If you’ve played a tournament round of disc golf and don’t walk away with at least one story, did you really play? Everyone has them. The crazy shot you had no business trying. A roller-coaster round that had you questioning life. The dreaded double rollaway. Or maybe, just maybe, an Iron Leaf...
Didn't Get Up and Down
One of the often unsung joys of disc golf comes after or during the round, when you sit with your friends and trade stories. That’s exactly how one of the disc golf’s most famous tales made its way into history. It started with Ken Climo, the 12-time World Champion sharing a mid-round story with Gregg Barsby, and grew into a much loved viral video that still gets quoted today.
The Backstory
The “Iron Leaf” story itself really isn’t all that unusual. What made it iconic was the way it was the delivery of Gregg Barsby and his now famous Climo impression. Barsby, a 1x World Champ himself, is not only known for his killer game, but also his endearing personality. He truly is a fan-favorite and will go down as one of the sport’s greats. When the video started rolling, Barsby slipped into a Ken Climo impression and recreated the moment in a way only he could.
The original video, shot and shared by Michael Castillo, better known as MurderMike, opened with the words, “Gregg Barsby does his Ken Climo Impression.” From there, Barsby launched into a perfect Climo reenactment, describing the frustration of hitting what he called an “Iron Leaf.” A simple story turned into disc golf folklore
The Iron Leaf Collection
We’ve wanted to celebrate the Iron Leaf for a long time. Naming one of our first five discs after it didn’t quite fit, so instead we called up our friend and legendary artist Skeet Scienski and asked him to put his skills towards an Iron Leaf. Skeet has been a Climo fan for years and immediately got to work on a design to help us pay homage.
The result is the Iron Leaf Collection, available Thursday at 10:00am EST at Climo Disc Golf.
- Soft Trophy Line Champ (Iron Leaf Triple)
- Trophy Line Champ (Iron Leaf Triple)
- Victory Line Champ (Iron Leaf Triple)
- Victory Line Belleair (Iron Leaf Triple)
- Major Line Osprey (Iron Leaf Triple)
- Major Line Skyway (Iron Leaf Triple)
- Victory Line Skyway (Iron Leaf Triple)
Along with a triple-stamp offerings listed above, there’s also a single foil version on a test run of Glow Trophy Line Belleair. Just in time for glow season.
Keeping the Legend Alive
The Iron Leaf story has lived on because it’s more than a bad break on the course. It’s a reminder that the game is about more than the shots thrown on the course. Whether you’re bragging or commiserating, the words from that video still find their way into rounds everywhere:
"I birdied everything else."
"Dead in the middle in the heart of the chains!"
"Hit an iron leaf..."
Michigan or Indiana?
For years players debated where the story took place. Many believed it happened during the 2010 World Championships in Crown Point, Indiana. Climo himself recently cleared that up. It was the 2008 Worlds in Kalamazoo, Michigan at Coldbrook Park (Climax, MI). If you want the uncut version, the full video is still out there. Warning: it does have explicit language.
