The History of Disc Golf, and other stuff.

So you want to know all about Disc Golf...

Brief History of Disc Golf

"Steady” Ed Headrick #001 is considered the Father of Disc Golf. Of his dozens of patented inventions, two of them hold infinite importance to our sport. The first was the Frisbee (U.S. Patent #3359678) in 1966 as an employee at Wham-O. The second was the basis of all disc golf targets today, the Disc Golf Pole Hole (U.S. Patent #4039189) in 1975.

The concept of disc golf itself however has a long and blurry history. Even a question as simple as “Who first played disc golf?” has no clear and concise answer. In his Brief History of Disc Golf on PDGA.com, Disc Golf Hall of Fame member Jim Palmeri #23 responds to that question as follows:

“Sorry, but this turns out to be impossible to answer. There are many historical accounts of people playing golf with a flying disc, some of which pre-date the advent of the plastic flying discs by many years. Each account was an isolated instance of recreational disc golf play, and none of the participants knew of anyone else playing disc golf. Indeed, most of these instances were isolated not only geographically, but also isolated in time, so they couldn't have known about each other.”

NOTE: A # after a persons name, signifies their PDGA number.

Where can I play Disc Golf?

All courses around Australia.

Disc Golf Clubs you can join in Western Australia

Perth Disc Golf Club

Mundaring Disc Golf Club

Sunset Coast Disc Golf Club

Disc Golf Jargon

RHBH Right Hand Backhand Throw – All flight descriptions are based on players throwing right-handed with a back hand style.

LHBH Left Hand Backhand Throw – Reverse the RHBH flight path.

RHFH Right Hand Forehand Throw – Reverse the RHBH flight path.

LHFH Left Hand Forehand Throw – Same flight path as a RHBH throw.

Stable - The tendency of a disc to remain straight through most of the flight. Often times a desirable characteristic of a disc in windy situations.

Understable/Turnover - The tendency of a disc to turn to the right during the high speed portion of the flight for a RHBH thrower. The faster the disc is thrown, the more it will turn, therefore an understable disc will turnover more upwind than downwind.

Overstable - The tendency of a disc to turn to the left at high or low speeds for a RHBH thrower. Overstable discs are usually thrown by high power players and are not good for beginners.