It’s easy to detect the passion in Taylor Chisolm’s voice.
A few years ago, soccer would have been the topic of conversation. After all, Chisolm set a school record for goals in a season as a senior at Caledonia High School in 2009. His exploits helped lead the Confederates to a school-best 14-5 record and the Class 4A North Half title game.
Since then, though, Chisolm has found a new hobby, or passion, to occupy some of his spare time. Don’t think for one second that just because you might not have heard of the sport — disc golf — Chisolm isn’t as passionate about it as he was about soccer.
In fact, if you know Chisolm, he might be even more consumed with disc golf than he ever was about soccer.
“He gives everything he has got when he is doing something, but he is so passionate about growing this sport,” said Chisolm’s father, Rusty, just one person Taylor has helped get “hooked” on disc golf. “His big thing is trying to get younger players playing, first-time players playing, recreational players playing, and trying to build up the club (Columbus Disc Golf Association) as well. He is just trying to build the sport up in Columbus.”
You might see Chisolm the next time you drive past Propst Park in Columbus or if you’re out for a walk at Lake Lowndes State Park in Columbus. He likely will be decked out in a polo shirt and be armed for play with a bag filled with discs of all colors and weights. Like ball golf with clubs, the discs serve different functions — putter, drive, or mid-range — and help you find your basket, or hole. The goal is to get the disc into the basket in as few throws as possible. Like in ball golf, each hole has a number of shots that determine par, or even score.
Taylor Chisolm took over as president of the Columbus Disc Golf Association earlier this year. He admitted initially he didn’t want to take charge of the club because he is married and has two kids, but he realized making it a family affair would make it a little easier to take on the responsibility. Chisolm credits his wife, Alisha, and club members Shannon Flory (treasurer) and JK Forrester (vice president) for making all of the work manageable.
Chisolm said Flory and Forrester have been playing disc golf for longer than he has. Even though he started playing in 2010, Chisolm said his enthusiasm for the sport has taken off. This year, the association has sold nearly 50 tags, which represents the membership in the organization, which is the biggest number it has had.
“If you would have asked me a year ago, or even six months ago, if I thought we would be where we are at today, I would have said no because it exceeds my expectations,” Taylor Chisolm said.
The growth also is noticeable at Lake Lowndes State Park, which is one of two courses (Propst Park is the other) in Columbus. Chisolm said local businesses purchased sponsorship for all of the 20 holes at Lake Lowndes. The sponsorship helps make each hole easier to find and gives the businesses an opportunity to show their support to the city, the sport, and the association.
Last month, the association, which was formed in 2010, had 66 people play in a one-day event in Columbus. Chisolm said no one expected that many people to show up for the event, so it was an indoctrination for him in running such a big tournament. The fact that Chisolm played in the event, too, made it more “fun,” but he said he and everyone supported each other to make it a memorable experience.
Chisolm hopes to continue to build awareness of the association by holding play days every Thursday at approximately 5:45 p.m. at Propst Park. You can follow the schedule changes for the association by visiting its page on Facebook.
On July 1, Taylor and Alisha posted on Facebook that July 20 is deadline to pay $30 for The Trilogy Challenge. They also said the association is in talks with its tag provider about getting women’s tags.
At 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 8 (Taylor Chisolm’s birthday weekend), the association will play host to The Trilogy Challenge, a worldwide event that started May 29 and will run through Sept. 20. According to the a press release on The Trilogy Challenge website, each event in the challenge is designed to help promote the sport of disc golf. The goal is to get more new players involved, which is why the entry fee for each event is $30 and players will receive everything they need to play disc golf, including three discs, a mini clipboard, a mini Sharpie, and a Trilogy Challenge mini, which you use to mark the spot of your shot.
To sign up for The Trilogy Challenge in Columbus, go to the association’s Facebook page, or go to www.trilogychallenge.com.
As passionate as many of the association members are about the sport, Taylor said people of all abilities and ages are welcome to join the club. He said his goal is to help introduce the sport to as many people as possible because it is challenging and it provides players with a chance to get some exercise, too.
“I have played soccer and baseball and all of the other sports in high school, but disc golf is completely different,” Taylor Chisolm said. “Nobody else affects how you play. It is just you and the course. It is just like ball golf. That is the beauty of it.”
Rusty Chisolm said Taylor convinced him to try the sport about a year and a half ago. He said it was easy to see the enthusiasm Taylor had for the sport. It didn’t take long for Rusty Chisolm to “fall in love” with disc golf, either. He said it has been fun for him to watch his son and members of the association work hard to build membership to an all-time high. He admits he is “hooked” on disc golf worse than I thought” and that he plays every chance he gets, and sometimes even when he shouldn’t. All of that can be credited, or blamed, to Taylor’s interest in the sport.
“He has charged up a lot of people and got them excited,” Rusty Chisolm said. “He has told me he enjoys disc golf a lot more because it is more individual. You don’t have to rely on a team, which there is nothing wrong with team sports because he has been involved with them forever. But it is the one-on-one (of disc golf that has captured Taylor’s attention). It is the drive to get better or to make the perfect shot or to shoot the lower score.”
At 52 years old, Rusty Chisolm said that same competitive spirit drives him, especially on days when he shoots 3-over-par. The next day, he said his goal is to get out and to shoot at least even par.
“I don’t shoot against anybody. I shoot against the course,” Rusty Chisolm said. “It drives you to get better.”
Just as you can hear the enthusiasm in Taylor Chisolm’s voice when he talks about disc golf, you also can detect the satisfaction he has when he discusses people he has introduced to the sport. In fact, a smile comes across Chisolm’s face when he mentions those people. When he talks about his father, that smile grows even bigger and displays the pride Taylor Chisolm has for getting Rusty involved.
“It is a very, I hate to say addicting, sport, but there is something that if you can get somebody hooked to play, they just love it,” Taylor Chisolm said. “For me, I love to watch (the discs) fly.”
You can find more information about the Columbus Disc Golf Association on Facebook.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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