In the world of sports, it is easy to find oneself immersed in an ocean of knowledge. So many different types of sports, each with their own way of being played.
With so many ways of competition existing, it is natural for people to have different ideas of how to go about competing. If you’re lucky, you’ll figure out the rules of a sport with passing time or the help of a generous and patient friend. Others have only the “Uncle Rico’s” to share knowledge of the game.
One sport that continues to grow, and yet may not be understood by everybody, is disc golf. Sure, it’s easy to say that you throw frisbees into a basket, but is that really all that goes into playing the sport?
For the sports lovers who are curious to know what really goes into playing a round of disc golf, we’ve got you covered. We went out and walked the course with Ryan Bain from the disc golf team at BYU.
Hole 1
“This [first throw] actually is probably a forehand but I want to throw a backhand here,” said Bain. “Let’s throw one more, this [disc] got ran over by a car in Vegas, so I want to see if it still flies good.”
Both shots from the tee box played up the hill perfectly and landed near the basket.
“They [the thrown discs] were both putters. The white one’s a little more beat in, meaning it flips more. The more a disc gets thrown, hits the ground, the more plastic comes off it. The lighter weight it’s gonna be, the more it’s going to flip over to the right on backhand.”
“These [discs in bag] are both pigs… they’re gonna be a more stable approach disc putter, stable meaning they’re going to go left. These [other discs] are magnets… they’re the opposite, they’re going to want to go to the right. So that’s why, because the shot shape was uphill left to right… that’s why I chose that disc because it’s going to be a little more flippy.”
He then sat his bag down on the rocky path to retrieve a putter. The putt into the basket was all too easy for him, and the round started with a birdie on the par three hole.
Hole 2
“Putters, if you can throw them, are always better to throw because they land soft. They don’t skip, if you’re accurate and have a decent enough arm speed you can throw them. Probably if I was a beginner or playing for the first time I would have thrown a driver because my putter wouldn’t have got there. Once you have an arm speed high enough, you can start throwing putters unless it’s too much distance.
We walked through the trees along the rocky mountain path to the next tee. The second basket sat far off in the distance.
“See like this [second hole] is one where the distance, it’s probably like a putter shot but it’s so uphill that it’s going to play a lot farther, meaning probably throw a mid-range here.”
“I could probably still throw a putter here … it’s almost the same shot as the last hole. It’s kind of, like, throw it out in the middle, let the disc flip and get to the right.”
Bain took his time planning the trajectory of his shot in silence before stepping up in the box and letting the disc fly.
“So that [throw from tee] was a little too straight, actually a little too long, so putter was the right disc there because anything faster would have gone too fast. But, still a putt.”
We found the disc, unfortunately it was resting at the base of a large bush, completely blocking the straight shot to the basket.
“Putting in disc golf is a lot easier than golf. But this is tough, there’ s not really a very good option here to putt it. Basically, you just have to have one foot behind the lie, behind some part of the disc.”
Bain started snapping branches off the bush to give himself an easier shot.
“This is tournament illegal but I’m gonna do it for now because we’re playing a practice round, definitely cannot do this in a tournament.”
Even with the cleared branches, the putt landed just short of the basket. Easy tap in for par.
“If we can get half birdies and half par’s, pretty solid round. Especially because I haven’t played this course. Anytime I’m playing a course blind or for the first time in a long time, I’ll take anything under par. If you just show up to a tournament, play a course for the first time and you don’t know where the pins are or the type of shot you need to get it there, you’re cooked.”
Hole 3
We walked back down the hill to the next tee. The blue sky gave beautiful contrast to the colorful trees on the mountainside as they swayed in the cool breeze.
“Sometimes with the wind and stuff you might have to change discs mid-tournament, but ideally you already know what you’re throwing before you step up to the shot. Basically the goal is to do as little thinking as possible during the tournament round to keep your stress down. Because if you’re thinking all the time having to make all these different decisions, it’s going to be harder to score.”
Reaching the tee, Bain sets down his disc bag and looks to the ridge above us. The third basket is hidden behind a dense pocket of trees.
“So what I’m thinking, dang this is tough. What I’m thinking here is going over all the trees, trying to spike something in there. Just because the straight shot right here isn’t going to get me very close.”
“So if I can avoid these power lines … I’m going to aim at the power lines but not actually hit them. Go right over the trees and hopefully it…”
Bain lets the disc fly mid sentence. Ironically, he lands a direct hit on the powerline.
“Dang it. That’s the type of shot, if it’s super windy, it’s a little more risky to throw. You’re exposing the disc into the air chucking it up there, letting the wind kind of take control of it but today it’s not very windy.”
After spending a good five minutes trudging through the brush, we eventually find the disc. The following shot was not easy, the first had hardly cleared the trees.
“So there’s a couple options here,” said Bain. “I can try to loft a putt up, but that might be tough. The other option would just be to pitch something around the corner. And this is when in a practice round you would try both and see.”
Bain threw both forementioned shot selections. Despite the obstacles, both impressively landed in the shade of the basket. Easy tap in for par.
Hole 4
After walking through the trees and into the clearing, we see the tee point towards where the basket theoretically should be sitting. There is no basket in sight, only a small hill to climb.
“Wow, this is a really tough shot, because you’ve kind of got this gap to hit. You want it to flip this way and then come back at the end… I’ll try to start it out on this left side, flip it over, and then just get it to carry straight.”
Bain dug his feet into the ground, putting as much power as possible into the 3-step approach before hurling the disc into the skyline before resting at the top of the ridge.
“What I would take away from that is, I either have to throw that disc harder or a fairway driver. I didn’t quite get over the ridge which is the main objective, kind of takes myself out of putting lane.”
Dropping to the other side of the ridge, we eventually made it to the basket. We couldn’t help but stop and admire the mountainside view of the sunset on the other side of the valley.
Hole 5
The basket for the fifth hole sat only a few feet from a drop-off down the cliffside. Too much power would result in a lost disc.
“So this is the type of putt you don’t want to, like, blast because if it flies past it could still roll down. So I kind of want to be somewhat conservative with this, but still give it a chance.”
The shot was perfectly placed, softly landing in front of the basket.
Hole 6
“Okay so here’s a long one. I could throw a fairway, or even a distance driver here, depending on the line. So I’m gonna throw backhand on an angle, have it go up and then start curving down with either a distance or a fairway.”
With the basket nowhere in sight, Bain has me walk down the path and stand near the basket. Using the sound of my voice as a target, he takes aim and throws the disc down the mountain. The accuracy of the shot was nerve-racking.
Hole 7
After reaching the next tee, we stopped and let our eyes drift up towards the top of the hill in front of us. There at the tippy top was the fuzzy image of a weather-worn basket.
“This one plays uphill so probably plays a lot farther… that is a smash of a shot. This is where it’s a lot more challenging than it would have been if it were a course I’ve already played a lot.”
Two shots to get to the top of the hill and a well thrown putt gave Bain the par.
Hole 8
The eighth hole was no easier of a start. Following the walking path with our eyes, it was clear that the next basket sat below us somewhere behind a clump of bushes and trees.
“It’s [the basket] right behind that clump that looks like broccoli. I don’t know if it’s actually there, but we’ll do that shot because I don’t want to have to run all the way up there.”
The basket was not where we had thought. If it had, Bain might have shot a hole-in-one.
“Yeah I threw it exactly where I wanted to, I thought the basket was right there. A lot of times all it takes is just throwing it one time the wrong way and then you kind of know for the next time.”
Hole 9
The final tee box sat at the top of the hill. Looking around for the last basket we saw only the beautiful scenery. Finally we noticed it, sitting far below us at the base of the hillside. Bain started holding out his arm to picture the angle of the shot.
“I’m going to throw something like this so that it dumps. Just got to get it to drop in…”
He lofted the disc into the air far to the left before the disc started dive bombing on a curve towards the target. The disc landed only feet from the basket.
“ …just like that.”
“One of my strengths, I feel, is once I know what a shot is, I can execute pretty consistently,” said Bain. “One of my weaknesses is playing on the fly. Some people are really good at playing courses blind, and I really need that preparation to know what’s the shot. I’m a little more methodical."
"I feel like if I ever played this course again, I now know the shots, know the lines, know what things to throw. Other than that, it was a good time!"