On a nippy, overcast afternoon, professional disc golfer James Cole and four of his buddies meet at Sinks Disc Golf Course in Hixson to play a few rounds.
“This time of year it’s always rainy and windy – and that makes putting very hard,” Cole says.
From his bag of discs, he selects a fairway driver and flicks it toward the basket, located about 20 feet away. The sharp-edged disc slices through the breeze before a sudden headwind slows its speed. But the disc doesn’t drop. Instead, it rides the gust like a wave.
The sport of disc golf, Cole says, embodies that go-with-the-flow spirit.
At age 27, Cole, or “Snappy” as he is known around town, has been playing disc golf for half his life. He grew up in Ooltewah, playing backyard Frisbee with his father. When Cole was 13, he remembers, the family dog chewed up one of the discs, so he and his father went to the sporting goods store to buy another.