Disc Golf by the numbers
It's hard to believe it has been almost twenty years that I have been playing disc golf. I was introduced to the game by my brother in law when he was working for the parks and recreation division of the Jessamine County Parks outside Lexington down in Kentucky. I'd always been a fan of playing catch with a Frisbee (registered trademark of the Wham-O corporation), so picking up a disc golf disc came pretty naturally to me.
Even now, after two decades of playing off and on, I am still learning things about the game. It's pretty crazy to see how far the game has come since I started playing. There are dozens of companies now making hundreds if not thousands of different discs.
Most people might think that there isn't a course near them. You might be surprised to find out that according to the Internet, as of January 10, 2024, there are over 15,196 courses in over 80 countries around the world. In fact, there is supposedly at least one course on every continent.
The US clocks in with the most boasting close to half the courses in the world on our shores. With over 7,300 courses, America is a disc golfers paradise. Finland comes in second with an impressive 720 courses. Sure it's 10x less than the US, but given the area Finland covers, I think they are doing just fine.
Canada is third with 360 courses and it continues on down from there. This Wikipedia page gives you a good rundown of the sport including its origin back in the 1960's.
As I mentioned before, there are an immense number of discs available to use for play. Most people think you just use a regular flying disc, but that isn't the case. Disc golf uses a selection of smaller sized discs and each one has distinct properties that determine it's flight.
Each disc consists of four specific numbers that determine how it will act when you throw it. Of course a lot of that depends on if you are throwing right hand back hand (which most people do) or forehand.
The Sidewinder has been my go-to disc lately and it consists of these numbers:
Speed 9 - This determines how fast the disc flies or the rate at which it travels through the air
Glide 5 - This is the ability of the disc to maintain loft while it is flying.
Turn -3 - This is how much the disc banks to the right as it is flying through the air for right hand back hand throwers. For forehand throwers it would turn to the left.
Fade 1 - This is the tendency of the disc to tail off to the left at the end of its flight. Again, it would be the opposite for a forehand throw.
There are all kinds of discs with all kinds of numbers. As your skill improves, you start looking for faster discs that can do certain things depending on the layout of each hole. Say the basket is a sharp left from where the tee pad is, you might want a disc with very low turn and high fade.
In contrast, the Stingray is one of the first discs I ever threw and it used to be my go-to disc. I "bag" several of them on each outing.
Speed 4
Glide 5
Turn -3
Fade 1
Given my ability to throw the Stingray so well, I looked for something with a bit more speed as my game and arm strength improved. That led me to the Sidewinder.
I probably have about 30 different discs at the moment but only about 15 of them stay in my bag for me to use on a regular basis. I am looking at expanding that number though as my skill improves.
I never would have guessed all those years ago just how complex and in depth the game of disc golf is.
Most discs come in around $20 USD (unless you buy them used), so it's still cheaper than real golf, and it only takes you about 1 to 2 hours to play 18 holes!
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
Congratulations @bozz.sports! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
Your next payout target is 7000 HP.
The unit is Hive Power equivalent because post and comment rewards can be split into HP and HBD
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out our last posts:
I was introduced to this sport in college and while I was of course terrible at it at first, I got better. The thing that appealed to me the most about it was that it was free. I'm sure there are courses out there where you have to pay but I have been to a couple dozen of them and I've never had to pay. I even introduced my real golf-loving father and he immediately took to it. It's just a great sport that anyone can play. There's no need for hundreds of dollars worth of gear either. You can realistically play a course with nothing other than a mid-range although the long holes would mess you up a bit
I totally agree with everything you said there. It's a great sport. It looks like I won't be able to get out again in the next couple of weeks, but I am taking my discs on a trip to Colorado, so I hope to play a bit out there.
with all the hippies that exist in Colo, I think you will find a lot of courses! Oh and one other thing that impressed me about the disc golf community is that you write your name and phone number on the bottom of a disk and if it gets lost in the trees and falls down say, a month from now, people find it and actually return it to you.
Yes, the community is usually pretty good about that. I just lost one in a pond the other day and I am waiting to get the call from someone who fishes it out. Sometimes they just run off with it, but usually they call or text.