Undeterred Flying Objects – disc golfers play despite wintry conditions at Castle in the Clouds

MOULTONBOROUGH — The grounds surrounding the Castle in the Clouds feature a mix of open fields and wooded trails, elevation changes and commanding views of Lake Winnipesaukee. What a great place to hold a disc golf tournament, thought Ian Craveiro, especially in October, when foliage is at its most colorful.

The inaugural Lakes Region Fall Classic was held last year, and Mother Nature blessed the event with pouring rain and 30 mile-per-hour winds. For the second annual, she played the snow card.

Craveiro, the tournament director and a Moultonborough resident, said that although it rained all day on Saturday for most of town, there were blizzard conditions up at the Castle, which left three inches of wet snow for the event, which was held on Sunday.

He said that 90 people – a few from Maine and Massachusetts, the rest from all over New Hampshire – had preregistered, but would they show up? They did, along with 85 other people who registered that morning.

“Disc golfers, I wouldn’t say they don’t mind that, but it doesn’t stop us from getting out to play,” said Craveiro. He credited the unique venue for drawing players. It’s the only time of year that they can play at the Castle in the Clouds; Craveiro and his team set up the course just in time for the tournament and take it down until next year.

His course took advantage of the real estate, with an average hole length of 320 feet and a long of 490 feet. The par for the course was 57, and Mike Habets of Newport, who threw rounds of 48 in the morning and 45 in the afternoon, won the tournament.

Disc golf has a devoted following in New Hampshire, said Craveiro, who is part of the team of volunteers who maintain Sunshine Park in neighboring Sandwich. The discs are not to be confused with the common Frisbee, he said. Disc golfers have to work much harder to get their projectiles to fly. And just as a golfer has a bag full of clubs, there are different discs for different throws: drives, chips and putts. Instead of a hole in the ground, players aim for a chain basket at the end of each hole.

“It is a disc you have to throw very hard, you have to have good body mechanics and put a lot of spin on the disc to get it to go where you want it to go,” said Craveiro, who first played disc golf at Sunshine Park.

“When you go out to play disc golf, you’re out in the woods. It’s a beautiful place, it clears the mind. You can play as relaxed or competitive as you want,” Craviero said. “A very attractive part of the sport is anyone can do it… It’s just getting hooked on how the disc flies. Once you hit your first big shot, you’ll want to play forever.”

Craviero doesn’t have a date yet for the Third Annual Lakes Region Fall Classic, but it will be sometime in late October next year. He said on Monday that he’s wishing for some seasonally-appropriate conditions this time.

“I hope for less winter next year," he said Monday. "It was a full on winter day that we played in yesterday.”