Disc Golf

About

Disc golf (occasionally called Frisbee golf or frolf which is improper terminology) is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target; it is played using rules similar to golf. It is often played on a course of 9 or 18 holes. Players complete a hole by throwing a disc from a tee area toward a target, throwing again from the landing position of the disc until the target is reached. Usually, the number of throws a player uses to reach each target are tallied (often in relation to par), and players seek to complete each hole, and the course, in the lowest number of total throws.

The game is played in about 40 countries and currently, there are over 115,000 active members of the PDGA worldwide (as of 2018)

History

Disc golf was first invented in the early 1900s. The first game was held in BladworthSaskatchewanCanada in 1926. Ronald Brandon Cain and a group of his Bladworth Elementary School buddies played a game of throwing tin lids into 4 foot wide circles drawn into sandy patches on their school grounds. They called the game Tin Lid Golf and played on a fairly regular basis. However, after they grew older and went their separate ways, the game came to an end. It was not until the 1970s that modern disc golf would be introduced to Canadians at the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships in Toronto and Vancouver, BC.

Modern disc golf started in the early 1960s, but there is debate over who came up with the idea first. The consensus is that multiple groups of people played independently throughout the 1960s. Students at Rice University in Houston, Texas, for example, held tournaments with trees as targets as early as 1964, and in the early 1960s, players in Pendleton King Park in Augusta, Georgia would toss Frisbees into 50-gallon barrel trash cans designated as targets. In 1968 Frisbee Golf was also played in Alameda Park in Santa Barbara, California by teenagers in the Anacapa and Sola street areas. Gazebos, water fountains, lamp posts, and trees were all part of the course. This took place for several years and an Alameda Park collectors edition disc still exists, though rare, as few were made. Clifford Towne from this group went on to hold a National Time Aloft record.

How to play?

How to play?

The sport of disc golf is set up similar to a game of golf. A “round” is played on a disc golf course consisting of a number of “holes”, usually 9 or 18. Each hole includes a tee position for starting play and a disc golf target some distance away, often with obstacles such as trees, hills or bodies of water in between. Players begin by throwing a disc from the tee and navigate the hole by picking up the disc where it lands and throwing again until they reach the target. The object of the game is to get through the course with the lowest number of total throws. Play is usually in groups of five or fewer, with each player taking a turn at the tee box, then progressing with the player furthest from the hole throwing first, while the other players stand aside.

Each course is unique, so each course requires a different combination of throws to complete, with the best players aiming to shape the flight of the disc to account for distance, terrain, obstacles, and weather. In order to facilitate making different shots, players carry a variety of discs with different flight characteristics, choosing an appropriate disc for each throw. Some players also carry a mini marker disc, used to accurately mark the throwing position before each throw.  Use of mini marker discs is particularly prevalent in formal competitive play.

Many courses include out-of-bounds areas, commonly called “OB zones” or just “OB”. If the disc lands in these areas, the player is usually required to add a penalty throw onto his or her score and continue play from near where the disc entered the out-of-bounds zone. Some courses include out-of-bounds areas with special rules requiring the player the resume play from a specified area called a drop zone or requiring the player to restart the hole from the tee. Some courses also include Mandatories (also called “Mandos”) which require the path of the disc to be above, below or to one side of a specific line indicated by a sign.

By tradition, players throw from the tee box in the order of their score on the previous hole, with the lowest scorer throwing first. Most players also follow a loose code of courtesy while playing, which includes norms such as standing out of the sight line of the throwing player and avoiding making distracting noises. Because a thrown disc could injure someone, the Professional Disc Golf Association recommends that players “Never throw into a blind area or when spectators, pedestrians or facility users are within range.

Rules

Tee Throws
Each hole begins with a tee throw. Tee throws must be completed within or behind the designated tee area.

Lie
The lie is the spot where the player’s previous throw has landed. Mark lie with a mini disc or turn over the thrown disc, directly towards the hole or designated fairway. The player’s subsequent throw is made from directly behind the marked lie.

Throwing Order
The player with the least amount of strokes on the previous hole is the first to tee off on the next hole. After teeing off, the player whose disc is farthest from the hole always throws first.

Fairway Throws
Fairway throws must be made from directly behind the lie. A run-up and normal follow-through, after release, is allowed, unless the lie is within 10 meters of the target. Any shot within 10 meters of the target requires that the player not move past the lie until the disc is at rest.

Dogleg (or Mandatory)
A dogleg is one or more designated trees or poles in the fairway that must be passed as indicated by arrows. Until the dogleg is passed the closest foot to the dogleg must be on the lie when the disc is released.

Completion Of Hole
A disc that comes to rest in the disc golf basket basket or chains constitutes successful completion of that hole.

Unplayable Lie
Any disc that comes to rest above the ground is considered an unplayable lie. The disc must be thrown from the lie on the ground, directly underneath the unplayable lie, relocated to avoid damage to the vegetation.

Out Of Bounds
If any area of O.B. is visible between the disc and O.B. line, then the disc is considered O.B. A throw that lands out of bounds, must be played from a point 3 feet in bounds from where the disc went out of bounds. Permanent water hazards and public roads are always out of bounds.

Equipments

  • Make sure at you have all Disc Golf equipment prior to installation.
  • Disc Pole Holes: (Basket, Chain Holder, Pole, Anchor and Collar, bolts washers, nuts, decals, number plates, locks, etc
  • Alternate pin anchors
  • Tee signs (Frames, Poles, nuts, and bolts).

Association

Disc Golf Association, (DGA) was established in 1976 by Ed Hedrick to form a new international sport and to promote the installation and use of disc golf courses around the world.

Hall of Fame

Andrew Fish

Cale Leiviska

Cameron Colglazier

JohnE McCray