The Illini Disc Golf Club has been facing issues with a lack of resources for the team ahead of the College Disc Golf National Championship in April.

The resources needed for disc golf include discs, baskets and a course to play on. The Illini Disc Golf Club is currently facing issues with a lack of baskets and a desire for a practice course closer to campus, according to freshman team member Charlie Rockow.

“Currently the club has some discs, which have been donated by past and current members,” Rockow said. “But we rely on individual members who have baskets if we don’t want to have to travel about three miles from campus to get to the closest course.”

Additionally, Rockow said that the practice course the team uses is “not at all comparable in difficulty” to those used in tournaments. The distance of the course from campus has also been a barrier for teammates without cars to get to practice.

“There are plenty of players on the team who find the current courses too easy and some of them choose not to play very often because it feels monotonous and is not very good practice,” Rockow said. “This can potentially affect team morale when people do not want to practice with their teammates.”

While the team still faces these issues, they said their resources have expanded this season.

The team has recently acquired new sponsorships from Prodigy Disc Golf and Flippy Disc Golf. Through these sponsorships, the team has been given discs, jerseys and bags according to Charlie Chemers, Illini Disc Golf Club treasurer.

Even with these sponsorships, the team’s supply of baskets still poses an issue.

“Baskets are probably the most expensive disc golf equipment to obtain and also take up a lot of space,” Chemers said. “It was a priority for the club to focus on receiving other equipment like discs and jerseys.”

However, Chemers said that the team has gained more support from the school this season as well.

The team recently became a club sport and worked with the Student Organization Resource Fee Board to fund tournaments and resource acquisition.

In terms of the practice course, Chemers said that the school has been “gracious” to offer “plenty of practice space” if the team chooses to practice on campus.

Chemers also said the courses off campus are “slightly weaker” than the majority of the courses in the country.

However, Chemers said they are working closely with the Champaign County Disc Golf League. The team will be volunteering with the league to build a pro-style course off campus that they can use.

Despite the issues with the resources, the team will be headed to the College Disc Golf National Championship in North Carolina next month.

“We always have goals in mind to achieve more as a club and plan to continue expanding next year and in the future,” Chemers said. “Our team is extremely excited to head to the College Disc Golf National Championships in North Carolina in early April and we feel we are fully equipped to play as best we can.”

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