QuadCityDiscGolf.com

-by Alan "Upshot" Brown

Thanks for stopping by! The following is a collection of short stories and anecdotes about the inventor of the Frisbee, the disc golf entrapment device (the pole hole basket), the IFA, the PDGA, and the DGA. This is a tribute to the father of disc golf, "Steady" Ed Headrick. Our sports' origins can be traced back to the 1920's, but not until Ed showed up did it come together on an organized level to become what it is today. Ed passed away on August 12, 2002 after dedicating 35 plus years to flying disc sports. One of his last requests was to be cremated and to have his ashes mixed into the mold of three flying objects (see picture below). His legacy is a sport that has changed countless numbers of lives for the better, mine included. To contribute your story to this article remit to dskglfr@gmail.com.!

"Steady" Ed Headrick, father of disc golf

It was “Steady” Ed’s wish that once he passed away his ashes be incorporated into discs so that his soul could fly freely. “Steady” Ed loved the Disc Golf and Frisbee® community and wished them to have his discs. All proceeds go to the nonprofit “Steady” Ed Memorial Fund raising money to support “The Ed Headrick Memorial Museum”.

To make the Memorial #001 Driver and Putter, Ed's Ashes were incorporated into the XL™ and APX™ molds designed by Discraft with a special elite plastic. Created by Ed’s good friend Sharon Kinzie, the disc's graphics are color stamped using graphics that Ed chose before he flew on. “The Lines of Headrick” is a memorial disc as well.

“I remember very clearly the day that Ed brought his brand new pole hole over to my house to show me what he and Kenny had been working on. We had all been speculating for years on what might make a good target for the game, but we hadn’t gotten much beyond drawing ideas out on napkins at lunch. Of course, we had ground baskets of various types, but Ed was especially interested in as target that would trap a flight through the air. When he arrived that day we immediately set up the target in my backyard here in Pasadena, and started to play with it. Although it only had ten chains (I think it was only the third hole they had produced) I remember that we were very pleased with how well it caught. I was, of course, delighted when Ed said he wanted to give me the basket for "further testing". Well I'm still testing it almost every day"

Dan "Stork" Roddick, PDGA #003

"On memorial Day weekend of 1975, the second annual "Octad" flying disc tournament was held in New Brunswick, NJ. The big event of the tournament was disc golf, a sport that was growing rapidly since it's introduction to the Frisbee community the previous year. The competitive playability and fun of disc golf impressed a lot of people that weekend, including one very important person. It attracted the attention of Ed Headrick, then Vice President of the Wham-O manufacturing company. He personally attended the tournament, not only to give Wham-O MFG. promotional support to the Octad organizers, but to check what this rapidly growing interest in disc golf was all about.

Keep in mind that at this juncture of time, Ed Headrick had heard about the disc golf activity that was occurring, but had not yet seen it being played with the then standard wire basket "hole", a device that was about two and a half feet in diameter with 10 inch high sides which sat directly on the ground. To hole out was a matter of landing your disc into the basket. Also keep in mind that Ed Headrick was the inventor of the modern Sport Model Frisbee disc, and as such, had strong opinions on just what the flight of his Frisbee should be. Flat flip flies straight, Tilted flip curves, but the vertical toss, no way! Previous to that 1975 Octad, Ed had only played disc golf recreationally, and had always thrown the disc to hit a pole-like target to hole out.

So at one point while watching the finals of the 1975 Octad disc golf event, I was standing next to Ed Headrick. One player was preparing to execute a putt of about twenty-five feet. He held the disc vertically to the ground and launched it with a high up and down trajectory. This was known among the disc golfers at that time as the "vertical putt". Upon seeing that putt, Ed gruffly exclaimed, "That's disgusting, a Frisbee isn't meant to fly like that".

Later that summer, Dan Roddick suggested to Ed that disc golf would be a good event to include at the 1975 World Frisbee Championships, and Ed agreed. The disc golf course he set up at Oak Grove Park in La Canada, CA, became the world's first permanent disc golf facility. But Ed didn't install the standard ground basket hole. Instead he installed a plain four foot high, two inch diameter pole in the ground as the target for each hole, and proclaimed that you hole out by hitting the pole with your disc. This was Ed's way of insuring that nobody would be using that "disgusting" vertical putt.

The majority of the players didn't like the plain pole target too much, but Ed did listen to their feedback and the result was Ed's invention of the Chain Pole Hole that he introduced the following year at the 1976 World Frisbee Championships."

Jim Palmeri, PDGA #023

“One of the first times I met Ed we were in the parking lot of Morley Field. Just imagine how many of us disc golfers make new friends in a course parking lot. He pulls up next to me as I am getting my gear out, his plates read DGA 001. I knew right away (light goes off in my head) who he was, but I pretty much just gave him a good morning greeting. I want to think that was in 1986 the first time I made team golf for Arizona. One of my best memories is playing the Masters Cup in 1994. His shop was close to De La Vega, so he would have a party on Saturday night. It was not the food or drinks that was cool, not even being able to walk around and see his collection of goodies, what I thought

Farina Headrick standing in front of Steady Ed's shop holding one of his memorial ashes discs.

was awesome, was his putting contest. He had a basket up a pole that seemed to be thirty feet in the air. It’s not like throwing a putt up a thirty foot hill. There were people standing behind the basket chasing all the missed putts. I think the first one to hit the putt was David Demery from Arizona, he got maybe $50 for making it. One other memory was at the 1991 Worlds in Dayton, Ohio. It was a really bad rainy day, he talked all the Grandmasters into not playing the round and they just relaxed in the hotel room since it was so bad outside. Everyone took the strokes and stayed in the same positions. I thought it was kinda cool.”

Dan Ginnelly, PDGA #3591

I"I met Ed when I was really young at the 1992 Worlds in Detroit, Michigan. I have always known of him and it was an amazing experience to actually meet the "Godfather of Disc Golf". He has always been an inspiration to me and I plan to take this game that he loved so much to another level before I am through. I have a great pic at home of Ed and I at the 1994 Worlds in Port Arthur, TX. Definitely one of my favorite pictures."

Avery Jenkins, PDGA #7495

"I first met "Steady" Ed shortly after I got into the sport when he graciously agreed to visit the Twin Cities right after the 1989 Worlds in Iowa. I had gotten a course project approved in my community and could really use his help. He walked thru the proposed course layout and provided some tips. The one with the most impact was that it's OK to be creative and challenge the players. As a newbie both in the sport and as a designer, I hadn't yet seen what great players could do. His advice helped me make North Valley much more of a championship course right out of the gate and launched me on my design career now at 20 years in 2009."

Chuck Kennedy, PDGA #4949

"As the first e-commerce site to sell golf discs in 1997, our Disc Sports Resource Center had to make contacts with the, not too many, disc golf vendors at the time. Clearly, Ed's pole hole lead the industry, so he was one of my first phone calls to introduce myself and see what type of commission package we could work out together.

In his usual thoughtful and deliberate style, Ed explained to me his philosophy of disc golf, where he thought the sport should go, and just some great nuggets of wisdom that I carry with me even to this day.

In return, I told him about many of the same philosophies that I shared, as an educator and entrepreneur, especially how it related to expanding and growing our great sport using the internet as a vehicle.

Well, after this 30-minute back-and-forth, Ed offered me a generous commission package (one that DGA still honors to this day!), and I thanked him for his kindness and wisdom and hung up. What a thrill it was to learn from our sport's founder.

But it wasn't done yet....in the next 30 seconds, I suddenly remembered an important question that I had no gotten around to during the last half hour, so I called Ed right back.

He answered the phone, and I told him it was John Duesler again...that I had one more question. After just a brief moment of silence, Ed said, "Who?" not even recognizing my name or voice that he had just shared the last half hour with.

I could only laugh, knowing that Ed, in his brilliant, eccentric way, had probably zoomed ahead with dozens of innovations in his mind in just the brief moment between hanging up, and me calling back. The ironic lesson being that as such a visionary, as Ed was, really did it by living moment-to-moment, which helped him reach his full potential. it was a pleasure and a privilege to know him and learn from him."

Dr. John G. Duesler Jr, PDGA #12789

"Ed Headrick came to OKC and laid out the original Will Rogers disc golf course in 1979. He found a little piece of land with large trees and thick grass and some elevation perfect for those Midnight Flyers. He did a fantastic job of utilizing the elevation and tree lines for maximum thrill. For years, Will the Thrill was a jewel but in the late '80's many holes were lengthened to accommodate the longer discs. Lack of maintenance and tree loss have tarnished the original beauty but many of the original holes are intact and provide countless pleasure to the hundreds that play it daily. God Bless the memory of Steady Ed 001."

Daryl Johnson, PDGA #6304

"I had been working with Ed since I started at Discraft in 1998. The DGA were making the Chainstar for us and in turn we made a number of their discs and Ed always liked to be kept in the loop of what was going on. His favorite thing to say whenever we spoke, at the end of our conversation was, "take the rest of the day off". It didn't matter what time of day it was and it always made me laugh, I even tried jokingly to get out of work telling Jim Kenner that Ed said it was ok. I finally met him in person at the 2000 PDGA World Championships in Michigan, the first combined Pro and Am Worlds. He drove from California with Farina and came into Discraft on the way to his campsite, he was towing a camper with him. I agreed to lead him to the site since it was dark and a little hard to find. After we find his spot he tells me that his truck is almost out of gas... so much so that he doesn't want to drive it out looking for gas so I grab the campsite attendant (that's another word for creepy guy selling firewood) and a gas can and went in search of some diesel. By the time we returned the camper was set up and a nice fire was going and Ed invited us to enjoy some brandy around the fire with he and Farina. Looking back I wish I would have had even more conversations with him since Ed was one of the most interesting and charismatic people I have ever known."

Keith Murray, PDGA #15668

"There are really two stories that come to mind. My first ever PDGA sanctioned event was back around 1994 or 1995. Both Ken Climo AND Ed Headrick were at the event. Talk about dumb luck, huh? Kenny of course being from Florida and Ed was in from California. I remember watching the safari final 9 that they played and found it very inspiring. I was only about 16 but disc golf had gotten the best of me and shortly thereafter I was playing in an event every weekend I could find one.

A few years later the Amateur World Championships were hosted in my backyard of Appleton, WI. Ed Headrick was there again and this time I really knew just who he was. There was a dinner on Friday night at the host hotel but I had to rush our because my mother got remarried earlier that afternoon. I played golf that day, ate at the banquet and then got out of there to rush off to the reception. Before leaving the host hotel I stopped and had someone take a picture of Ed and I. To this day, just thinking about that picture and that moment puts a smile on my face.

Thank you Ed for being the innovator and businessman that you were. the Frisbee Family and disc golf would not have evolved into what it is today without you. I look forward to playing the back 9 with you someday!"

Terry Miller, PDGA #10783

"After driving 3 hours to Milwaukee through snow to Dretska Park for the 1995 Ice Bowl, I was introduced to Ed Headrick in his hotel room. He was lying down, shirtless, on the bed watching TV with a bottle of Scotch in his hand and a sterling silver disc on a chain around his neck. I thought he was the coolest guy in the world. Immediately, he got up and shook my hand. One of his old proteges told him earlier about the volunteer work I was doing at our local course. It was like being told you were doing a great job by my grandfather. He had that kind of vibe or aura."

Jay Svitko, PDGA #7307

"I met Ed on several occasions. All of them at the World Championships. I spent several hours in a hotel room just listening to him talk about how discs fly. Very interesting...and way over my head! I think if I were a NASA scientist it would have helped.

The greatest thing I noticed about Steady Ed was his love for young people. He would always take the time to stop and talk to kids. I heard a story that Ed was playing in one of the Ice Bowls in Milwaukee and quit the tourney and jumped on the hay ride that was going around the park!

Bill Wilbur "Old Man" Wallis, PDGA #6580

I played in the Worlds in '98 in Appleton WI. I have several autographs. When he spoke everyone listened. He was quite the character. I parked a 350ft downhill with an Aviar and he watched. One of my most memorable shots ever.

Bill Dowell, PDGA #9102

All photos provided by Alan "Upshot" Brown