Getting in the game is a simple matter of purchasing a few discs and locating a nearby golf course. Professional Disc Golf Association-approved starter packs generally include at least a driver for distance, a mid-range and a putter disc to land in the basket, and cost somewhere between $20 and $40. The disc weight and bevel dictate whether it is engineered for distance or accuracy.
You can play with a single disc if you want and having too many discs may just complicate matters and amount to more weight to carry. Play according to your own schedule as most course locations don’t require a tee time. Play alone or bring a group of friends. Joe says that the difficulty of learning to play is akin to learning to bowl, noting, “Minimal athletic ability is necessary and the best players are simply the most consistent.” Should you get hooked on the game, consider joining a league where you can get tips from better players and learn the official rules. After playing in a league, you might progress to tournament play and delve deeper into the community of the sport.
Clubs are located across the country, but the Columbia Disc Golf Club is one of the oldest and most historically significant. The not-for-profit organization was started in 1984 by Rick Rothstein, an influential figure in the sport. Now a Disc Golf Hall of Famer, Rick published Disc Golf World News for 12 years. He also is responsible for establishing the Ice Bowl which has gone on to become the largest charity tournament event series in the sport. Since it began in 1996, Ice Bowls have generated more than $5.4 million for local and regional organizations, especially those addressing food insecurity. Organizers report more than 930,000 pounds of food have been collected for donation from participants and sponsors.
Combining an active group of players, a proactive parks department and convention and visitors bureau with good timing, Columbia is on the leading edge of disc golf. Collaboration yielded a course co-designed by the club and the city when Indian Hills Disc Golf Course opened in 2002. Building on this remarkable success, the city went on to raise funds and bring top disc golf architect John Houck to Columbia to design Harmony Bends Championship Disc Golf Course at Strawn Park. The course has become one of the top-ranked in the world.
“To be an elite course like Harmony Bends, you have to have a great piece of land, great design and development and great maintenance,” John says. “Those factors combine to create an outstanding experience for players, and that’s why players from all over the country come to enjoy it.” He says Columbia was the first site where he had 10 innovative ideas and the city wanted to build all of them. The course is home to the Mid-America Open Disc Golf Pro Tour Silver Series tournament and draws enthusiastic spectators from near and far.
Missouri’s disc golf courses are growing hubs of fun and connection. Roots of the sport not only satisfy age-old human instincts but tap deep into the community through individual players, local leagues and clubs, small business tournament sponsors and municipalities building courses.
“The simplicity and longevity of the game has great appeal,” Russ says. “We’re seeing so many younger and older players join in the game.”
For more information, contact your local disc golf club on Facebook or visit www.udisc.com where you can discover over 13,000 courses worldwide, keep score with friends, track statistics and follow events. For more information on Disc Golf Monkey visit www.discgolfmonkey.com.
Joplin is a freelance writer from Loose Creek.