According to Wikipedia, as of February 2020, the United States was home to 6,652 known disc golf courses – including 130 in New York -- on the official Professional Disc Golf Association course directory.
And more and more are on the way, says Batavia resident Phillip Boyd, who is hoping to persuade City Council to let him and other enthusiasts of the outdoor sport set up a course on a city park.
“Bergen has one and Pembroke has one. There are so many parks in the (Batavia) area where you could fit a nine-hole course,” Boyd said Monday night as he presented his idea at Council’s Conference Meeting at City Hall, “The popularity of the sport is on a huge rise. COVID might have destroyed a lot of things, but it made the popularity of disc golf insane.”
Boyd, 27, (photo above), played soccer, hockey and lacrosse while attending Batavia High School. He said he became hooked on disc golf about three years ago, but wished he would have started much earlier.
“But since then, I’ve fallen in love with the sport. Last year, I put over 100 rounds in just the summer alone. It’s just a great sport,” he said, adding that the walk through the course provides decent exercise.
A former regular golfer, Boyd said disc golf is a “cheaper way to do the same thing.”
He advised Council members that he and his friends could get a course up and running in about three weeks and it wouldn’t cost the city anything.
“At pretty much all of the courses, they go out to different restaurants or stuff to sponsor a hole. They (businesses) will pay the money for the actual basket … and then the people that want to do it will put it in,” he said. “So, pretty much I just need permission at whatever park is possible to install everything – the tee pads and the baskets.”
Boyd said Centennial Park would be the preferred location, noting there is room there for an 18-hole course but he would be satisfied with a nine-hole course.
“A nine-hole would be easier – not as in the way for people walking their dogs,” he said.
He explained that players toss a Frisbee-like disc from the tee area toward the basket (hole), which has chains on it.
“The object is to throw the disc into the chains and have it (disc) fall into the basket. That’s how you make the hole,” he said.
Scoring is similar to regular golf – the least number of throws, the better.
Boyd said that Buffalo and Rochester are putting up several new courses this year.
“They’re going up everywhere.”
City Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr. suggested that Boyd work with City Manager Rachael Tabelski on the details and that she could report back to Council.
“Maybe that would be something we could consider,” Jankowski said. “I think it is a great idea – present it … and we’ll go from there.”
Boyd said his hope is that the course would be a permanent part of the selected park and offered as another benefit to residents.
The basket with chains serves as a typical "hole" for disc golf.
