To add on to this, there are about 25 large disc manufacturers that make from 10-100 different molds in 5-15 different types of plastic each ranging from a stiff and rigid base plastic to a premium durable flexible plastic and in between. That’s before getting into stabilities and flight characteristics.
I played a shit ton of disc golf (and smoked enough weed to kill a horse) in my teens/twenties. I still have my bag with 25 year old Gazelles, Cheetahs, TeeBirds, etc.
The sport is accessible to everyone and there is certainly a skeezer contingent. A lot of folks enter the game as stoner types and then find themselves interested in physical fitness and the outdoors for the first time. Rec courses in little municipal parks are essential for beginners. If someone wants to chill out and have beers and get high, it's fine with me as long as they're not making the park worse for non-disc golfers. But some of the more difficult or pay-to-play courses aren't good for beginners or they'll get too frustrated and quit. So TC certainly addresses the game's stereotypes but one thing I love about it is how it's inexpensive to get into, isn't exclusive, and utilizes underused land. Traditional golf is an incredible waste of resources and real estate. Disc golf is for everybody and as I mentioned folks who really don't do any physical activity at all get into disc golf and improve themselves. /soapbox
The closest disc golf course to me in San Diego is a hybrid disc golf/foot golf/executive golf course. It’s always packed so I rarely play there. Fortunately there’s a couple other decent courses nearby.
Little Rock recently closed a municipal golf course right next to War Memorial Stadium. They've set up pop up courses there a couple times, but made the full 18 way too long. There's another course in Sherwood that is both an active golf and disc golf course. Fun, can rent a cart, but you are dodging golfers the whole time too, so it can be awkward. Also, love a good pop up course. Have played at a few, one in a cool art park that was great, one in a football stadium a couple weeks ago that was a blast. Mando through the goal posts on hole 2 here. Was the only one in my group to hit it on the drive.
Off and sunscreen are requirements for playing a lot of the time. Summer especially, obviously. It's a real catch-22 on some courses. Would I rather be out in the open holes in the sun, or in the woods where all the humidity is trapped but I'm in the shade?
I don't play disc but I find watching the tournaments on YouTube to be very relaxing before bed. I've followed all of the major tournaments the past 3-4 years, and know way more about the professional disc golf scene than I should.
There's a vast range. Many muni courses are 9 holes, and holes might range from 250 ft-400 ft. Then there are larger courses that are 18-27 holes and might range from 250-800 feet or so. The pros are of course the best around so often pro tour courses are created on extant ball golf courses in order to make it challenging. I personally max out distance-wise at like 400-425' but pros are going 550 feet easy. I live near a course (that is situated on a really conservative Christian university, ironically) that has a big mix of distance and is spread out on a sprawling track. It's wooded and has water features. I record DG as "hikes" on my Apple Watch and it is equivalent to over a three-mile hike.
Awesome. Shit, there’s water hazards? How often do you lose a disc to the drink? That’s gotta be pricier than just losing a golf ball.
There's a course in Houston that requires a drive over a bayou at the 3rd hole. If you're good it's no problem, if you're just an average player and the wind isn't in your favor, you have a decent chance of losing it
The two I played were Cypress Point Park and Picnic Island. Picnic Island was cool because there’s a couple holes that are played on the beach.
Short course will be 3500' of flight. I have played courses that were over 10000'. Also, if you're a crossover more familiar with ball golf, you'll notice that disc golf doesn't have a lot of par 72 courses. Many short courses are par 54 or thereabouts. We also suffer from a HUGE talent gulf between the top pros and your average guys, so even on a par 68 (harder end of the spectrum), a touring pro might be -8, and a weekender would struggle to be +6. We also don't have handicaps per se. If you're a member of the sanctioning body for most tournaments, the PDGA, you get ratings assigned to your rounds. These ratings help establish your individual player rating. A new player with some skill, maybe having played for a year might be 850-900. The guys on tour are over 1000, some around 1050. It isn't a hard and fast rule, as there are lots of calculations, but you can think of each stroke being about 10 points. So you'd expect 1000 rated player to beat a 900 rated player by 10ish strokes per round. There's a ton more info, but that's the fast and nasty version.
My u/name on one of the old disc golf forums was "tincup11". Last hole was a 380' water carry. I dunked several in a row. Not a proud moment. I think golf as a game, whatever you are throwing/hitting teaches humility by shame......
Water hazards seem to be pretty common in the south. Not many in my area. They are fun to throw a disc you may have found in the bushes somewhere and aren’t afraid to lose. Innova DX plastic is like $9 compared to a tour series disc made in premium plastic that can cost you upwards to $30. The resale market is WILD right now. Sexton firebirds with a specific profile, flatness and stamp color can sell for close to a grand if not more.
Innova DX? Sexton firebirds? I feel like I’m reading Harry Potter and y’all are talking about quidditch.
Yeah I always keep a disc or two that I've found in my bag specifically for tossing over/around water hazards.
Innova is the OG disc manufacturer and their baseline plastic is called DX. It’s pretty shitty and breaks easily. Nate Sexton is a popular pro player who has a tour series Innova Firebird (a very popular disc) made in a special glow plastic that is very sought after and durable. All of that combined with Innova only making a few thousand every year makes them super popular and expensive on the secondary market. They sell out within 2 minutes.
I played Ultimate for a little over a season at Colorado. I wasn’t good enough to make the A team so I played JV the whole time. I quit because partying was more fun than frisbee football. edit for more context/embarrassment: I was hyped to get into CU. I had already gotten kicked out of college once and was looking to redeem myself through studying, extracurriculars, etc. I didn’t know this, but, at the time, Colorado was a national championship caliber ultimate frisbee team. While silly to say, there were some legit athletes playing the game that obviously took it pretty seriously. Being the late 90s, the only way to reach out was over email so I sent a message to the address that essentially said “I’d love to tryout for the team. I come from a small town, but I’m pretty sure I can come in and contribute right away”. I get to school, go to tryouts and the captain says something like “which one of you motherfuckers thinks he can contribute right away?” and proceeds to introduce to me to the difference between small town stoner ultimate frisbee and college level national competitive ultimate frisbee. I got raked over the coals the whole time on the team and was asked “are you contributing yet?” at least 10 times a practice.
I wasn't. There is some crossover but the discs are so different it doesn't help much. I have a friend who still plays ultimate and he gets really frustrated playing dg because he feels like he should be much better at it.
played my best round ever. I almost had my first ace on a 200ft par 3 40ft up hill. +10 thru 24 holes at tom brown park. I was +3 through 16 and played the rest in a torrential down pour. I heard they got a stop on the pro tour and McBeth is playing that should be fun to watch
It's how most people learn. I would recommend getting something designated as a "midrange." Like a Buzzz SS or a Matrix. You'll see things called "distance drivers" but they're much harder to control for beginners. You'll throw it as hard as you can and it'll go straight a little and then cut sharply left. Learning to throw on 'slower' discs is essential to getting shots to shape how you want them. gbr
That's how I started. You can go to Academy and they sell starter/beginner packs of 3 discs for like $20-25, should give a nice selection of driver/midrange and maybe a putter too? Usually a good deal because some of those discs can cost $10-15 on their own.
With no tee times, you just approach #1 and see if there's a line? Do people start mid-course? I think my house is nearest #8 or something
We start wherever, skip holes, stop before the end, don't keep score, etc. You can take it as seriously as you want to, just try to stay in the flow with groups in front of/behind you so you aren't holding up more advanced players.
I play at a park with a beginner/kids 9 hole, and 2 18 hole courses, and a 3rd 18 that mixes half of each of the full courses. Most courses like in golf will try to end 18 close to 1, so you might end up a little bit further away on some courses trying to do that. But if it's your house, probably good to just start there. If someone comes up behind you, just let them play through if you're not moving as fast or are stuck looking for a disc forever.
Also, the more professional courses do have tee times, but again, play at your own pace and don't be a dick if someone needs to play around you.
I'm somewhat concerned about being able to find my way to all the holes. Apparently white tape points the way to the next one, but it seems kind of intimidating how it winds through woods and crosses over fields etc.
It's usually pretty obvious, even if they aren't marked super clearly. There will probably be some trails from the hole to the next tee pad through the woods or brush from other people playing. Having the map will definitely help though in case you do get confused.