Disc Golfers Throw In the Fastest Growing Lifetime Sport.
By J. Gary Dropcho, Course Superintendent, Pittsburgh Flying Disc Society
While the Frisbee, the ubiquitous flying disc trademarked by the Wham-O corporation,
turned 60 in January 2017, the sport of disc golf has been growing exponentially since its formal beginning with
Ed Headrick’s patent of the “Pole Hole” disc golf basket in 1976.
Today, the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA), the sanctioning body of the sport dedicated to the promotion and sustainable growth of disc golf, continues to grow at more than 15% for the last 10 years,
doubling the number of members and sanctioned events in the United States and around the globe in the past five years.
According to
The Disc Golfer, the PDGA’s official publication, 40,000 active members and member number #100,000 will be surpassed in 2017, 3,600 tournaments will be sanctioned, and PDGA Europe will open its office in the Netherlands.
The spring season of leagues and tournaments now beckons players ages 16-60 like the sun glinting off the metal disc golf baskets that are the target or “hole” that these disc athletes try to fly their shots into.
The first local event of the year, The Throwdown Hoedown and Disc Golf Symposium, brought together over 100 disc golfers from regional clubs in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and West Virginia.
The first 2017 PDGA-sanctioned tournament in the region, the Shamrock Showdown, teed off on Saturday March 18 at Knob Hill Park in Wexford, PA. The tournament is sponsored by PFDS and is being run by Seneca Valley High School student, Jacob Johnston, who has been playing disc golf avidly for three years.
The Shamrock Showdown has Novice, Recreational, Intermediate and Advanced amateur divisions and will be contested on Knob Hill Disc Golf Course, one of the courses played by 400 of the best professional men and women disc golfers in the 2015 PDGA Pro Disc Golf World Championships.
PFDS, along with Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau and VisitPittsburgh won the bid to host the 2015 Pro Worlds, and put on, according to the PDGA, “one of the best professional world championships ever.” Pittsburgh-area players can play those same courses at Deer Lakes Park, Moraine State Park and Slippery Rock University year round, with no tee times or greens fees. All that is required is a golf disc, (available at Scholl’s Bicycle Center, Playthings Etc, or your local sporting good store) for around $12.
Click here for more information for our championship level disc golf courses.
Cranberry Highlands Golf Pros Honored
Two of Cranberry Highlands golf professionals were recently honored by their PGA peers. PGA-certified Class A Teaching Professional Jody Barrett, who is responsible for the entire slate of instructional programs offered by the Township’s award-winning golf course, was named 2017 Teacher of the Year by the association’s Tri-State Section.
Barrett’s teaching ranges from private lessons for individual golfers at every level of experience to group lessons and clinics held throughout June and July. 2017 marks Barrett’s 24th anniversary as a golf professional and his tenth with Cranberry Highlands.
Shawn McCall, who was certified as a PGA Class A golf professional last year, was named Apprentice Player of the Year by the Tri-State PGA at the association’s annual meeting at Montour Heights Country Club in Coraopolis. His selection was based on points accumulated over the year by outplaying every other apprentice in the section. McCall has worked at Cranberry Highlands as Assistant Pro since 2010
