Disc golf: The madness (and pain) of a true ‘discappearance’

Losing gear is part of disc golf. Still, whenever it happens, it hurts. But I’m not talking about a wayward throw or leaving a man behind. No, I’m talking about a bonafide “discappearance.”

A discappearance is when you lose a disc, but for all intents and purposes, shouldn’t have. The throw wasn’t bad. And if it was, you saw where it went. And yet, like a thief in the night …

Gone.

I’ve lost dozens of discs over the years.

I’ve only experienced ONE true discappearance, though.

The year was 2017. Shockingly, I’d performed well enough in a local tournament to earn a gift card to a nearby Play-It-Again Sports for some new plastic. Practically calling my name was a white, 168-gram Star Destroyer with an American flag stamp smack-dab in the middle of it.

• I saw it.
• I had to have it.
• I couldn’t wait to toss it.

And wouldn’t you know it …

One throw.

That’s all the time we spent together.

After picking it up, I headed straight out to the course to give it some love. It was the third hole at Art Dye in American Fork, Utah. It was summertime, so there was some heavy growth on the course. The hole was a short, 325-foot track with a small gap to hit off the tee. Truth be told, calling it a “gap” feels borderline offensive, as it’s all but impossible to miss, it’s so close.

My goal was to hit the gap, flare-skip off the gravel path that ran down the center of the fairway and nestle my new disc next to the basket. In true Lucas form, I grip-locked that puppy straight into a single, stand-alone tree with some bushes nearby. There are trees on the hole, but not many. In fact, 30 feet to the right of the tree I nailed are a pair of vacant soccer fields.

So yeah, people are losing discs …

But these idiots (cough, cough) are few and far between.

I threw the disc. I saw it hit a tree 15 feet in front me. I even thought I caught a glimpse of it dropping in my periphery, though it’s been six years. Regardless, after 45 minutes of searching, I was covered in sweat and grass rash, looking like I’d seen a ghost. To this day, my brain can’t comprehend how that stupid disc went missing what I believe to be only 20-ish feet away.

THIS is a discappearance.

What’s most painful about a discappearance is the unfathomability of it all. If you’re obsessed with true crime and real-life mysteries, you’ll get what I’m on about. What happened to Amelia Earhart? Where is Madeleine McCann? How about Malaysian Airlines Flight No. 370?

They all just …

Disappeared.

Please don’t think I’m comparing a misplaced child’s toy to the loss of human life – that’s dumb. But watching a documentary from the comfort of my living room sofa, the knee-jerk reaction when learning about any one of the aforementioned tragedies is at least somewhat similar …

Disbelief.

What’s worse, stick with this whole disc golf thing long enough, and you’ll have your own infuriating experience. The disc golf gods giveth; the disc golf gods taketh away. It doesn’t matter if you’re a 675-rated or 975-rated disc golfer, your time will come, dear friend …

It’s later than you think.

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