Interview with Chester State Park’s Disc Golf Course Designer, Innova Disc’s Russell Schwarz

On the 18th of last month I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Russell Schwarz, Director of Special Projects at Innova Disc Golf in Rock Hill, South Carolina. I found Russell easy to talk with. He’s a man comfortable in his own skin, and he obviously loves what he’s doing. An enthusiastic missionary for the sport.

Russell’s used to interviews, unfazed by tape recorders and cameras pointed his way, having done dozens, if not hundreds, of them. Yet, as you’ll see below, he manages to offer fresh, interesting insights into the expanding world of disc golf.

I met Russell at the Innova Disc offices on the outskirts of Rock Hill on a busy day. The company’s offices were impressive. Simple and functional. Innova obviously doesn’t waste money on the expensive yet frivolous decorations so often seen at companies of this size. Encouraging! Maybe that’s one reason Innova’s survived since 1983 as the leading supplier of disc golf equipment.

Once we sat down, Russell was more eager to talk about disc golf than about himself. But I was able snag a few biographical details as we went along. Including his involvement in disc golf and how he arrived at Innova. Here they are:

If your browser refuses to display the embedded video above, click here for the direct YouTube version.

I asked Russell to compare disc golf to ball golf and quickly learned “ball golf” is considered a pejorative term. It’s “traditional golf,” or just plain golf. He also explained that most anyone can play, and enjoy themselves. From kids to seniors. Without spending a fortune on equipment and club memberships.

 Again, if the video doesn’t play properly, click here for a direct YouTube link.

Russell had quite a bit more to say about his “obsession,” as he described it. He said there were only twenty-some courses in the whole country when he began to play in the late 1970s. Now there are more than 5,000. So, it’s an enduring phenomenon, not just a fad. Steady fifteen percent annual growth since the late 1970s doesn’t add up to a fad.

The direct YouTube link for the video above, if you need it.

Finally, I asked Russell about the new disc golf course at Chester State Park. It’s one of several courses he designed in 2013, and he’s pleased with it.

The Chester facility really is two courses. One easier nine-hole course and one eighteen-hole course. Russell’s intention was to create a facility where anyone with an interest in the game could play. Here’s a quick video tour of the eighteen-hole course.

Click here for the direct YouTube link if your browser doesn’t display the above embedded video properly.

Kids and seniors will find the nine-hole course more comfortable. The eighteen-hole course is designed to offer medium-level players a challenge on the first nine tees, and champion-level players a test of their skills on what he called “the back nine.” I’m no golfer, disc, ball, or otherwise. But the eighteen hole course sure is a pleasant walk in the woods. Here’s a look.

The YouTube direct link.

So, there you have it. Disc golf as explained by one of the sport’s premier course designers. Thanks again, Russell Schwarz, for your time and expertise. Your contribution to Chester State Park will be appreciated for years to come.

A New Disc Golf Course at Chester State Park, South Carolina

Yes, I know. Yet another article about Chester State Park. Well, it can’t be helped. This remarkable State Park, only an hour’s drive from Columbia, SC, just opened the South Carolina State Park System’s first disc golf course. Click the photo above for a larger view of the picture of the course taken from the new brochure.

 Click here if your browser doesn’t play nicely with the video embedded above.

Last year Park Manager John Wells told me he planned to build this course. I was polite, but skeptical. The area he’d selected for the course was beautiful. Right next to the lake. But it was dense forest. Difficult to hike through, let alone play disc golf. Further, golf courses, disc or otherwise, require a lot of funding and person-hours to build. Both funds and personnel are quite limited at Chester State Park. They’ve got enough to do already, and little enough to do it with.

Well, it’s happened. Trees, brush, brambles, and vines have been cleared. Fairways have been smoothed; concrete pads installed at each tee. And most important, disc golf targets erected. True to the design of Innova’s champion course designer, Russell Schwarz.

If you don’t see the video, click here for the YouTube iteration.

Have a look at the video above if you’re new to disc golf. Park Manager Wells introduces the game.

Chester State Park  now actually has two courses. One a professional-level eighteen-hole course; the other a nine-hole beginner’s course. So aspiring players of any skill level or age can play comfortably.

If you don’t see the video, click here for the YouTube iteration.

Little in the way of equipment or clothing is required. Just pay the $2.00 Park entrance fee (cheaper for seniors!), rent three discs at the office for $5.00, and you’re in business. You can play all day! No tee times to worry about. No fancy equipment or clothing.

Again, if your browser has difficulty with the embedded video above, click here for direct access to the YouTube site.

In this final video Park Manager Wells describes the new course and its relationship to Chester State Park in more detail. This is some accomplishment. Congratulations John and Brandon.

You’ll find more information about disc golf at the website of the Professional Disc Golf Association here. And at the Innova Disc Golf corporate website here.

www.CarolinaConsidered.com

Sakura: Genuine Sushi in Columbia, South Carolina

Any U.S. resident readers longing for real sushi, the kind you ate while living in Japan, can visit Columbia, South Carolina for a plate or two of the real thing. Yes, that’s “Columbia, South Carolina”!
 
Our family found a few such restaurants when we lived in Washington, D.C. But the good ones were enormously expensive, and usually packed to the eaves with the expense account crowd. So, most of our sushi eating was done during frequent trips to Japan.

When we moved to Columbia in 1986 we didn’t even think about finding a sushi restaurant. Who could imagine going to Columbia, South Carolina for real sushi? I mean!

Well, we were wrong. Not long after our arrival, a USC colleague invited me to a newly opened Japanese restaurant he said was the real thing. He was right. Sakura served sushi every bit as good as that served by the best restaurants in Washington, D.C., or in Tokyo, for that matter. And at a fraction of the price. What a deal! Tokyo sushi at Columbia, South Carolina prices. Now, you can’t beat that with a stick.

Sakura is centrally located, right across from the Forest Acres shopping center, with its Starbucks, Fresh Market, Chipotle, and so on. But not so easy to find since it’s back behind the First Citizens Bank and Coplon’s. Here’s a short video that may help.

And here’s a link to the YouTube iteration if the embedded video above doesn’t display properly in your browser. Click here.

Once inside, you’ll find a relatively small and inviting restaurant. In fact, here’s a “maneki neko,” or beckoning cat, welcoming you from the counter.

Seating is either at the counter or at one of the dozen or so tables.

The quality of sushi at any Japanese restaurant depends on the skill and dedication of the master chef. Genuine sushi chefs, traditionally trained, are increasingly scarce even in Japan, let alone in the United States. So we’re fortunate here in Columbia to have Mr. Norio Saito. Here’s a short video that introduces him.

Again, click here if your browser doesn’t properly display the embedded video.

As he explains in the video, Mr. Saito has unusual training. He began making sushi at a “kaiten zushi” restaurant in the early 1980s. “Kaiten” here means literally “conveyor belt.” And that’s how sushi is served in such restaurants. Servings are prepared quickly, put on individual plates, and sent to customers along a constantly moving conveyor belt. Customers select what they want and pay according to the number of plates stacked beside them at the end of their meal. You can imagine the pressure to produce acceptable servings quickly.

After several years’ training at “kaiten zushi,” Mr. Saito moved to New York to study under a traditional master sushi chef for two years. There he learned to make what he calls “more serious” sushi before coming to Columbia in 1986.

The YouTube link if you need it.

The benefit of this intensive training and more than thirty years’ experience is what we get when we order sushi today at Sakura. It’s incredible!

During the interview I asked Mr. Saito how many kinds of fish he offers as sushi. He thought a moment, said it all depends on the season and freshness, and then replied that there are so many he couldn’t tell. Keep in mind, each kind of fish has its own selection criteria and preparation method. No wonder it takes so long to become a real sushi chef!

So there you have it. The Sakura Restaurant in Columbia, South Carolina. Open every day of the week but Sunday for lunch and dinner. You can’t do better than this without traveling to Japan!

Segway Tours at Huntington Beach State Park, SC

Last week at Huntington Beach State Park I saw a gaggle of senior citizens following a tour guide through our campground, about to go out onto the boardwalk leading to the beach.

Nothing surprising about that except they all were riding Segways. I mean! Most of the group appeared to be older than me. Some a good bit older. And all having fun.

I was in the Aliner writing and didn’t get any video. But the following day I saw the tour guide and Segway instructor waiting for a subsequent tour group to return. He was from Seattle, Washington, where Segways aren’t all that uncommon. A retired federal officer who knew how to teach, and how to make folks feel comfortable on those interesting machines. Here’s a short video.

If the embedded video doesn’t behave properly in your browser, click this link to view it directly on YouTube.

I’ve got to give a Segway a try at least once before it’s too late. Combining a tour of Huntington Beach State Park seems the ideal opportunity.

Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina

Huntington Beach is one of South Carolina’s most popular State Parks. I don’t have the visitation figures at hand, but it has to be right up there near the top. And with good reason. Lots to do here.

I come to RV camp and write when I can get a site for five days. But that’s only the beginning. Punch “Huntington Beach” into the search window over at the right and you’ll find plenty of articles. Including an interview with Naturalist Mike Walker. Also a tour of the Atalaya mansion with then-curator, Elizabeth Moses.

But for me, the long curving wooden boardwalk out over the marsh takes the cake. It’s a must-visit feature of this Park. I’ll put in a short video below to give those of you who haven’t visited some of idea of what’s in store. But the marsh on either side of this boardwalk has been different every time I’ve visited. Indeed, it’s different at high and low tide on the same day.

If your browser has difficulty with the embedded video above, click this link.