The Beginner's Guide To Playing Disc Golf

Disc golf  is a great recreational sport for all physical skill ranges. Why cover it in a personal finance blog? Disc golf is not only very fun, but it is also extremely economical, with full startup and continuous costs of less than $50 (depending on where you play). That's what you pay for a round of golf and cart!

What exactly is disc golf? Well, let's cover which disc is not golf. Frisbee golf! The flying discs are light flying saucers with which you play catch. If you play catch with a disc and hit hard enough, it could break something. Now that I've covered that little favorite motive, let's move on.

How Do You Play Disc Golf?

Disc golf is a game of golf with hard plastic discs. Instead of golf balls, use discs. Instead of putting the ball in the cup, the goal is to throw the disc into a metal basket. You start on a concrete platform and throw towards the target of the basket until you place your disc in the basket. 

Similarities Between Golf And Disc Golf

Score: Each hole has an even number to hit. 'Shots' are equivalent to 'hits' in golf. If you have 5 pitches in a par 3 hole, you have won 2 over par for that hole.

The difficulty levels: Like golf, many golf courses have 2 or 3 sets of shirts for different skill levels.

The course: Disc golf courses are not too different from regular golf courses. The courses are typically 9 or 18 holes. There are fairways, tree hazards, water hazards, and if you're lucky, dashboards. Are no dashboards available? Simply play as if all holes were par 3 or 4 (depending on your skill level).

The equipment: On the surface, there does not seem to be many similarities between a plastic disc and golf clubs and balls. You may be pleased to discover that there are actually different types of discs for different types of disc golf releases. There are drivers, midrange, dump discs, and even putters!

Differences Between Golf And Disc Golf

Hole length: Golf tends to have much longer distances from tee to hole than disc golf. An average golf hole tends to be 300 to 400 yards long, while a disc golf hole is usually around 300 feet on average.

Range of danger: While water, tracks and streets for another wait tend to result in 1-stroke penalties in traditional golf, this is not always the case in disc golf. Some courses define specific lines out of bounds, but many do not.

A number of players: Golf is rarely played with more than 4 people who play together. There are no rules against the fact that more than 4 players play together on a golf disc, but if you are holding anyone who is playing behind you, it is considered to let them play.

The best things about this are the low barrier to entry. Disc golf is cheap. Very cheap. Most disc golf courses are free. Some parks charge an entrance fee, but golf itself is often free. The equipment is cheap too. Beginners can easily get away with buying three different albums.

Midrange: Midrange discs are made to be straight and stable flyers. They tend to be a little heavier and thicker than drivers. Actually, if you want to get away with only two discs, you probably don't need a mid-range disc. Discraft Buzz has a very nice thing as a great mid-range disc for all skill levels:

Putters are the heaviest and thickest discs and are designed to take hits when hitting metal baskets. 

The Discraft Magnet is like a solid disc golf putter on it. It is also worth noting the different types of disk stability:

• A disk that is too stable will increase the natural fading of the disk. Very overstable discs are not usually recommended for beginners.
• A disk that is unstable will go against the natural fading of the disk. These discs are generally recommended for beginner players.

Disk weight is important too. Disks generally weigh between 150 and 180 grams. Beginners should start with a medium to lightweight discs, while professionals tend to use heavier discs.

As noted earlier, Discraft and Innova are two major golf disc manufacturers. Both make excellent albums that I would recommend for everyone. The discs tend to range between $10 and $15 in price. As you need very few discs to play, I recommend avoiding the cheapest discs, which are usually made of a smooth and harder plastic. High-end discs tend to provide more grip and durability. Both manufacturers offer product catalogs, details on all their records, distributor locators and instructional videos on their sites: 

Let's not forget the golf goal of the disc. It is a metal pole with a basket that surrounds it, usually about 2 feet off the ground. The chains hang from the top of the pole over the basket to "catch" your putter while it is thrown at the target so that it can fall into the basket. Once there is a disk in the basket, you have completed the hole.