Do you know where to find Goucher’s Frisbee Golf course on campus? Did you know that Goucher actually has a Frisbee Golf course? Do you know what Frisbee Golf is?
Frisbee golf (officially called disc golf) is a sport that combines the core premise and scoring system of golf with the use of specialized frisbees and frisbee golf baskets as opposed to golf balls and holes in the ground. The goal of disc golf is to throw the frisbee into the frisbee golf basket, called a hole, in as few throws as possible while navigating the terrain of the course. Following the first hole, players throw from the tee box based on score, with the lowest scorer going first, just like golf. Official disc golf courses range from 200 to 400 ft. long and often include many obstacles such as trees, foliage, and elevation changes. However, the most important thing players must consider for every throw in frisbee golf is the wind current. The strength of the breeze (or lack thereof) is pivotal to the destination of each disc thrown, forcing players to adjust their throws accordingly. To start each “hole” in disc golf, players throw their discs off of concrete slabs known as tee boxes that also provide the hole number, the direction of the disc golf basket, and distance to the target disc golf basket from the tee box.
The disc golf baskets have chains that allow them to catch discs thrown at them and are usually painted bright colors to make them more visible to players. In order to complete a hole, discs have to land either in the basket or on the chains. The disc golf frisbees themselves are smaller than conventional frisbees to allow longer and more accurate throws. Discs come in many different shapes to allow for various types of short to long range shots. Putter discs are meant for slow, accurate, and controlled shots at a close range, usually when attempting to score in the disc golf basket. Mid-range discs have slightly sharper edges at the bottom of the disc compared to putter discs and are meant for faster and longer distance shots at the cost of decreased accuracy. Driver discs have the sharpest angles at their bottoms and are meant for the fastest and longest distance throws at the cost of accuracy. Drivers are often used to tee off at the beginning of each hole. However, owning a wide collection of different type discs isn’t essential to the sport, and you can easily play a course only using a single disc per person.
Goucher’s disc golf course can be found in the woods behind Van Meter Hall, with the tee box for the first hole located by the tennis courts. Disc golf may sound intimidating to newcomers with so many rules and technicalities, but the reality is that if you can toss a frisbee, you’re ready to play. So grab some discs, a couple friends, and play some frisbee golf right here in the woods of Goucher! To see a map of the 9 hole course here at Goucher and get more specifics on the course, check out https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=1321&mode=lf.
