In 2004, it was the crew team. In 2008, it was Quidditch. Now, in 2012, LSU will get its first disc golf team and club.
Disc golf has grown in popularity over the years with its relaxed pace and ease of getting involved in the sport.
“I used to play when I was younger at summer camp and with my friends in high school,” said marketing senior Kevin McMinn, a member of the inaugural team. “Now I just want to play some more and in a competitive atmosphere.”
The basic premise is similar to the game of golf, or “ball golf” as many disc golfers refer to it. The idea is to get the disc into the designated basket with as few throws as possible. Just like ball golf, disc golf uses different discs the same way a ball golfer uses different clubs for putting and driving.
Clifton Byrd, a post-baccalaureate undergraduate student, decided to bring the sport to campus after failing to keep a team going at Birmingham Southern College, his alma mater.
Byrd, who received his undergraduate degree in biology at BSC, attempted to start a team there last year, but it fell apart after he and others graduated in May. A 22-year-old Baton Rouge native, Byrd is taking classes part time at LSU while working at a hospital.
Now Byrd gets his second chance, this time with an invite to the National Collegiate Disc Golf Championships in Augusta, Ga., site of the PGA’s Masters Tournament.
“Since LSU is a new team, the [National Collegiate Disc Golf Union] decided to give us an automatic bid for the National Championship, which is really awesome,” Byrd said. “It’s getting a lot more people interested in joining not only the club aspect but the team aspect as well. … It will be a good measure of where we are in our first year.”
However, the team will still compete in the qualifying tournament Feb. 18 and 19 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
As of now, about 15 people have shown interest in joining the student organization before the group’s first team meeting this afternoon.
The team is also working to gain the faculty adviser necessary to become a club team with LSU University Recreation. Byrd said an adviser has shown interest in working with the group but has yet to sign the needed paperwork.
“I really want to see these guys improve,” Byrd said. “I would love to see a top-10 finish in the country — that would be huge for us. Mainly, though, I want to see this club stick around and be here next year. I’m not going to be around next year, so I want someone to pick it up.”
 
 
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Contact Michael Gegenheimer at [email protected]