Photo courtesy of Jarrod Job and the Flickr Creative Commons

Disc golf makes me happy. So much so that a game at Little Mountain, our local course, is always a first stop for guests visiting Vancouver. When we’ve got friends coming into town, my partner and I meet them at the airport, head to Queen Elizabeth Park, crack beers at the first hole and then we all play a round or two. Seriously. It’s the perfect introduction to our awesome city. Here’s why:

1. It’s free! Disc golf was invented in the US in the 1960’s and now there are thousands of courses worldwide. Almost all of them are free and open to the public. That means no green fees or memberships to pay and no fancy equipment to rent or buy. Plus, with three courses in Vancouver, your bike is all you need to get you there.
2. It’s outside! Courses are usually in public parks or green spaces so a round of disc means fresh air, exercise and quality time with nature.
3. It’s social! Disc golf is non-contact, beginner-friendly, talking on the course is A-OK, and disc-golfers are a friendly bunch. Sure, there are rules and etiquette to be mindful of, but I’ve never seen a player freak out at another person on the course for any reason.
4. It’s hard! Getting into disc-golf is easy but becoming good at is really, really hard. Like stick-golf, it takes years of practice to fine tune your long and short games. Without knowing anything about the game, it looks no different than playing Frisbee. Once you start playing though, you’ll quickly learn how difficult it is to get the disc into the basket. Then you’ll notice how amazing some of the other players are. Then you’ll wonder why you never noticed those baskets in amongst the trees before.

Disc golf is tons of fun and the community of disc golfers is tight, robust and interesting. Check it out!