After a long day of play on Thursday, the nearly 1200 participants of the 14th annual Glass Blown Open all sought ways to relax after the stress of the day’s competition. Some went back to their hotels to decompress. Others hit up Radius Brewery for a pint or two of special edition Glass Blown Ale. Still others came to the Swedish bonfire behind the Dynamic Discs distribution center.
The bonfire is a GBO tradition that sees a large portion of the participants gather around the fire to enjoy each other’s company and talk about the day’s round. This is a great place to meet new people, so we did just that. Come with us as we meet a couple more people of the GBO.
The first person we talked to was Brady Martin, a recreational player from Waterloo, Iowa. This is Brady’s second GBO. He told us that he loved last year so much he was asking his friends to commit to 2016 only one day after getting home from the 2015 event. When asked what he liked so much about the tournament, he said a big part of it was the town of Emporia itself. “I’ve never been around a town that supports disc golf 100%” he told us, “the people, experience, and fun times I’ve had are so overwhelming it’s crazy”.
Brady was having such a good time here that one of his friends described him as “a walking smile with glasses. Every time I see him, he has this huge smile!”. Brady responded, “I can’t not have a smile, I’m in Emporia!” We assumed that this meant he planned on coming back next year. His already big smile grew bigger. “I will never miss the GBO again. It’s somewhere I need to be at the end of April every year of my life until I can’t play disc golf any more.” Brady, we’re looking forward to having you here!
Near the entrance, Radius brewing was on hand to serve up the previously mentioned Glass Blown Ale. On our way over to sample their offerings, we ran into another interesting GBO attendee.
Steve Snyder, from Marshalltown, Iowa was not here as a player. Steve has played in several previous Glass Blown Opens as well as the Monkey Island Open (also held here in Emporia). He wasn’t quick enough to preregister for this year’s event, so instead of missing it altogether, he drove the 5 hours to Emporia to serve as a volunteer. It takes a small army of folks like Steve for the GBO to run as smoothly as it does. It’s these folks, working extraordinarily hard behind the scenes, that help make it possible for the GBO to be the biggest disc golf tournament in history.
We asked Steve what motivated him to make the ten hour round trip if he wasn’t playing. “I like being part of something bigger than myself.”, he said. “It’s fun being behind the scenes. I don’t want to sound cliche, but the DD team has obviously surrounded itself with good people. That shows in happy, productive employees. There’s just not another community like the disc golf community.”
He went on to tell us what he really loves about disc golf. “I’ve played way more bad shots than good shots on any given round. It’s the handful of good shots that keep bringing me back. I’m jealous of these kids out here just ripping drives. I wish someone had put a disc in my hands when I was 18. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone out here playing to get rich or make a lot of money. It’s just a passion for everyone. Even McBeth, who probably gets more than most from Innova, doesn’t compare to other pro athletes.”
To Steve and all of the other volunteers here in Emporia, we want to say thank you. We literally could not do this without you! We also want to encourage everyone else out there, whether a competitor or a spectator, say thanks to these folks. These are your spotters. These are the people who handed you part of your player’s pack. These are the folks helping run the putting competition. These people, as Steve points out, represent the best part of disc golf, our community.
Our next stop in an effort to meet more people of the GBO will be going all in at Friday night’s legendary poker party. Always a spectacular time, it’s sure to bring out some of the more colorful characters here in Emporia.
Author
Tim Steward
