Friends, competition, and beer. Combine these three elements and you are bound to have a good time. Enter the putting league. Old friends and new friends come together in friendly confines for some good old-fashioned competition. So hang loose, make some new friends, and put that putter in the basket. Let’s delve into the dynamics of putting leagues and shed some light on how you can get involved.
What’s the deal with not being able to play disc golf whenever you want to?! Maybe it’s the weather or your job or a newborn baby. Whatever the reason, sometimes you can’t make it to the course. Luckily, the course can come to you. Disc Golf Valley is a video game that became hugely popular during the pandemic. If you haven’t heard of this game take a peek around, visit the links, and enjoy the journey. If you have heard of the game you will enjoy learning more about the game’s roots and further ways you can engage in DGV.
Every off-season the PDGA listens to its members and tweaks certain rules. This off-season the PDGA implemented bigger than usual changes to their official rules. Many of these are minor tweaks but there are a few that will certainly show up in your competitive rounds. As a result, I have taken the most impactful rules changes and broken them down for you in this article.
With disc golf becoming more mainstream and receiving more media attention, sponsors are fighting to sign top athletes so they can capitalize on marketing opportunities with popular players. Even non-disc golf manufacturers like Infinite Discs are signing top players like Drew Gibson for a lifetime deal worth millions. However, some disc golf sponsors are choosing to endorse smaller players in hopes to create a strong community of dedicated players early in their careers in order to benefit both the company and the player.
Disc golf is a sport that has largely been played recreationally by collegiates throughout the years. This all changed in 2007 when Pete May and a group he assembled organized a governing body to introduce competitive disc golf to the college ranks. Combining individual play with team play and the nostalgia and pride of our favorite colleges cooks up a tasty stew of disc golf goodness! Let’s take a step back in time to find out where it all began.
Hyzer, anhyzer, thumber, and grenade. Overstable, understable, turn, and fade. Just getting into disc golf, I remember all of this sounding like a foreign language. Sitting in front of the used bin at my local store, I found myself constantly looking up terms and reading full articles describing all the jargon known only to those who huck the disc. Here’s my best attempt to compile and sort all the simple need-to-knows and some of the more…local jargon that you may have never heard before.
From its initial creation in the 1970s, disc golf has grown exponentially. From the invention of the Disc Golf Pole Hole in 1975 to the development of the PDGA in 1976 — both of these feats were accomplished by “Steady” Ed Headrick. The 1970s also saw the creation of the first disc golf-specific frisbees, the first official disc golf course, and the first official disc golf company all within the first decade of its existence. But, what happened to disc golf and its creator, “Steady” Ed Headrick, since its initial creation in the 1970s? And where is disc golf heading in the future?
I was one of the many people who found disc golf at a strange time in their life. When the pandemic was in full swing in 2020, I was looking for anything to do. Around the time I was beginning to feel somewhat hopeless about the whole situation at hand, my friend brought me disc golf. “Where you throw frisbees at the basket, right?” The very same. At the time, I couldn’t have imagined what it would mean to me, and soon this beautiful sport would grow to be much more than an activity to get through COVID. Here is why I am thankful for disc golf.
The professional side of disc golf had a massive shake-up occur on September 28, 2021. The PDGA and DGPT announced a partnership to form the official pro tour of the PDGA. The PDGA will still manage 5 tournaments throughout the season but will play a supportive role for the rest of the tour while the DGPT takes the reins. This also means that the DGPT will have more creative freedom and resources to pour into the professional tour. Let’s take a step back and learn how the DGPT arrived in this position.
If you want to play disc golf you can get a three disc starter pack for $40. This is ample for players to have fun on the course and throw a variety of shots. But if you really want to get into the sport and buy discs you probably will never throw, you can pay dozens, hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a single disc. Welcome to the disc golf collector’s market. To understand this market we must first get into the minds of the collectors.
