Disc Golf on Riverpark

Disc Golf, sometimes called Frisbee Golf is growing in popularity. In simple terms it is like regular golf played by throwing a disc instead of hitting a ball with a club. The "hole" is a basket into which the disc is thrown. There are several 18 hole Disc Golf courses in Tulsa's parks. There is a new one at 41st Street in Riverpark. There are always people working their way from hole to hole, usually in groups of 2 or more, and often with a beer cooler as part of the equipment..


Like regular golf the idea is to travel through the course from basket to basket with the fewest throws. Disc golf is inexpensive and is physically accessible for all ages and athletic ranges and therefore attracts a diverse range of players. A great majority of established disc golf courses are free.


The early history of disc golf is closely tied to the somewhat mysterious history of the recreational flying disc (especially as popularized by Wham-O Inc.'s trademarked Frisbees) and may have been invented in the early 1900s, but it is not known for sure. Modern disc golf started in the late 1960s, when it seems to have been invented in many places and by many people independently. Serious players will have a variety of discs for distance, accuracy, and close range "putting".


Two of the best-known figures in the sport are George Sappenfield and "Steady Ed" Headrick who coined the term "Disc Golf" and who introduced the first formal disc golf target with chains and a basket, the Mach 1. He created the first disc golf course at Oak Grove Park in Pasadena, California. In 1975, Headrick formed the first disc golf association, the PDGA, which now officiates the standard rules of play for the sport. The sport has grown at a rate of 12-15 percent annually for more than the past decade, with nearly 3,000 courses in the US and over 3,000 globally. The game is now played in over 40 countries worldwide, primarily in North America, Western Europe, Japan and Australasia. In 2009, approximately one out of every five rounds of golf played in the United States will be disc golf rounds.

(Excerpted from Wikipedia. See the full article HERE.)