Disc Golf Comes of Age

HSU student Cedar Stark hits the disc pole hole at Redwood Curtain Golf Course in the Arcata Community Forest. photo by Megan Skillings Garrison

The golfer tugged his hat down low and looked out over the tree-lined fairway. Gauging the wind with a toss of grass, he stepped up to the tee. A hush fell over the crowd as he whipped his driver through the air to prepare himself for a crucial shot.

Suddenly the golfer started forward and, with one easy motion, launched his driver into the air.

Welcome to the sport of disc golf — a game with no dress codes, clubhouses or carts. Instead of hitting balls with clubs, players throw Frisbees. Rather than aiming for holes, the golfers shoot for chain linked baskets. Disc golf is a recreational activity with no restrictions of age or gender. This sport’s only limitations involve the imaginations of its competitors and the availability of land on to play on.

According to an editorial by Ed Headrick in the Disc Golf Journal, the sport became formalized in 1975 when, as an employee of the Wham-O toy company, he invented the first disc pole hole. This disc catching device consists of 10 chains that hang in a parabolic shape over an upward facing basket.

Before the invention of the disc pole hole, people would set up courses using posts, trees, trashcans or whatever else they could use for a target. Headrick galvanized the sport with his invention. He also designed and installed the first formal disc-golf course at Oak Grove Park in Pasadena. In 1976, he founded the Professional Disc Golf Association. Twenty-five years after Headrick founded the association, disc golf has grown in popularity.

“Today there are almost 800 disc golf courses in the United States, with more than 2,000,000 players, and more than 10,000 professional members,” proclaims the association’s official Web site.

There’s even a disc-golf club here in Humboldt County called Par Infinity, which consists of a consortium of free spirits who gather on the weekends to play tournaments at Redwood Park in Arcata, on the Redwood Curtain disc-golf course.

“I think its kind of come and gone in popularity, and right now it’s at an all-time high,” said Jason Korich, an employee at Humboldt Glassblowers in Arcata and member of Par Infinity.

“The younger generations are looking for different sports than in the old days,” said Jack Merril, an employee of Sun Valley Floral Farms in Arcata and member of Par Infinity. “It seems that with all the extreme sports, kids today are playing more individual rather than team sports. Like many of the extreme sports, disc golf allows you to join your buddies or play it alone.”

The game is modeled after traditional golf in that players shoot for birdies and pars while keeping track of their scores on a small card. But unlike golf, the players don’t have to invest hundreds of dollars to stay competitive. For a relatively inexpensive price — discs range from $8 to $15 each — a person can get started playing the game.

A characteristic of disc golf that attracts new players is the natural settings of the courses.

“Most disc-golf courses are built around an existing ball-golf courses,” said Par Infinity member Jon Oblisky.

Parks are also prime real estate for the sport because they provide the open spaces needed to set up courses.

“I work 45 hours a week at Stanton’s (restaurant), so I just like to get out. It’s kind of like my release,” said disk-golf player Steve Cox.

The sport can also be extremely challenging when played in a forest setting such as at the Redwood Curtain. Players throw discs out of ferns, around towering trees, over a pond and on top of stumps — while constantly taking short breaks to search the underbrush for their beloved discs.

Unfortunately, disc golfers in Humboldt County have no place to call home permanently. According to Korich, three different groups own the piece of property on which the Redwood Curtain course exists: the City of Arcata, HSU’s Redwood Science Lab and the McDowell family. This prevents Par Infinity from setting up baskets on all 19 holes of the course and having the autonomy to care for the land.

“The biggest change I’ve seen locally are the crowds,” Merril said. “When I first started playing, you never had to wait for anyone. Now it can get pretty bad. I guess it’s good to see more people play. But I must admit, I miss an empty forest.”

The club is currently looking for a piece of property where they can install baskets and play on a legitimate course, without trampling any vegetation.

“We’re trying to get a course on public land, maybe just nine holes, but something to call our own,” Oblisky said.