It might sound like a pun to say Finland is the Valhalla of disc golf, but it's an analogy which truly fits.
The population of Finland is just more than 5.25 million, and many of those are truly disc golf enthusiasts, to the point three manufacturers produce discs there. This week we look at a couple of driver discs from one of those three; Westside.
But before I get into details about the Northman and King discs, I had an opportunity to discuss the sport in Finland with Janne Penttilä from Westside Discs via email, gaining a bit of insight into the popularity of the sport in his country.
"In Finland we had our first permanent course put up already in 1983 in Meilahti, Helsinki but the great growth started in 2004," he said. "There are now 197 Finnish courses that have at least 9-holes. I started the disc golf here in 1983 when I was a young boy so I am one of the firsts."
Penttilä's company was also a pioneer of the sport in Finland.
"Westside Discs started importing U.S. discs in 2003, and imported a total of more than 100,000 U.S made golf discs to Finland between 2003-2009," he said, adding "nowadays we focus only on our own production and to Latitude (a Swedish company whose discs will be reviewed here in coming weeks) distribution here in Finland.
"Our Westside Northman project started on May 1, 2009 and the release of Northman was on March 1, 2010, so it took (and still takes) us about 10 months from designs start to sales start."
So let's look at the Northman. It and most Westside discs are made of VIP-plastics.
"VIP plastic is transparent so you can see through it. Discs made in VIP-plastic maintain their flight characteristics and reliability for a long time," states the Westside website.
From a player's perspective it means the discs have a natural resiliency so that they'll bang off a few trees along the way without damage. I recall throwing the King and rattling it off a tree at the Patrick Park course here in Yorkton the first day and I couldn't even find a slight scuff mark when I picked up the disc.
The VIP plastic also has a slightly tacky feel, so grip is not an issue.
The Northman is a solid disc. It flies generally straight, and doesn't need the big pro arm to do it. It's a workman-like driver for beginners and has enough upside it won't be left in the closet once your game improves.
Perhaps because I am at the beginner level myself, the Northman is my preferred Westside disc.
Aesthetically the Westside discs are great.
In the case of the Northman a blacksmith figure called Ilmarinen from Finnish national epic Kalevala is the artwork on the original run of discs. It was drawn by Arto Hoffrén Check out the Kalevala in English language (www.westside.fi/kalevala.txt )
Which brings us to the King, which not surprisingly has a King motif, again from Kalevala. The picture was drawn by Arto Hoffrén.
The manufacturer's website states, "Westside King is a fast stable driver good for ultimate distance without sacrificing control. It has a solid reliable flight without being too overstable. Westside King has a relatively high and predictable fade. Higher weights are more stable than lower weights."
I have found it a bit more unpredictable. At times I get a very straight flight, and at other times the fade is more pronounced. On an open fairway that is not an issue, but when in tighter areas with hazards ahead, I tend to look elsewhere in the bag.
Penttilä said generally the King has been very well-received.
"Our best selling product is the King and we have received a lot of fan mail about it. So if you measure a discs success by a number of positive feedback it would be the King," he said.
Both Westside drivers are well-worth a look as useful additions to your disc arsenal.
Check the out these discs in more detail at www.westside.fi
NEXT WEEK: A look at drivers offering from Millennium Discs.
