Steady Eddy

This is a shout out to steady eddie! how cool was it to see disc golf on t.v. Ripley's did a segment on his memorial discs, and I gotta say it was sweet to see disc golf on national t.v. not only did he invent the sport, in his last act, he got it on t.v. Simply amazing! :D

[morgan]

He didn't invent the sport. People were playing frisbee golf with plastic in the 1950's and with pie tins in the 1920's.

He didn't invent the plastic frisbee. F. Morrison and a host of others were making plastic frisbees in the 1940's, 20 years before Ed.

Ed invented the pole hole and started the PDGA. That's what he did. Not the other things.

Give credit where it's due and don't give credit where it's not.

[nix]

Chill morgan! Might be some misconceptions, but you don't have to squash the enthusiasm!

I don't care what he did or didn't do. What matters is that he did so much to help promote disc golf and that we wouldn't be able to enjoy it as much today if not for him. It's his lasting impact on disc golf that's important.

[exczar]

What Ed did, pure and simple, was turn a toy into a sporting good!

In a way, you could say he invented our sport as he invented the Pole Hole, which is such a key part of our sport. I mean it's so different than what they used to use.

I think Ed got the idea for holding frisbee golf tournaments from George Sappenfield although people were playing frisbee golf years before. He then improved on the idea with the pole hole basket.

As was said, Fred Morrison and his friend Walter invented the plastic frisbee but as Bill pointed out Ed took it and made the Pro which was designed for sports. Turned a toy into a sport. He was good at taking ideas and improving them to a whole another level.

Who are some other pioneers that changed our sport for the better?

Give credit where it's due and don't give credit where it's not.


That's what I was trying to do. Thanks for showing me my misconceptions. Does anyone know if there is a source to learn more about the history of this sport? I don't mind being corrected, but I do love the sport and want to know more.

He didn't invent the sport. People were playing frisbee golf with plastic in the 1950's and with pie tins in the 1920's.

He didn't invent the plastic frisbee. F. Morrison and a host of others were making plastic frisbees in the 1940's, 20 years before Ed.

Ed invented the pole hole and started the PDGA. That's what he did. Not the other things.

Give credit where it's due and don't give credit where it's not.


Actually I was giving credit where it was due. And I'll give you credit for harshing on me when I was just being stoked. Chill out man, not all of us know everthing discgolf like your eminence does. I mean come on did it really make you that mad that I gave credit for inventing disc golf to the man who invented pole holes and a central organization. Without the pdga is it a sport or just a game? Who did invent it? You? It sure sounds like it in your post. So, Morgan, if you invented discgolf, my apologies. :mad:

[Lyle O Ross]

Actually, what inventor ever really gets credit for their invention? Don't get me wrong but it isn't always the direct inventor. It is more about how you market and place things and the drive and enthusiasm you bring to it. In this Steady Ed is the leader in this sport. He didn't just have an idea, he worked it and refined it and sold it to the public. He made disc golf happen as a sport. Not even because he was the first in his era to try and formalize the sport, but because he pushed it to prominence. The guys in the 20s didn't do squat for the sport. Because of that Ed will most likely go down as the inventor.

Remember, Ford didn't invent the automobile, the Wrights may not have been the first in flight, Abner Doubleday did not invent baseball (O.K. the last one was just for fun :D). What Ford and the Wrights did was make the automobile and planes work well. They did it right - Ed did the same.

Disclaimer - any suggestion that Ed invented anything he didn't was not my intent so puuuuuulease don't sue me. :D

[flynvegas]

First Written record of disc golf.
In 1960 there was a disc made called a Copar. In the instructions for a game called Sky Croquet there was mentioned the game of "Sky golf". George Sappenfield was the first person to promote disc golf in 1968 while he was the director of a park in Thousand Oaks CA. He played with frisbees through hula hoops.
(Source: Jim Palmeri, in DGWN, Fall 2002, no. 63, p. 31)

#001 Invented and perfected the pole hole. I have a Pat. Pend. Mach I that still works great. I bought it off #002, who told me it was a gift to him from #001.

[slo]

Around 2001, on the old board, I read a post where someone went into some detail about a travel-camp in either Missouri or Arkansas [yeah, it's been a while; I can't even remember which] where as one of the attractions they had a golf course set-up with fabricated targets, and pie tins as discs...it dated back to the late 1930's ...does this ring a bell?

This is at least the third time I've asked, but nobody [myself included] seems to remember more details...anybody? :confused:

[edited by slo to include time-frame]

[flynvegas]

Camp Longhorn? I think that's what you're refering to, I'll have to check Victor's book. Do you have a copy of his book? A lot of work went into that, good info in there.

[slo]

Thanks Rob; I don't have it, but it's in both the librarys near here!! :D

could you guys give me a title for Victor's book? Or at least give me his last name?
Thanx ahead of time. /msgboard/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[peter_h]

Victor Malafronte, "The Complete Book Of Frisbee" (1998, ISBN 0966385527)

In the book he lists the game of "Salo" (from the instruction SAil it LOw and level) as being emerged at the Wolverine Day Camp in Ann Arbor, Michigan around 1933. Activity leader Tex Robertson went on to form another camp where he developed the game further. (Longhorn?, I don't have the book handy either...) . A couple of years later Salo shows where even made during basketball games at University of Texas.

Victor did also find a 1937 US patent being filed for a discgolf-like game, by a Walter Darby (US pat. #2126245), where the idea was to throw flying discs, made of rubber and/or tin, into textile fabric bags assembled to a wood frame. Looked something like small Accuracy targets from a drawing in his book if my memory serves me well...

[morgan]

I seem to remember in 002's book that the Salo discs were made of paper plates in the 30's. You took 2 or 3 paper plates and held them together with metal rings. Or maybe they were cookie can lids. I guess they use plastic by now!

By the way, I'm the guy who posted about Camp Longhorn, and it's in Texas. Started in 1939 by a young couple who are now an old couple and still run the same camp!!!! The above mentioned Robertons. And if they ever put chains on their course to make it legit., they can claim it to be the oldest disc golf course on earth. 1939!

www.camplonghorn.com (http://www.camplonghorn.com)

I'll look it up in 002's book today.

Thanx folks. So much to learn, so little time. ;)