What is Disc Golf?

Disc golf is closely related to ball golf, including the major elements of ball golf, with the only primary difference being we throw a frisbee-like disc in place of hitting a ball.

Just like ball golf, we have a fixed starting place – the ‘tee’ for each hole and somewhere to finish – in our case, the disc must land in a metal ‘basket’.  The intention of course, is to get from tee to basket in as few throws as possible. Holes may vary in length from 40m to over 300m with pars between 3 and 5 depending on length and other difficulties.

Disc golf is played in parks and wooded areas with trees and other objects deliberately included to add ‘puzzles’ to the run of play – “how do I get around that big tree?” or “I need to throw very straight down that line of trees,” or even, “the ground around the basket has a steep slope, I need to make sure my disc doesn’t roll away.” Obviously ‘beginner’ courses have fewer puzzles and the level of difficulty increases as players become more proficient.

Disc golf is a sport that can be enjoyed by anyone aged from 5 to 95! You can make it as intense or as leisurely as you wish. The basics of the sport are very easy to learn but just like any sport, reaching the pinnacle takes time, skill and dedication. In addition, the sport can easily be adapted for those who are less mobile or are disabled in other ways.

In most places in Australia, disc golf is free to play – courses are set up in many public parks around the country, however there are a few private courses (often on existing golf courses) where a playing fee is required. In addition, many local councils have loan discs for anyone to borrow.

Further, players keen for a game but not close to a course may agree on target locations in any local park and play to those.

Remember, other park users always have right-of-way – we never want to cause any kind of ‘collision!’

A list of all current Australian Disc Golf courses is available here.

Disc Golf is a low-impact sport that combines open air, walking and a degree of upper-body exercise. Players are able to make this as gentle or as strenuous as they wish. The risk of injury is very low, and the activity can be very social.

As people improve, they learn more technical aspects of play and their concentration levels increase as they focus on the subtleties of play. Further, as they improve, people can easily become hooked on the game and will find themselves playing more and more.

New players need only a single disc, which can be purchased for around $20 – there are numerous on-line stores in Australia including the Melbourne Disc Golf Club store which boasts a large range of discs and accessories including starter packs.  Discs may also be purchased from our ”Pro Shop’ at events and social disc golf days.  Of course with increased skill, more discs will find their way into the players bag.

Want to learn disc golf?  Melbourne disc golf hosts regular clinics.  Coaching is also available for small groups and individuals.

Melbourne Disc Golf Club welcomes new and interested players to any of our social disc golf days where we allocate time before each round to introduce new players to the sport.

There are also a host of fantastic videos available on YouTube for those wanting to learn more about this amazing, inclusive sport.