Photo: PDGA Media
Disc golf courses are scattered all over the Southern Appalachians, offering a mix of terrain, from tight technical wooded holes to wide open fairways. Courses range from nine to 18 holes, and hole length varies, but come in about 400 feet on average. Here are three of the best courses in the South.
Winthrop University Lake Front, Rock Hill, S.C. This country-club style course hosts the U.S. Disc Golf Championship every year. The 19-hole course surrounds a lake on a college campus and has fairways as manicured as anything you’ll see in the PGA.
The International Disc Golf Center, Appling, Ga. More than just a sweet course, the IDGC has a museum with the first polehole and disc golf prototypes, a training center, practice putting greens, and three different championship caliber courses.
The Grange, Spotsylvania, Va. This private club ($5 per round) has two manicured courses with a variety of holes. The club hosts night time glow golf, weekend tournaments, and the Grange Open (formerly the Virginia Open) which attracts the pros.
Jason Allind is superintendent of the International Disc Golf Center in Georgia.
What do you look for in a good disc golf course? You’re looking for varying terrain with hills, elevation change, and hazards like water and canyons. Different lengths of holes are nice too.
Are the rules the same in disc golf as traditional golf? It’s the same rules and etiquette as traditional golf. We essentially borrowed everything from the PGA rule book.
Can you actually make money playing disc golf? Most people just play recreationally. Our biggest growth is still in college towns. But there’s a serious tournament side to disc golf as well. We manage 1,300 events across the world, including a national tour with three major championships. It’s even possible to make a living by playing disc golf. Last year, the top money earner on the tour made a little over $46,000 just in tournament prize money.
Do I need a full set of discs to get started? There are three types of discs. Driver, mid-range and putter. You don’t need all of those to play. In fact, I recommend you only buy one disc. Get a single mid-range disc, which serves as a multipurpose disc, and learn how to throw that well before buying more.
Are the mechanics of a disc golf throw the same as throwing a Frisbee? No. The motion is different. It’s more of a full body movement. Throwing a Frisbee is all in the wrist, but in disc golf, some players will include a ‘run up’ and get their whole body into the mechanics.
Start With This
PDGA pros will be dressed in golf shirts, visors, and shoulder bags loaded with a variety of discs. Don’t let that intimidate you. This is the only piece of gear you need to get started. The Aero is Innova’s “straightest” disc. It’s a versatile disc that’s easy to keep on the fairway.
Steven Riley is an active PDGA player who travels all over the east playing tournaments every weekend. He’s also the president of the Blue Ridge Disc Golf Club. We asked him to explain the mechanics of a good disc golf drive.
The more spin you generate, the farther and straighter the disc will travel. It’s about arm speed and form, not power. Bring your arm back level across your chest and keep it level as you whip the disc forward. The key to a long, straight drive is the “snap.” If it’s a good throw, you’ll hear a “snap” when the disc leaves your hand.
Think disc golf isn’t an endurance sport? Check out the Ironman Tournament, which has players knocking out three back-to-back rounds of disc golf in a single day in Virginia. This year, the first round will be played at the Green County Course, and then two more will be played at Walnut Creek, outside of Charlottesville. “It’s a lot of throwing,” says Donald Smith, one of the organizers of the tournament. “By the third round, the Ironmen are indeed separated from the boys.”
2,799
Number of disc golf courses in the U.S. in 2010. Scandinavia has the next highest number of courses at 212
15,451
Professional Disc Golf Association membership in 2010
1,215
Number of PDGA events in 2010
$2,215,967
Total prize purse distributed at those events in 2010
97
Number of courses in North Carolina, the highest concentration in the South
$75,000
Cash purse at the US National Championships, held in Rock Hill, South Carolina every year
