Calvin News

The second-biggest private college library in the state of Michigan will be holding its third annual Frisbee Golf Tournament this week.

The Hekman Library at Calvin College will host the event from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. on Friday, February 16.

Glenn Remelts, director of the library, admits the event is an unusual one.

"To the best of my knowledge," he says, "we're the only library that has an indoor Frisbee golf tournament."

The event, which features as a first-place prize a gift certificate to Schuler Books and Music, will be held throughout four of the library's five floors.

As in regular golf, the format matches two two-person teams with each other (partly so the teams keep each other honest!).

Teams will tee off on the second floor and work their way through the 18 holes that will be located throughout the third, fourth and fifth floors, throwing across registration desks, carrels and computers, up stairwells and more.

“If you hit the ceiling or anything suspended from the ceiling, it's an extra stroke,” Remelts warns. "People are milling all over the place. It's rather chaotic."

Belying stereotypes about uptight librarians, Remelts says he actually enjoys the temporary anarchy.

"It's a lot of laughing and loud talking, something you can't do in the library. It’s fun breaking the rules. We've got food in the library. We've got throwing objects and yelling."

In fact Remelts created the event three years ago, he says, simply to put a zany event into one of the country's best libraries.

But the idea, he admits, is not unique.

"A lot of libraries are doing unusual things," he says. "They’re having gaming night, where kids could come in and play games all night. So that got me thinking, 'What are two things that you never think of together?'"

His pondering led to frisbee golf in the Calvin library and the 2005 edition of the tournament promptly drew 26 teams, while 2006 drew 24.

"“Last year we had less because it was during the NCAA playoffs," Remelts explains. For reasons he can't explain the players skew 98 percent male and are mostly students, although there is generally a modest sprinkling of Calvin professors and staff in competition.

Business professor Bob Eames is a tournament stalwart. He plays with his best friend against his son, Justin, and his friend Jeff, both freshmen at Calvin this year.

"We've got this sort of rivalry going," he says. "The game within the game."

So eager is Eames for the tournament, he is the first person Remelts notifies when the date is set.

"I love it—absolutely," he says. "It's one of my favorite things to do in the library."

Eames does not, however, does not count himself much of an aficionado of the sport.

"I'm not in a Frisbee golf league or anything," he says. "When I first saw the announcement that Glenn and the people at the library were having a Frisbee golf tournament in the library at night, I thought it was a joke. When I found out it was real, I realized, this is going to be cool. And it's been way cool. Ten-thirty at night in the library, whipping a disc—they call it hucking a disc—that’s a fun way to spend a night."

Remelts agrees, and the success of the tournament has him dreaming up other events.

"Capture the flag, with the lights out," he ventures, then: "I know what would be fun: paintball."