How cool would it be to play a round of golf for free, in under 90 minutes, and have the freedom to bring your own beverages and food? Sounds too good to be true, and it is, kind of. I’ll probably get push back for this, but there is a sport called disc golf that, for me, is almost the same as regular golf. Sure, you aren’t swinging a stick and hitting a little ball, but the format and play is essentially the same.
For a below average golfer like me, disc golf leaves me with scores that I can actually brag about. I’m almost always an 18-handicap at disc golf, whereas regular golf can leave me hurting with scores over 100. That being said, disc golf is not easy. There is serious skill involved. You need to be able to throw a disc far and accurately for drives and precisely for putting. Discs have different variables, similar to clubs. They have speed, glide, turn and fade. Not all discs are the same, and you can spend a lot of time figuring out what disc works for your throw.
Like golf, disc golf has seen a huge surge in popularity since the pandemic, with millions of people playing in the US and courses being created at a rapid pace. Many standard golfers are getting into disc golf as well because it does have the same vibe as golf. Montgomery County is blessed with some very nice disc golf courses. Typically, courses are in public areas and maintained by players who volunteer their time and efforts to maintain and improve courses.
My two favorite courses are Sellersville and Fort Washington. Sellersville has been a fan-favorite since 2011. To get to the course, you must cut into a narrow, unmarked driveway that is almost as much of a challenge to find as playing the course. Once at the course, you are greeted with a practice hole, which is great for warming up. The course itself offers a variety of challenges. Some holes are deep into the woods and require accurate drives to avoid trees, while other holes are wide open with nothing but sheer distance as an obstacle.
On an empty day you can get through Sellersville in less than an hour, and it is a lovely 2.3-mile walk along creeks and some ponds. It’s the perfect course to bring a friend who doesn’t play but just wants to hang out. The ability to play with as many or as few people as you like, and to play with those not playing at all is just one of the casual positives of disc golf. Sellersville also offers competitive rounds if you are interested in a challenge and maybe win some money. They have random draw doubles every Monday at 5:30pm and a “Tags” league every Saturday morning at 10am. Tags is sort of a ranking system where players compete to improve their tag standings. I’ve never done it, but it can get pretty serious.
Just as an aside, my friend and I played there back on June 20, 2017, when three rail cars carrying butter derailed right along the edge of the course at hole 12. We were on hole 8 when the accident happened, and they ended up closing the back section of the course for a couple of weeks. Just thought you’d like to know I was this close to witnessing a train derailment firsthand.
On the other side of Montgomery County is Fort Washington Disc Golf Course. This is an example of a disc golf course evolving over time and how volunteers help to make a course great. Ft. Washington was a modest 9-hole course back in 2004 created as an Eagle Scout project. It was not well-kept and a bit of jungle to get through. But in 2017 Ft. Washington went through a major redesign and with it 19 holes, multiple baskets per hole, paver pads and just all-around improvement in every way. Like Sellersville, it is a nice 2.2-mile walk to cover the 18 holes, with some hilly terrain but nothing crazy. Ft. Washington is a wonderful course, well maintained with easy access, and because they have multiple baskets it works for beginners and experts alike.
There is a myth that disc golfers are all a bunch of slacker-stoners. While I like, and know, many a slacker-stoner, that stereotype is just that, a stereotype. I know doctors, lawyers, judges, plumbers, carpenters and even nuclear physicists who are disc golfers. The only stereotype you can give to the disc golf community is that they are friendly, peaceful and enjoy the sport and share their love of it with others. For all you golfers out there who want a break from the frustrations of golfing, I highly recommend a good walk unspoiled at a disc golf course near you.
(The Back Nine is a biweekly op-ed column submitted to North Penn Now, courtesy of Edward Levine. The views expressed are his own and are not representative of North Penn Now or Montgomery County.)
