Played according to regulations comparable to golf, disc golf—sometimes called frisbee golf—is a game where participants toss a flying disc towards a goal.
A standard course for the sport typically consists of nine or eighteen holes (baskets). To finish a hole, players must launch a disc from a tee pad or tee area in the direction of the basket, and then they must continue to throw from the spot where their previous throw landed until they reach the basket. To capture the discs as they fall into the basket, the baskets are constructed from wire with chains hanging above.
To win, competitors try to finish each hole with the fewest total throws, typically calculated by tallying how many balls it takes to reach each basket (sometimes in proportion to par). The number of strokes a professional golfer should make for a specific hole or set of holes, often 9 or 18, is called par.
Disc golf as we know it now began in the early 1960s, yet the sport’s inventor is still a mystery. All signs point to many groups of people performing separately during the ’60s. As early as 1964, Houston, Texas’s Rice University students organized tournaments using trees as targets. In the early 1960s, players in Augusta, Georgia’s Pendleton King Park, would toss Frisbees into trash cans that were 50 gal. In capacity, which were also designated as targets.
The Anacapa and Sola street sectors of Santa Barbara, California’s Alameda Park, were also frequented by adolescents playing Frisbee Golf in 1968. There were trees, drinking fountains, lampposts, and gazebos for participants to enjoy. It lasted for a while, and a collector’s edition disc of Alameda Park is still out there—it’s just rare. One of its members, Clifford Towne, set a record for National Time Aloft.
Academic Course
The standard number of holes for a disc golf course is nine or eighteen, but most variations use multiples of three. It is relatively rare to see classes of 6, 10, 12, 21, 24, or 27 holes. The PDGA suggests that courses have holes no less than 100 feet (30 meters) in length, with an average of 200 to 400 feet (61 to 122 meters) in each hole. More than 1,500 feet (460 meters) is the length of the world’s longest holes.
For variety and difficulty, course designers incorporate features such as trees, bushes, elevation changes, water hazards, distance variance, out-of-bounds zones, mandated flight paths (often called “Mandos”), and more into each hole. Various tee locations or target positions are available on many courses to accommodate players of varying abilities.
Although some disc golf courses strive for immaculate conditions, most are constructed in more natural and less manicured settings than traditional golf courses. To ensure the safety of their clients, professional course designers take every precaution to reduce the likelihood of players taking damage from flying discs while incorporating designs that promote strategy and variety in shots for players to enjoy. To test players’ abilities, holes are created to call for various throws. There are disc golf equipment stores on several courses, and many serve as meeting places for local clubs. Disc Golf Course Review lists over 80% of its courses as public and free to play.
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Sorted by nation
The majority of disc golf courses are located in just three countries: the US (75%), Finland (7%), and Canada (3%). Sweden and Estonia are two other notable countries. Estonia boasts the second-largest number of courses per inhabitant and the highest density of disc golf courses per km2 of dry terrain compared to any other country. There are 111 courses per million inhabitants in Finland and 150 in Iceland.
Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand have more courses than any other continent save Europe and North America. Every continent has at least one disc golf course; Antarctica has one, eight in Africa, and twenty-four in Latin America. With one course in each of the sixteen towns of Åland, the island has been dubbed the world’s biggest single disc golf park.
Disc golf categories
Disc golf discs are smaller than Ultimate flying discs and regular recreational frisbees. The standard dimensions are a diameter of 21-22 cm (8.3-8.7 in) and a weight of 130-180 g (4.6-6.3 oz). The maximum weight for a disc to be certified by the PDGA is 200 g, and its diameter should be between 21 and 30 cm (8.3 and 11.8 inches). While discs made specifically for disc golf are aerodynamically optimized for control, speed, and accuracy, flying discs used for other sports, like ultimate or guts, are more conventionally shaped, resembling a catch disc. Drivers, mid-range discs, and putters are the three main classifications for the vast array of discs utilized in disc golf.
Methods of throwing
Backhand and forehand are the two most fundamental throwing styles for discs, though there are plenty more. The methods’ efficacy varies depending on the specifics of the situation. A player’s game can be significantly enhanced by their knowledge and expertise, which provides a variety of choices for more effectively navigating the disc to the basket. While driving, many players adopt a technique called a run-up. You can increase your forward disc momentum and distance by practicing this. Everyone has their unique way of throwing the ball, and no method is universally accepted.
Regardless of the direction of spin, a thrown disc will always fall in a specific path. Discs fall in this way because of their normal flight pattern called hyzer. Alternatively, they can fall in the other direction, called analyzer. The disc’s natural trajectory tends to fall to the left when thrown with the right-hand backhand (RHBH). The disc will fall to the right for a right-handed forehand throw (RHFH). Discs thrown with the left-hand backhand (LHBH) tend to roll to the right. Throwing the disc with one’s left-hand forehand (LHFH) causes it to fall to the left.
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Tournaments
Throughout the year, tournaments like the 2008 USDGC, featuring Ken Climo teeing off at hole 5, are hosted throughout the United States. Members of the Professional Disc Golf Association are the ones who are notified when tournaments are to be played. The Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) hosts events for players of all skill and experience levels. It disseminates news about the sport, including results and commentary, through various print and digital platforms.
The inaugural World Championship Tournament took place in 1982 at the PDGA. In the time after, Toronto, Ontario, joined 17 other U.S. states in hosting the World Championships. The United States Disc Golf Championship, which takes place every October in Rock Hill, South Carolina, is one of the biggest disc golf championships.
Annual winter tournaments called Ice Bowls are staged at courses all around the globe to demonstrate that the sport can be enjoyed all year round. The “No Wimps, No Whiners” ice bowls are charity activities that raise money for a food bank in the area while also bringing attention to sports. According to the official website, out of 222 events held in 2010, the Ice Bowls gave over 67,000 pounds of food and raised over $250,000. One such charity event is the St. Jude Disc Golf Tournament[30], which has been going strong since 2017 and has helped St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital raise more than $100,000.
Popularity
Worldwide, disc golf is seeing explosive growth. In the U.S., it is currently the fourth fastest-growing sport, trailing only parkour, roller derby, and mixed martial arts. From 2007 to 2017, the number of installed permanent courses increased rapidly, with over 400 new courses added annually, according to DGCourseReview.com, which tracks courses worldwide along with launching dates. There are 9744 courses listed on the site as of February 2022.
Disc golf saw explosive growth during the COVID-19 epidemic when individuals were compelled to shun indoor meetings due to shutdowns and social isolation. For the first time, competitions were televised on ESPN2 and CBS Sports.
While most players are casual amateurs, a thriving professional disc golf industry exists. The best pros play the game full-time and make a living through tournament earnings and endorsement deals with equipment companies. With over 3 million views on YouTube for the 2019 world championship and over 1.4 million views for footage of an albatross by professional Philo Braithwaite, it’s clear that online viewing of big tournaments and events is on the rise.
