Worldwide growth of Disc Golf

This is not originally my posting, but it is about the popularity of Disc Golf worldwide.

Modified Frisbees Soar at Thousands of Disc Golf Courses Globally

From one California course in the mid-70s, disc golf has grown dramatically, providing fun, fitness and competition to thousands of players internationally.

Using a set of molded plastic discs -- smaller in diameter and heavier than Frisbees -- disc golfers play using rules based on traditional golf. Participants tee off from a designated spot, often a small rectangle of concrete that provides solid footing. Using a disc golf driver, the heaviest and most streamlined disc, by adjusting their angle of release they launch straight, arching, or dramatically curved shots, depending on the layout of the hole.

The next shot is played from where the original toss landed, usually using a lighter approach disc. Once near the disc golf target, or Pole Hole, players choose a blunter-edged putting disc. A hole is complete when the disc comes to rest in the disc golf basket.

Holes are all considered par-threes for scoring, but range in length from just 200 feet to a whopping 600 plus. As in golf, the object is to make it around the course in the fewest number of shots. Unlike golf, with its pricy greens fees, most disc golf courses are free to play.

Disc golf discs retail for around R120 to R200. Manufacturers like Innova Champion and Discraft sell discs on their own web sites. Golf discs, disc golf bags, disc golf baskets, and other accessories and equipment also are available from online retailers. Discs are sold at some courses, at select sporting goods retailers, and used from second-hand sporting goods shops.

While competitive players may carry a disc golf bag holding up to 20 specialized discs, a casual recreational round can be played with just one. In fact, as you would expect from a sport born of a late-50's toy, casual and laid back is the prevailing attitude of the disc golf crowd. Outdoor recreation and fitness is as big a draw as competition. Sure, a brisk walk in the park or woods is good for cardiovascular health, but why not work on your agility, hand-eye coordination and upper-body conditioning while you're at it? Anyone who can stroll and flip a disc can play, but the fun and challenge of improving their skills is addictive to many players and keeps them coming back.

This is why I love it!

Disc Golf Growth

This is illustrated by the sheer number of players flocking to the game, and the growth of disc golf internationally. According the Professional Disc Golf Association web site, PDGA.COM, its membership has grown from around 4,000 players in 1996 to some 13,000 in 2008. Of those, 26 percent were classified as professionals, 69 percent as amateurs, and 5 percent as juniors. Of course, there are thousands more players who don't belong to the PDGA.

Since the first official course in 1974, disc golf course openings have been exponential. According to the PDGA, there are now 2,748 sanctioned courses worldwide. The United States boasts 2,354 courses, while Canada is home to 89. Scandinavia has164 courses, the rest of Europe 78, Japan 36 and Australia and New Zealand combined have 24. South Africa has a handful of course and there is even one in Tanzania. For information on disc golf in South Africa please contact SADGA.

To buy disc golf products in South Africa please contact http://www.disc-golf.co.za/ or if you are in KZN you could give me a call. I have some wonderful Ching Legacy discs. They are very versatile and are easy to manipulate and I believe they are an idea disc for beginners. The Legacy is a balanced and stable disc that can follow your lines left, right and straight. and has nice glide.

Disc Golf History

Inventive gamers have undoubtedly been throwing plastic platters at trees, trash cans and lamp posts since even before Wham-O trademarked the Frisbee in 1959. Sometimes known as Folf, early incarnations of the game were played with actual Frisbees. But disc golf got its true start in modern form in 1974, when Wham-O toy designer and disc golf pioneer Ed Hedrick laid out the course at Oak Grove Park in La Canada, California, near Los Angeles.

The PDGA was formed in 1981. By 1996, it was hosting 235 events that offered just under $370,000 in prize money; in 2008 it sanctioned 994 tournaments with a combined purse of more than $2 million.

A Nature Walk With Golf Discs and Waterproof Socks

Of course, you don't have to be a money-winning professional disc golfer to become addicted to disc golf. Even recreational players can quickly become fanatical, loading up on golf discs and logo-laden disc golf apparel from their favorite disc maker. The fact that one disc golf retail web site offers waterproof socks says something about players' willingness to endure even inclement weather to participate in their sport.

Weather conditions aside, one of the great aspects of disc golf is that it gets players outside and into nature. Most disc golf courses are at public parks. Some are deeply wooded, with tightly laid out holes threading through the trees. Others offer a picturesque stroll past streams, lakes or ponds that become water hazards on one or more holes. So wherever they play disc golf, participants are getting some great exercise with fresh air and a view -- no matter what score they shoot.