Sitting outside at a Kalamazoo cafe on a recent sunny afternoon, Stephanai Myers explains how an independent business venture grew out of her love of Michigan and her love of the growing sport disc golf.
The 28-year-old was struck with the idea of creating Disc Golf Michigan, a comprehensive guide on most of the courses in the state, nearly ten years ago. She's has released two editions of the book that has become a bible for many disc golfers.
"Michigan is keeping me busy," Myers says. "This is my home. I love Michigan so much, if I can inspire people to come play disc golf here, that's the goal."
The second edition of her book features 115 courses in Michigan, 25 more than the first, and Myers is still gauging the need for a third edition.
The sport is played much like regular golf, but instead of hitting balls into holes, disc golfers throw streamlined discs -- don't call them Frisbees -- into metal baskets.
Myers says the first time she tried disc golf she and a friend went to a course in mid-winter and lost all of the discs they'd borrowed within three holes.
She was undaunted.
"I still knew that it could be really cool," Myers says.
Her passion for the sport had its genesis in a course built in 1998 down the street from her house in Northville, a Detroit suburb.
Myers moved to Kalamazoo two years later and went on to earn degrees from Western Michigan University in environmental science and communications.
How does one get from there to writing a disc golf guide?
In 2001, after making a nearly two hour trek north to a disc golf course, Myers and her fellow disc golfers discovered overgrown fairways and an otherwise unimpressive course.
"I wish I would have known that was a possibility," Myers says. "There were no resources at the time that would tell me that. I thought 'I needed to bring this information to the people.'"
She started thinking about not only a resource on course quality and difficulty, but one with small, yet important details like whether people could bring dogs to a park.
"I let the idea stew in my head for a few years before I got serious about doing it," Myers says. "I knew it would take a lot of time and energy and I wanted to put my all into it, not just have it as some side project. I felt we needed a thorough guide."
In May 2006, Myers decided to personally and thoroughly do research for a book. She loaded up her 1997 vegetable oil-powered Dodge Ram, her boxer-mix Poca, hitched a 22-foot trailer to the truck and set out to play all of Michigan's disc golf courses. She spent six months traveling and averaged a new course every day with the help of a Professional Disc Golf Association guide and some friendly strangers along the way.
"It was awesome," Myers says. "I like to travel anyway."
From fall 2006 until summer 2007 Myers took the information she'd gathered and turned it into a comprehensive, easily navigated guide. She enlisted the help of a graphic designer, a couple of editors, a printer and a webmaster, most of whom were students.
"I just bought a bunch of books on self-publishing and did some researching," Myers says. "It sounds a lot harder than I've found it to be."
Myers says after looking in to it, she decided to self-publish since she already had seed money. There were other considerations. To release a book with a publisher can be time-consuming, and since the sport was growing so rapidly, Myers felt the information was time sensitive. To boot, publishers often take big chunks of profit, can control content and even then the author is left to do much of the marketing themselves.
The first edition of Disc Golf Michigan was published in September 2007 and sold 1,700 copies. The second edition was released in September 2009 and so far has sold 700 copies.
The book is sold by more than 60 retailers statewide, a list is available
here.
Research, writing and traveling for the book's second edition was much easier as the path was already laid out and contacts were already made. The popularity of the first edition also allowed Myers to sell ad space in the second book, which paid for the cost to print the guides.
Even though she is supporting herself on the proceeds of the book, Myers' advice to those thinking about self-publishing or marketing a book idea, is to not expect to instantly make millions.
"When I had this idea, I didn't think about making a bunch of money on it," Myers says. "I've had people tell me the book has steered them in great directions and that's so rewarding to me because that's what I was after."
Myers was in the right place at the right time. As the state's economy tanked, the popularity of disc golf rose because most courses are free and the cost of equipment is minimal compared to traditional golf.
"You have to really assess the demand for it," Myers says. "I was very fortunate to be on the forefront of this growing sport. It's becoming so mainstream that I was lucky to be able to ride the wave of it."
Myers' picksThe disc golf experience on any given day can depend entirely on whether the golfer or golfers have chosen the appropriate course.
Stephanai Myers, author of Disc Golf Michigan, offers her tips and opinions on some of the courses around Southwest Michigan.
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Cold Brook Park, at 14467 E. MN Ave. in Climax is Myers' favorite local course because of its beautiful topography, elevation changes and the fact that it has 24 holes, as opposed to the standard 18. ?
"What I love in a course is when it's set away from the main part of park, when you feel like you're in the middle of the woods," Myers said.
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Knollwood Park, located at the end of Greenwood Avenue, just south of Michigan Avenue between Drake Road and Howard Street in Kalamazoo, is a great beginners' course.
"The holes are short, the underbrush is sparse so they won't lose a disc. But there is a hole with a pond," Myers said.
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Robert Morris Park, 8415 E. H Ave. in Comstock, and Begg Park, 503 Military Ave. in Springfield, are family friendly parks because there are no large crowds and alcoholic beverages are banned. Robert Morris is a more difficult course to play than Begg Park.
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Oshtemo's Township Park, 7275 W. Main St., Albion's Victory Park, located off Veterans Way, and Battle Creek's Kimball Pines County Park, 1150 E. Michigan Ave., are also among Myers' top southwest Michigan courses.
For those looking to move beyond beginner courses and willing make a day trip out of it, Myers suggests visiting Flip City Disc Golf Park in Shelby at 1120 Pierce Road.
Rebecca Bakken is a freelance writer who lives and works in Kalamazoo.
Photos by
Erik HolladayStephanai Myers is author of the website and book "Disc Golf Michigan." They offer comprehensive guide to most of the Disc Golf courses in the Michigan.Shane Hales, of Kalamazoo, aims for the goal as he plays at the Cold Brook County Park Disc Golf course.Josh Schultz, of Kalamazoo, tees off at the Disc Golf course at Cold Brook County Park.A disc golfer carries all the tools he needs to play the course at Oshtemo County Park.Discs come to rest in the eighteenth hole at Cold Brook County Park Disc Golf Course.