Taking up golf sounds like an expensive hobby to start, but not when the holes come with chains, and you play with flying discs rather than clubs and balls. Though disc golf has been a popular sport for years, I’ve not tried to play it until recently.
While I’ve tossed friend’s discs towards disc golf baskets before, I’d never played a scored game until my friend and bandmate, Alex Ortberg, took me out to show me the chains. We played the short nine-hole course in Rochester’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park on a recent Monday afternoon.
The MLK Park course is perfect for beginners. It is rated as an easy to moderate course and lacks some of the features like running water or heavy woods that might make it easy to lose discs.
One of the great things about disc golf is it is virtually a free sport. The only equipment required is discs. While serious disc golfers might carry many different types of discs with different features, a beginning player can usually start with just three — a driver, a midrange disc and a putter. Other equipment, like a disc cart or carrying bag, is nice but not required.
Disc golf was invented by Ed Headrick around 1976 when he established the Disc Golf Association. His interest in creating the sport stemmed from his time working as a toy designer for Wham-O where he patented the Frisbee design. Over his lifetime, Headrick worked tirelessly to improve and promote the sport of disc golf.
John Sievers, left, and Alex Ortberg hit the chained links at Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Rochester on Sept. 22, 2025, for some disc golfing.
Contributed / John Sievers
I went to Rochester’s
Sports Headquarters
(1201 Broadway Ave. S, 507-282-3424), to get myself equipped with discs before Alex and I played our round. The store had a variety of three-disc starter packs that ranged in price from $39 to $44. Sports Headquarters also had a selection of used discs.
Since I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy the game, I kept my investment low and searched through their selection of used discs settling on just two red Innova discs, a Dragon driver and an Aviar putter. I was really tempted to get a putter that was decorated with donuts, but preferred the sweet flavor of a good deal. In all, I was able to buy the required discs for a game of disc golf for about $16. The MLK Park course, like most disc golf courses, is open to the public in a city park without any charge to play.
Disc golf works much like regular golf. Players strive to get their disc into a target called a basket that consists of a metal basket mounted on a pole about waist high that includes chains hanging down to help catch a thrown disc. Players throw their discs from tee pads that consist of a short stretch, usually made from concrete or blacktop, that marks the bounds of where their feet can be for a legal throw. The goal is to complete the course with the fewest throws.
Alex showed me an app to help keep score called UDisc. The app also provides maps detailing where each basket and tee pad are located on the course. Another nice feature of the app is it lists all the disc golf courses within a set radius. The app showed me about eight courses in Rochester including courses at Rochester Community and Technical College and an 18-hole course at Gamehaven Park.
The MLK Park course Alex and I played was established in 1996. It is a nine-hole course that is on relatively flat ground with virtually no underbrush. It has two tee options for each hole with shorter tees marked in white and longer tees marked in red. Alex and I decided to get me started in my first scored game gently with the short tees. The par for the short course is 28, and players walk about .8 of a mile and throw for about 3,075 feet.
On the first basket, I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get my putting disc into the target with three shots, making par. Most of the baskets, including the first, was a par-3 hole. Hole five was probably my favorite, a par-4 that included a slight hill as well as several trees between the tee pad and the basket.
My initial drive looked promising until it hit a tree squarely and dropped short. I ended up shooting a bogey, 1 over par with a score of 5.
John Sievers aims for the “hole” while disc golfing at Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Rochester on Sept. 22, 2025.
Contributed / John Sievers
Alex helped show me how to keep my disc level when I threw and how the disc would break to the left on its descent when I used a backhand throw or right on its descent on a forehand throw. That descending curve helped navigate around trees and other obstacles.
Each disc is marked with a set of four numbers that describe its throwing properties for speed, glide, turn, and fade. For instance, my driver had a speed of 8, a glide of 5, a turn of -2, and a fade of 2. While Alex tried to explain these to me, I’m still figuring this out. One idea I picked up was that more negative numbers on the turn designation are better for beginners.
After playing with Alex, which took about 40 minutes to complete the nine short holes at MLK Park, I went to the near-by nine-hole disc golf course at Slatterly Park to practice on my own a bit. The Slatterly course is spread out along the banks of Bear Creek, which makes a really pleasant backdrop for the course. Hole nine even has its long tee throwing over the creek. I was glad I had started at the MLK course since it offered fewer places to lose discs.
At the end of our match at MLK, Alex easily beat my novice throwing, but I was able to score a 32, just 4 over par. In the process, we had a great time walking around enjoying the park, which included some stunning oak trees, a few rumblings of fall color, and a cool mural painted by local artist Cassandra Buck depicting the MLK community garden. Though I still have what disc golfers call a “noodle arm” and don’t yet understand all the disc golfing terms like “hyzer,” I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and hope to play more disc golf soon since it offers an inexpensive way to socialize and enjoy nature.
Taking a shot down the fairway, John Sievers plays a round of disc golf at Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Rochester on Sept. 22, 2025.
Contributed / John Sievers
Alex Ortberg tees off while playing a round of disc golf at Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Rochester on Sept. 22, 2025.
Contributed / John Sievers
If you are looking for a disc golf course suitable for beginners, try playing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park course located at 1738 E Center St. or the Slatterly Park course at 950 11th Ave SE. Gamehaven Park is located at 1300 50th St. SE.
The UDsic app to help you locate disc golf courses, find course layouts and keep score can be found at
udisc.com
.