Here is one of not enough “NEXT TEE” signs at the Dewey Mountain Disc Golf Course in Saranac Lake. (News photo — Arthur Maiorella)

Staring at the sign at the Dewey Mountain Disc Golf Course in Saranac Lake, I started to philosophize.

What does “NEXT TEE” really mean? Maybe I was taking the sign too literally. There certainly weren’t any tees around. Could it be some sort of statement on my choice of clothing? Or maybe it was deeper, a comment on the universe’s impermanence? What is life but just a series of tee boxes? Maybe the point was it didn’t make sense, it was just an invitation to wonder about the cosmos for wondering’s own sake.

So, on a Wednesday morning, with the sun beaming down through a leafy canopy, I had the pleasure of standing and wondering about Dewey Mountain’s disc golf course. Yet the signage and my own lack of a map were making it hard. Instead of doing much wondering, I was doing a lot of wandering around trying to find the next disc golf tee.

Disc golf is a sport much like regular golf. Instead of hitting a golf ball from point A to B, a player throws a disc (think of a Frisbee) around a nine- or 18-hole course. Instead of a cup on the ground, each hole is finished in a raised metal basket. Like regular golf, the aim is to get from the start of each hole to the end of it in as few strokes (or throws) as possible. Unlike regular golf, courses require minimal upkeep, are usually free to play, and the space is often mixed-use as a dog park or just a public green area.

In addition to getting lost more than once, and doing all that philosophizing, I was having a great time at Dewey Mountain. The course is so magnificent to walk that I didn’t mind being lost.

Fairway at the Dewey Mountain Disc Golf Course in Saranac Lake (News photo — Arthur Maiorella)

And the scenery is just one of many reasons to play at Dewey. A big reason is the time commitment involved. I drove from my office in Saranac Lake to the course, played a leisurely 18 holes, and got back to work in 90 minutes. The course is ideal for a long lunch break or an “I just got off work, haven’t been outside all day, and it’s sunny out” play-through.

The course is also extremely fun and free — with only a few issues standing out to me.

One: There are no tee boxes, just dirt squares with a marker on the front of them. This wasn’t a huge problem for me — playing in boots on a nice day — but I imagine any rain will turn the tees to soup.

Two: The area is all mixed-use, which is fine and normal for disc golf. But it’s mixed-use with mountain biking. Mountain bikers plus flying objects equals extreme mountain biking? Disc golf homicide? Players just need to exercise caution.

Three: Players practically need a divining rod to figure out where to walk. I have a GPS-enabled disc golf course app (UDisc), and I still spent significant time trying to emulate Meriwether Lewis searching for the Pacific Ocean.

Finally, and the only thing that can’t be chalked up to some degree of user error, is the reason the course plays quickly. It’s short, really short. The longest hole is only 301 feet (an average hole elsewhere might run from 350 to 500 feet). The shortest hole at Dewey will take you only 168 feet. For reference, it is 196 feet from my desk to the bathroom and back in the newspaper office.

Playing Dewey is like playing half-court basketball but on an ice rink — the lack of scale is made up for in the extreme violence and eclectic skills required. Sharp corners, tight throws and high bushes guarantee this.

Hole 17 is a great example. The hole wants you to chase a dogleg by throwing to the right and letting your disc finish left, something only a glide-y backhand will accomplish. However, the course also adds a hill to punish you, just in case your backhand tends to sail a little bit.

Hole seven is the opposite of 17. It runs totally straight and stays narrow before finishing to the right, asking players to now throw a forehand that’ll get around the corner and then fade into the basket area.

All said, my favorite hole was four. Despite only clocking at a measly 233 feet, players have an open area to throw from, a tight pinch to hit between some trees, and then a sharp right turn into a wide landing.

I’m a big fan of wide landing areas, especially when blind corners are involved. Searching for your lie is something every golfer, disc or regular, dreads. And while I’m tempted to say it builds character, it really just sucks.

It’s really bad when your second disc in three rounds goes the way of a poor magician, disappearing and never reappearing.

It’s hard to overstate my distaste for the ferns that litter hole nine. They look nice from afar; but, like something from the “Little Shop of Horrors,” when they sense a disc is nearby, it’s swallowed — gone forever. I actually watched where my disc went in, but 20 minutes of searching that green sea produced no luck.

In times of extreme sorrow, such as when I lose a disc golf disc, I turn to writer John A. Shedd for his wise words: “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”

The same is true with disc golf discs. They are just as useful sitting in our bags as they are eternally marking a bad shot.

Thanks to David Gualtieri, who found and returned my ROC disc two days after it first found the bushes. Since then, I lost and found it once more — again on hole nine. Gualtieri and his group play Monday at the BarkEater and Tuesday/Thursday at Dewey, at 5:30 p.m. All are invited.

All told, go sail away to play Dewey Mountain. It’s easy to get to, it’s not over difficult if you aren’t chasing birdies, and it’s a great way to get in a quick 18 holes.

(Arthur Maiorella is a junior studying photojournalism at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. He was an intern at the Lake Placid News for six weeks this summer.)

–

Dewey Mountain Disc Golf Course

–

Location: Dewey Mountain Recreation Center

Address: 238 George LaPan Highway, Saranac Lake

Admission: Free

Year established: 2020

Season: April through November

Website: deweymountain.com

UDisc user rating: 3.7 (out of 5.0)

Holes: 18