NORTHAMPTON – Friends Ian Hamel of Amherst and Casey Dunphy of Hatfield braved the icy and muddy conditions on Monday to get in two rounds at the 18-hole Northampton State Hospital Disc Golf Course, which overlaps with a popular dog-walking area – at times its own hazard. After his drive off the second tee, Dunphy had to gently convince a passing dog to drop his disc, which it had eagerly fetched, unsolicited. Hamel said they like to play disc golf year-round, citing one good thing about the winter: “It makes you love playing in the summer even more.”
Kevin Gutting can be reached at kgutting@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevinGutting.