The goal for the October 2022 outing for the Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 was to play three disc golf courses in one day. The plan was to start playing in St. Cloud at the Calvary Park course (18 holes), move to the the Millstream Park course (18 holes) after lunch, and finish the afternoon at the North Park course in Albany (9 holes). Unfortunately, plans need to change sometimes.
Disc golf is usually a popular sport with Troop 68, but due to high school sports, hunting seasons, and family plans there was a small group of Scouts who signed up for the activity. There would be only three Scouts and one friend attending, along with three adult leaders.
It was a cool morning when we arrived at Calvary Park. The Scouts decided to play as one large group instead of breaking up into two smaller groups. I did not have a problem with that but I knew it would increase the amount of time to finish the course. Depending on how well we played we may have to alter our plans a little. The other consideration was that this group did not have a lot of experience playing disc golf.
Due to a number of factors it did take longer to play the Calvary Park 18 hole course. We were about 45 minutes late heading to lunch. It was time to alter our plans for the day. I suggested that we skip the Millstream Park course in St. Joseph and head straight to Albany. The Albany course has nine baskets but 18 tee pads. We could play all 18 holes at Albany instead of just nine, which was the original plan. Since the goal was to be fished playing disc golf by suppertime the Scouts agreed to the change.
We had a lot of fun. We talked a little smack. The Scouts with the top three scores each received a new disc golf throwing disc as a prize. Since we had four new discs, each of the Scouts and the one friend went home with a new disc.
Overall, it was a great activity. The four boys had fun. They improved their game skills, and each went home with a new disc. What more could you ask for?
