By Debbie Adams
Don Harrison, owner of Don’s Cab-Inns Campground at Explore Park, has discovered a new
favorite way to keep in shape at age 60 – disc golf. He took up the sport about four years ago and
has found it to be a “very fun, and also healthy and inexpensive to play.”
the Disc Golf World Championship in Flagstaff, Ariz. (photos courtesy of Don Harrison)
“This is not a ‘new’ sport, but it has taken off in popularity in the past few years,” Harrison
explains. “Covid was a major factor. That’s how I got started. One of my campers during the start
of Covid was a professional disc golfer and he showed me how to play. I’ve been involved in
sports all my life but had never really heard of disc golf. I’m so glad I got introduced to it,
though.
“What a great sport for any age! I find it especially nice for someone at a more advanced age –
like me,” he jokes. “I played in a tournament with a guy who was 91 and he was very good.
“It’s inexpensive to get started; it’s good, low-impact exercise that gets you outside in the
beautiful outdoors, ‘a hike with a purpose’. You can play it alone or with family or friends and
you can do it competitively.”
Harrison says that despite its tremendous health benefits, “I don’t think a lot of people locally
know about it.”
The history of disc golf is closely tied to the history of Frisbees. The first known instance of
anyone playing golf with a flying disc occurred in Canada in 1926 when a group of school
buddies played a game involving throwing tin plates at targets like trees and fence posts. They
named it “Tin Lid Golf.”
Modern disc golf seems to have popped up simultaneously but independently at many places in
the early 1960s. Students at Rice University were known to hold tournaments with trees as
targets, while players in Georgia would toss Frisbees into 50-gallon barrel trashcans.
Harrison says, “Disc golf is played almost exactly like ‘ball’ golf. You have a tee pad where you
tee off from and a basket, instead of a hole, which you aim for.
“Once you tee off, you throw the disc from where the previous disc landed until you reach the
basket. (The baskets are made of hanging chains above a basket which are designed to catch the
disc so it falls into the basket.”
– not a hole in the ground. (photo courtesy of Eric Lynn)
“You count strokes from tee to basket and after 18 ‘holes,’ the lower your score the better,”
Harrison says.
The discs themselves, while they resemble Frisbees, are usually smaller, flatter, denser, heavier,
aerodynamically designed to fly farther, more flexible, and with a beveled edge.
Harrison notes, “Most all communities have at least one course nearby (Mayflower
Hills Disc Golf Course is just a mile from our campground and is ranked 40th in the world!) and
we are fortunate to have several in our area. They are either free or very inexpensive to play.
“There is also a local disc golf club which sponsors different events you can get involved in. If
you have a little more competitive spirit, there are many tournaments throughout the year to
compete in. Within those tournaments, there are many categories in which you can compete,
anywhere from the very beginner to top notch professionals. There are also age-protected
categories so you can play with people your own age.”
Harrison falls into that “very competitive” group and has played in many tournaments, including
the Disc Golf World Championships in Flagstaff, Ariz., in July of last year where he placed 19th
in his age group category “MA60,” which refers to “Male Amateur 60+ years old.” He has
played at over 115 courses all across the country.
looks and creativity in laying out a disc golf course, depending upon the terrain. This is a course
Harrison played in West Virginia.
The Mayflower Hills course is his favorite, “mainly because it is so close and easy for me to go
to.” “In close proximity to Roanoke, there are Greenfield, Beale's Treasure, Camp Bethel,
Moneta Park, Yonder Holl’r (a private course in Hardy), Waid Park, Ferrum College, and several
in the Bedford and Lynchburg area. This year’s World Professional Championships will be held
in Lynchburg.” There are also courses at Highland Park, Fishburn Park, and Walrond Park.
Mayflower Hills received its 40th place ranking on the list of World’s Best Disc Golf Courses in
2023 and fourth best in the state of Virginia in 2022 from UDisc. The course, located near
Explore Park on Rutrough Road, is open to the public year-round with 105 possible course
alignments, beginner to expert tee boxes, and two baskets on all 18 holes. A $3 per player fee is
requested to cover course upkeep and maintenance.
Harrison says for beginners the easy layout (from red tee to yellow basket) at the Mayflower
Hills course is probably the easiest local course. The toughest is probably also at Mayflower
(blue tee to blue basket).
“If you go to Waid Park in Rocky Mount, though, you will find one of the best and toughest
courses around along with a ‘very special’ true beginner’s course like I would like to see in the
Roanoke area.”
If you want to take up disc golf, Harrison says that while he doesn’t know of any local disc golf
instructors, as such, “most people are willing to help out a ‘newbie’ if they are asked.” The local
Roanoke Disc Golf Club hosts many events, and “if you were to attend, most would be glad to
show you the ropes. There are also many YouTube videos out there so it’s not hard to figure
things out on your own to begin with,” he said.
Disc golf is not a traditional sport; players can develop skills at their own pace. You don’t have
to be concerned about tee off times and score cards. The benefits of the sport are both physical,
mental, and social if you play with others.
Disc golf burns plenty of calories with walking the course; players say there is a great deal of
mental satisfaction when you hear the clink of chains when the disc lands inside the basket.
According to Harrison, “Walking is the main physical benefit of disc golf, although you may
find some muscles you didn’t remember you had after throwing discs for a while until you get
used to it.”
