What is it about Disc Golf that makes people so obsessed with it?

Hi! My name is Roland. I am a 54 year old self-employed carpenter / contractor living just outside of the scenic mountain town of Nelson, in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. I was first introduced to the sport of disc golf in 2002 while living on Salt Spring Island, which is just off the west coast of British Columbia. At the time, Salt Spring had just one course; a short but challenging tonal layout in what was an old campground in a lush cedar forest. I bought a mid-range and a fairway driver from a local novelty store, and I was shown the basics from a friend of mine who played regularly. I enjoyed playing but I didn’t really get “hooked” right away. I ended up moving from the island, and eventually relocating to an area called the Okanagan, which is in the southern interior of BC. By this time I was a father, and busy making ends meet. Fast forward to 2012 ish, and the city of Vernon, BC. got its first Disc golf course, a short 9 hole layout on what used to be a ball golf course. When I first learned about the new course, I dug out my old discs and headed down to give it a go. From that day forward, I made disc golf a part of my life. I really didn’t know what I was doing, but I met a few guys who were really into it, and they showed me how to improve my game. This course had proper baskets, and soon my game was progressing, along with my passion for the sport. 

Progression to Obsession

I learned about another local course just outside of Vernon, called Fallow Ridge. It was built and maintained by Ken Fallow, who designed and built the course on his property. Ken, who is known as “Jimmy” by his friends, hosts a league day once a week, and even has a little pro shop in his garage where he sells a few discs. It was during these years that my passion for disc golf really started to flourish. I even got the courage to play my first casual tournament, where I learned about the pressures of playing competitively.

I will never forget the first Ace that I got. I was getting ready to play a round at lakers disc golf course in Vernon, BC, when I saw my buddy Biff out walking his dog, Gary. I asked Biff if he could join me, but he declined, saying that Gary liked to chase discs. Being a bit cocky, and maybe slightly optimistic, I told Biff that I had not yet gotten and Ace, and I asked his to stick around by the tee pad of hole 1 so that he could be a witness for my first one He laughed and said “let’s see it”. I teed up and threw my Innova Tee bird at the basket. While the disc was still mid flight, I turned around and looked at Biff. From some 180 feet or so behind me, I heard the smash of chains, and the look on Biff’s face said it all. “How the (experlative) did you do that?!” I turned around and my disc was sitting in the basket. 

I have since had another 24 Aces, and each one has brought the same joy and excitement as the first one. I guess you could say that I have about 17 years experience as a disc golfer. My PDGA # is 133460. I now play MP50 in tournaments and I golf at least 5 – 7 days a week. One of the highlights in my disc golf journey was when I went on vacation to Hawaii. I brought 10 discs with me, and on my second day there, I met up with a young man named Moses, who showed me the Oahu disc golf scene. The locals were extremely welcoming and it was an absolute joy to play in the tropical paradise of my dreams. I even got to attend a local tournament and i still throw the Buzz that I got when I signed up. 

Here in Nelson, BC, I am blessed to be part of the local disc golf community. We have several amazing courses which I showcase on my new YouTube channel called “discobsession“. The reason for the name, is because I am keenly aware that disc golf has gone from being simply a sport that I am passionate about to a full blown obsession. I looked up the dictionary definition of obsession, and there are connotations of it being a “disturbing” preoccupation. I did a bit more research and found that a more modern definition of the word describes a state of being “egosyntonically” interested, or fond of a thing.

I think practically speaking, when you lay down at night to sleep, and you keep replaying the flex forehand that carved its way down the fairway and then skipped to within circles edge, where you buried a sick ass putt to nail the birdie; you might just qualify as obsessed. When you go into your local sports store that carries discs, and you come out with new plastic that you really didn’t need (because let’s face it, it’s not really going to help your game), but you just had to have it; you might just be obsessed. When your body is sore from playing two rounds of 18 holes, but your buddy shows up as you’re leaving and you relent to just one more round, you might just be obsessed. When you base your vacation on a google search of disc golf courses in that area, you might just be obsessed. When you click the “notify me” button on the upcoming Disc Golf Pro Tour event on youtube, because you just have to know if Ricky can stay ahead of a surging Gannon attack, you also just might qualify as disc obsessed! And if you have actually taken the time to read this whole article and you found it interesting, you are probably a disc golf nerd like me.

Thank you for being part of my disc golf family!

Be sure to check out my YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/@Discobsession-g5g/

Sincerely;
Roland Peltier