We originally started playing with Frisbies®.  On one outing, Jerry showed up with a ring called an Aerobie®.  These rings were designed by Stanford Engineering Professor Alan Adler, and they flew quite far with much less throwing effort.  They also required much more finnesse to keep them from ending up "in France". 

Welcome to the Official Home of the:
World Razor Golf Association

Our group is comprised of friends and neighbors who enjoy the outdoors.  We gather several times every year at PAC LAND in Whitley County.  A typical outing can have anywhere between 6 to 14 people depending on everyone's schedule.  The term BARN RUN is derived from the pole barn that is the main structure on a 58 acre plot of land with 18 acres of woods.  The whole purpose is to have fun in the great outdoors with friends.  Typically, runs are held in the Spring, Fall and Winter.  We tried doing a couple of Summer runs, but we soon discovered that the mosquitoes like their meat seasoned with DEET.  The property doesn't have electricty or running water to ruin the back to nature sceme of things.  In the Winter, the overnight temperatures have dipped into the low single digits, which can test the metal of any man.

We always thought that there should be a way to play golf after nightfall.  We tried glow in the dark discs, but they didn't keep their luminescence very long.  Apparently, we weren't the only ones with this problem, because LED illuminated discs became more common. Aerobie now makes a lighted flying ring called Spark.

Official Rules

1. Lag for Partners - Pick a Target approx. 80 ft. away. Everyone tries to hit the target. The closest to the hole and the farthest away are partners,  the 2nd closest and the 2nd farthest are parthers, etc.
2. Pick a Hole - Everyone gets a turn picking a hole.
   EXAMPLES:
   • The Post (Traditional 1st Hole).
   • The Outhouse Door (Traditional 2nd Hole).
   • A tree with a unique feature.
   • A bush or a tree standing by itself.
3. Tee Off - Each player on each team makes their tee shot.  Every player gets to test their skill (or luck) at making the best tee shot.
4. Next Shots - Each team determines which player's shot is the best.  All players on their team take their next shot from that location.  The team farthest away from the hole shoots 1st.
5. Par - Par is determined by the team(s) that reaches the hole with the fewest throws.
6. Cards - Each team that scores a par gets to draw a card from a standard deck of cards  (This eliminates arguing over who has the best running score). If all teams make par, no cards are awarded.
7. Determining the Winner - The winner of the round is determined by the team that has the best Poker Hand with the cards they drew
8. Penalties - A penalty stroke is given if all throws for a team are in a penalty situation.
   EXAMPLES:
   • Crossing the fence or leaving the property.
   • Hanging in a tree that has to be retrieved by "Artificial Means".
   • Stepping out of the Tee Box.
   • Violating any other rule established prior to the start of the hole.
   • Any other situation that arises can be assessed a penalty by a majority vote  (All ties are broken by the Land Owner).

The Aerobie is the creation of Alan Adler, a Stanford University lecturer and consulting engineer. Holder of 15 patents of the "high tech" type, Dr. Adler several years ago decided to spend some of his time working on things that were less esoteric and more fun. Although Adler's career has been in electrical engineering, the inventor had studied aerodynamics through his love of sailing. Thus, it was natural that he be drawn to flying toys.

As he looked into the Frisbee, Adler discovered that no one knew exactly why it flies as well as it does. The thick edges create turbulence which somehow makes the platter fly in a stable fashion (if you throw it correctly). But the edges also create considerable air resistance, or drag. The inventor became intrigued with the idea of inventing a low-drag Frisbee. To decrease the drag, Adler first tried making thinner disks. These, however, invariably hooked or sliced depending on the direction in which they were spun. The reason for this is that the forward part of the disk acts as a more efficient "wing" than the trailing part. If the disk weren't spinning, this imbalance of force would flip the disk over. But because it spins, the disk acts like a gyroscope so that upward pressure causes the disk to tilt to the side instead.

But then he got the idea of replacing the flat disk with a shallow cone: a kind of "China hat.". With the correct angle, the front part of the disk should fly less efficiently while the back part should fly more efficiently, and so center the lifting force. After building and testing a few, he found they did fly well, but only when thrown at a one precise speed. For ease of manufacture, he refined his China hat down to a canted ring with a backbone of rigid, poly carbonate plastic and an outer layer of soft thermoplastic rubber. Some 2 million of these were made and sold in 1980 and '81 by Parker Brothers & Co. Inc. People were thrilled by the Skyro's performance when it was thrown at just the right speed, but frustrated because it was so difficult to achieve, Adler reports.

Using the Skyro, Tom McRann of the Stanford University athletic department set the previous Guinness record for the longest throw of an object at 286 yards, the record just broken by Zimmerman. Then, about a year ago, the inventor came up with an even better approach. Using an aerodynamics program on his home computer, Adler realized that a more efficient airfoil would be more stable over a wide range of speeds. He did this by giving the ring a cross section that looks a bit like a slender fish. The fish's tail is a small ridge that runs along the ring's outside edge. When the ring is thrown, this ridge is at the leading edge of the forward section. In this position, the ridge causes turbulence and decreases the amount of lift generated. In the ring's rear section, however, the ridge is at the trailing edge and so does not interfere with the lift being generated nearly as much.

All Photos Taken on 

"PAC LAND"

by Handy Dan & Uncle Dave