and “a flashlight for when this runs late.” Selinske is one of 15 disc devotees to make the 1990 Guinness Book of World Records.

As for Jewell, the entrant from Villa Park, he ended his disc golf round at 2 under par, placing him among the top 20.

“I was a novice up until six months ago,” Jewell said. “Now I’m up with the big boys, and I’m not winning anything . . . . If I can just find my putter, I’ll be fine.”