Since that time Disc Golf evolved from mans natural competitive nature. Early games used targets of trees, trash cans, light poles, chicken wire baskets, pipes, and coeds. The game was formalized when Headrick invented the first Disc Pole Hole, catching devise, consisting of 10 chains hanging in a parabolic shape over an upward opening basket, US Patent 4,039,189, issued 1975.
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DISC GOLF 1 MILLION B.C.E. TO PRESENT DAY---------------------Disc golf in one form or another has been with us since the beginning of time. The early cavemen in their search for weapons to extend their ability to slay food probably found rocks before clubs. If they could kill something from a safe distance it would be much safer than a club or a sharp stick. Test of skill where a necessary pastime, closest to the target sounds familiar! Flat rocks had a different flight and flew further than round objects, skipping flat stones on the water, throwing shields, Eureka! Then came the discus that Discoblus threw which certainly resembled a Frisbee.
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THE FIRST BASKET------------------The Disc Pole Hole has evolved consistently since the first Mach I. For the past two decades our products have been established and accepted worldwide as the industry standard for the sport of Disc Golf. All of our hardware is Hot-Dipped Galvanized from head to toe and guaranteed for 20 years against rust and corrosion. To protect your discs, all of our chains are Hot-Dipped Galvanized and hand polished. Accept no copies or imitations. Let he who is without stone, cast the first disc.
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GO TO PANTENTS
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Frisbee Patent 1966 -Adobe Acrobat file (pdf). 327KB
Mach I Patent 1977 - Adobe Acrobat file (pdf). 171KB
Mach II Patent 1984 - Adobe Acrobat file (pdf). 403KB
Mach III Patent 1988 - Adobe Acrobat file (pdf). 398KB
Mach V Patent 1999 - Adobe Acrobat file (pdf). 235KB ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Steady” Ed has many accolades to his credit including being recognized throughout the sport as the “father of disc golf”. He developed the sport while working for the Wham-O Corporation in the 1970’s. At Wham-O, Ed was CEO and is credited with the original patent for the Frisbee®. Ed has obtained several patents for disc catching devices and has provided approx. 70% of these products for the sport over the past 25 years.
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ED HEADRICK---PDGA#001
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Ed Headrick passed away early Monday morning (8-12-02), surrounded by his family at his home in La Selva Beach, California.
We at the DGA and Ed's family want to thank the community of people who gave their love and support for Ed. We received a ton of emails that not only lifted Ed's spirits, but helped his loved ones, who read them to Ed conveying your love and support. Ed's family hopes to get back to everyone who emailed and sent their love and get well wishes.
Ed has been in our hearts minute by minute, especially this weekend. We all wished for a miracle that would have had him up and out of bed throwing discs and joking around once again. That miracle that was Ed will have to live on in our hearts and souls now.
The last couple of weeks of Ed's life were filled with the love and support he got from his family and friends and his home was the most peaceful and comfortable place anyone could hope to find themselves.
We thank Ed for all that he has given each of us individually and what he has given the world.
And as Ed wrote in his tribute to Arthur K. “Spud” Melin, “Lock the doors and bar the windows God. You have your hands full.”
We love you Ed and we will miss you!
About “Steady”Ed.
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Frisbee, disc golf inventor ‘Steady’ Ed Headrick dead at 78
By KAREN A. DAVIS
Sentinel staff writer
The inventor of the modern-day Frisbee may be gone, but his spirit — and his ashes — will continue to fly high into the great blue yonder.
"Steady" Ed Headrick, who also invented the sport of disc golf, died in his sleep early Monday at his home in La Selva Beach. He was 78.
No services are planned. Headrick’s ashes will be molded into a limited number of memorial flying discs, which will be distributed to his family and friends, according to his eldest son, Ken Headrick.
The remaining discs will be sold and profits will help fund a future Frisbee/disc golf history and memorabilia museum. A memorial fund will be set up at a later date.
In an interview with the Sentinel last October, Steady Ed Headrick, well-known for his sense of humor, said, "I felt the Frisbee had some kind of a spirit involved. It’s not just like playing catch with a ball. It’s the beautiful flight."
"We used to say that Frisbee is really a religion — ‘Frisbyterians,’ we’d call ourselves," he said. "When we die, we don’t go to purgatory. We just land up on the roof and lay there."
Headrick, who had high blood pressure, had suffered two strokes while attending the Professional Disc Golf Association Amateur World Championships in Miami last month. The strokes left him paralyzed on his left side and weak on the right. Still, he had remained in high spirits — even signing autographs on Frisbees from his bed at a Miami hospital.
He returned home to California Aug. 6 after doctors determined that physical therapy would not aid his recovery and that his condition would continue to deteriorate.
On Saturday, friends and family held an open house. Several longtime friends visited with Headrick throughout the daylong celebration of his life, according to his youngest son, Gary Headrick.
"We had a really nice party for him on Saturday and he was conscious, with eyes and ears open," Gary Headrick said. "He continued to decline (on Sunday), but remained comfortable. And he had all of us around him ... when he passed on (early Monday.)"
Steady Ed Headrick was born in South Pasadena on June 28, 1924. He had lived in Santa Cruz County for the past nine years.
Headrick invented the Frisbee while working at Emeryville-based Wham-O in 1964. In the 1970s, he created the sport of disc golf, which involves throwing a Frisbee at a metal cage. Headrick had donated disc golf equipment to a number of recreational programs for under-privileged youth nationwide.
He is survived by his wife, Farina Headrick of La Selva Beach; one daughter, Valerie Headrick of Quincy; three sons, Ken Headrick of San Juan-San Ramon, Costa Rica, Daniel Headrick of Laguna Beach and Gary Headrick of San Clemente; and 11 grandchildren.
Disc golf fans also plan to approach the City of Santa Cruz about the possibility of dedicating a portion of an area park in memory of Steady Ed Headrick, according to Gary Headrick.
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