MOUNT VERNON — Last year, Richard Scearce, a teacher at Mount Vernon High School and an avid disc golf player, brought his sport to school.
In the spring of 2013, a group of high school students, led by Scearce, formed the disc golf club. The club attracted 15 members that spring who played every Wednesday at local courses.
After summer vacation, the club publicized a little bit more and another 30 joined in the fall of 2013.
Disc golf, to some Frisbee golf, is a flying disc game as well as a precision and accuracy sport, in which individual players throw a flying disc at a target.
Almost every website has its own definition of the sport, yet there always is one word absent — fun. The thing that makes disc golf such a popular sport in Mount Vernon is you don’t have to be an athlete to play. The only thing you need is good social skills and a sense of humor.
On a recent outing, sophomore David Taylor threw a stray disc that ended up on the roof of a nearby home.
“I had to ask a family if I could use their ladder to get it,” he said. “I eventually got the disc back and went on to throw par for the next couple of holes.”
With the growing demand of disc golf at Mount Vernon High School, the club has discussed plans to create a disc golf course on campus. While plans for the course were being made, and funds were being raised, the club still used local courses for fun outings and competitions.
The season ended with a school-wide tournament for any interested players at the Cornell College course. The field was narrowed to the final three competitors, who went out and played a final round with Scearce.
Luke Moran won the tournament, while Bryce Cox and Sayre Pollock finished second and third. respectively.