New to Disc Golf

What Is Disc Golf

The game, in five minutes — how it works and why it is fun.

Why it matters

Disc golf is the rare sport you can play properly on your first afternoon. Most courses are free, a starter set costs less than a round of ball golf, and nothing about the game needs a lesson before you can enjoy it. What it does reward, immediately and for years, is accuracy and putting rather than raw power — which is why a 70-year-old regularly beats a 25-year-old who throws further.

How to do it

You throw from a tee pad toward a basket, and every throw counts. The lowest total across the course wins.
Wherever your disc comes to rest is where you throw from next. You mark that spot and throw again.
The hole is finished when the disc comes to rest supported by the chains or sitting in the tray. Hitting the pole or the outside of the basket does not count.
Most holes are par 3, meaning a drive, an approach and a putt. A course is usually 9 or 18 holes.
Three discs cover the whole game: a putter for close in, a midrange for most shots, and a slower driver for distance.

Common mistakes

Assuming you need a bag of twenty discs before you can play.Three is genuinely enough for your first year, and fewer discs makes you better faster because you learn what each one does.

Thinking the game is about throwing far.Rounds are decided inside 100 feet. Distance is the part that looks impressive and the part that matters least.

Buying a fast distance driver first because the name sounds like the one you want.A fast disc needs arm speed you have not built yet and will dive hard left of where you aimed. Start slow and work up.

Key points

Throw from a tee to a basket in the fewest throws.
All you need to start is a putter, a mid and a fairway driver.

The drill

Drill · Nine holes, three discs — 9 holes with exactly 3 discs, counting every throw. Take a putter, a midrange and one driver, and play nine holes counting honestly — penalties included. The number you write down is not meant to be good. It is your baseline, and beating it a month later is the most motivating thing in the sport.

Watch: Disc Golf For Beginners | How To Start | — Rippin Discs