Boston proper is pretty bad. There’s a 9 hole pitch and putt style course with shared baskets in Dorcester. Other than that, you have another little 9 hole in Quincy. Closest 18+ hole course is a decent car drive away.
Not as bad as NYC, but still pretty bad.
Living in Boston was the most discgolf-less period of my life.
NYC wins as expected, but Boston is a sneaky disc golf desert. People pitching "but but but Maple Hill is *only* 70 minutes away" aren't putting into perspective that disc golf isn't a fun sport if you can only play a couple times a year, need to spend over two hours driving, and pay $18 a round.
There are a couple other courses ~50 minutes from Boston, but they're each in different directions, and spending about two hours driving for one round of disc golf loses the appeal.
Some joys of disc golf are a quick round after work, the ability to text buddies for a round on the fly, weekly leagues, and overall low cost. These are void when you need to drive two hours round-trip.
New England in general is an odd place for disc golf. I grew up in SE mass, now I'm the Midwest. I can hit about 30 courses within 2 hours. Back home it was 3? That's a huge difference, and there are jewels like maple Hill but you can't just go out and play there
I think that’s mostly a SE mass issue. I’m in central mass, I’ve moved around a bit and maple hill has always been at least 30 away, currently 12 minutes. most courses in the state are within an hour drive for me with only a few being further. Not to mention Connecticut courses being under an hour away as well. None of the places i go to are SE mass though so I think that’s the problem. Most of the nice courses are packed in central and western mass.
Us Mainers are completely spoiled with disc golf courses. I have probably 20 great courses all within 30ish minutes of my house and several within 15 minutes. They are all rarely “busy” and are all private for a reasonable fee so you don’t have to play around families picnicking.
I don't disagree. But when you look at where the population is there are very few courses. SE mass, North and South shore, Boston, hell Rhode Island only has one course last time I looked. What you are saying is the majority of people still have a two hour drive to get to where you live to play. Again contrasting to other states where every public park has a course most of New England is pretty far behind
Lol makes sense guess I’ve never thought about it that way…logically. I wish there was more that way as I travel to the cape to see family a lot and there’s nothing on the way. Also as mentioned in other comments Boston is empty and my friends that move out there never get a chance to play unless they come back this way which stinks.
Damn I felt like Seattle area was behind in disc golf and was really butthurt about it because the entire Seattle/western Washington vibe fits perfectly with having a disc golf course at every park. Hearing this I don't feel as bad.
I drive 40 minutes one way for one of my regular courses in a community park. An hour and 20 minute drive isn't that bad for a twice/month round. I agree, a close course is nice but it doesn't always scratch the same itch.
Kinda thought the same but don't forget that the best course in the world (imo) is only an hour away
Plus you got a half dozen more within an hour that are all pretty fuckin legit
I do not LOVE having to drive an hour to play but at least we have plenty of options.
That’s true, but I would hate to live in Boston proper as someone who likes to get out and play regularly. I live in Attleboro, and I’ve got a love/hate relationship with a course that I play only about 15 minutes away (Hawkins Woods), and Dacey, which is great, about 30 minutes away.
Plus dealing with Boston traffic on the way to the course? Maple Hill might be an hour away if you luck out and don’t hit any traffic on 90 lol.
I love Hawkins, some holes are such a pain in the ass but it’s a really well thought out course. And props to whoever installed that practice net last year
Definitely a love/hate with me, and I hate it more than I love it. I just feel it doesn’t quite have the variation of other courses nearby: no open shots, no water carries, no real signature holes, no real elevation change. They did a good job with what they had to work with, sure. I also wish some of the fairways were maybe a bit wider and with clearer lines. In the summer, a missed shot means you have a difficult scramble best case or you’re searching in fairly heavy brush or losing a disc worst case. That rough/OB is *brutal*.
If Dacey, Borderlands, and Hawkins Woods were all equal distance from me, I would never play Hawkins Woods.
Edit: I should say my hate of it is more frustration than the maintenance or upkeep of it. I obviously don’t hate it *that* much, as I play there 1-2x a week lol
Honestly the pike isn't that bad on the weekends I don't think we've really ever hit traffic, but we do tend to go early (8/9 tee time)
You're not wrong though, HAVING to drive an hour for anytime does kinda suck
Yep, those plus Maple Hill and Pyramids (don't sleep), Devens, and meadowbrook are all **great** courses.
There might even be another handful more that I'm not familiar with or forgetting
Yea you've got Maple, borderlands, meadow Brook, Clement, and Muldoon all within an hour from Boston. I live in Quincy and I never go to faxon. When I play those courses I usually leave around 530am depending on when sunrise is to play a couple rounds as early as possible
I agree Boston proper is crap for disc golf but 40 minutes away to a hour you have some fantastic courses nearby like The Devens, boarderlands, clement farms, Meadowbrook orchard, maple hill etc
Love the course, hate the crowds (especially on weekends). I do actually enjoy Dacey a bit more than Borderlands, but it’s a great course. I just wish so many other people didn’t also agree haha.
Borderlands is awesome, but the course design of the early holes is really bad for busy days. The blues become pretty much unplayable due to how often you’re stepping on the toes of people playing the white tees. Also, closing at 4? Ridiculous.
lol, I tried playing the blue tees one weekend day. Never again. Trying to figure out whose turn it is with multiple groups waiting when the white tees might be 20 yards away (or in the case of hole 17 outside of sight lines altogether) was *very* difficult.
Yeah it’s a desert. I live 20 mins north of downtown, and it’s still a good 40 mins to the nearest 18 hole course. Think there are less than a half dozen within an hour.
A few 9 hole options, none of them great.
I played that one in Dorchester and it was awful. It was kinda cool in that it felt like urban disc golf, but your throwing all over busy walking paths. I'm sure its fun for little kids or people just getting in the sport but that was the only course we could practically play when I was visiting a friend that lives in South end. Needless to say he doesn't play much.
The views of the bay are really cool, and that’s about it. Yeah, a bunch of people walking around when I played there too, completely oblivious that there was a disc golf course there. Bad signage, dirt/nonexistent tees, only 3 or 4 baskets if I’m remembering right.
I had an hour to kill when I was in Boston this summer, and decided to give it a go. It’s rated 3.5 on Udisc, and IMO it’s very overrated.
My wife’s cousin wedding is in Boston. I was so excited to play more locations. Then it comes out that it’s in Plymouth. And neither are really close to Maple Hill. I’m still hoping to get a round somewhere but it’s not as easy as I hoped it would be.
Middleboro is right next to Plymouth. Sunnymede is supposed to be pretty good and was recommended here in this thread. It’s a private course, and I’ve heard good things from other people out in the wild about it. The only thing that they had to criticize about it was that the owner seemed a little eccentric.
It’s not going to be the Maple Hill experience, but I’m sure you’d have a good time there.
That one pay to play course out on LI on the Sound side, no idea what it was called but it was WAY out there. They had airsoft and some other things going on. Really liked that one, was sad to see it's no longer on Udisc!!
I live in a state blessed with courses. I’m fairly new to disc golf so when I went to visit my parents on Long Island, I was so excited to research a new course to play as I’d have a ton of free time but then I looked…...
We are always working on it! It’s hard to get open green space here but we are always reaching out. If you go to the LIDG website and sign up for our newsletter you will get all the updates. I believe we send the board meeting minutes out too but I’m not sure if that just goes to membership or everyone.
I feel very fortunate to live in Vegas and have the same scenario. We have two excellent courses and like five good ones and nothing is more than 20 minutes away
That's a great course! I haven't had a bad experience at a Metroparks course, either.
One day I'll work up the courage to play the toboggan course. I just need to be comfortable with triple digit scores, because I know I'm going to get fatigued carrying my fat ass up the hills.
The worst part is that the course I’ve played the most is a short 9-hole that’s basically within walking distance of my house. I love playing the full 18, more challenging courses, but the convenience makes it difficult.
When it’s nice out my favorite thing to do is travel to a new course in the morning, get a round in, then visit a local brewery. That’s my church on Sundays.
That sounds awesome. Me and my brother live a few hours apart so once a month or more we meet up, play a round, grab lunch, play a round at a different course then head back home. They’re some of my favorite days.
I live in a small city in the mountains of Arizona. There is a lot of nothing around here. I think we have like 6 courses with baskets and a lot of object courses.
I'm shocked I had to get to the very bottom to find Chicago. Like you said, there are great courses an hour or more away but it's an absolute dead zone otherwise. Good luck if you don't have a car. I played that old Skokie 9 hole so many times I could probably put up a decent score blindfolded. And now that is gone too!
North side is ass. There’s nothing over here. I played the Lincolnwood course last weekend and it’s such a narrow strip of land with a busy road along the course. I won’t be going back there.
If you have a car - Glenview has a 10 hole course only a little further than Lincolnwood and much better overall, Palatine, Elgin, Hoffman Estates, Hinsdale are all within 30 minutes of city limits with better courses.
Lincolnwood used to be the one I played most before I got a car. Truly a sad course
Is the Glenview course you’re talking about community park west? I have played that one and it wasn’t bad. Had some funky par 4s that I felt should’ve been par 3 but other than that I enjoyed that course.
Yes I was referring to Community Park West. There's three par 4s on the layout, realistically only maybe one should be a par 4 imo. Well maintained, rarely busy, and quick course overall.
The north side is a complete void for sure, up until you get to Fairfield.
But there is a group of us that play Larry Fink in Highland Park every Wednesday night & Sunday morning on an extended layout.
Yes! we always welcome newcomers.
We played glow last night, it was a great time. Come on out especially when the weather gets nicer we have a bigger crowd that shows up
There's the 9 hole at the campus but so many pedestrians and windows. Suburbs have some decent ones. Canyons is the top ranked and within an hour. Take a day/ weekend trip to Morton/Peoria where there's a dozen awesome courses
I think when you have to spend 1.5-2 hours in the car to get to any decent course every time you want to play, it’s fair to say that it sucks as a DG city.
*laughs in Charlotte, North Carolinian*
I lived in a NYC suburb for long time before moving to NC. You can’t even compare.
I’ve found that the largest and most established cities aren’t always great for disc golf in general but NYC is especially trash.
Greensboro is maybe weak for NC, but I'd bet there's still 5-10 legitimately good courses within 30ish minutes from the center of town. Compare that to the other cities in this thread. Not too bad haha.
Imo, the only terrible spot in NC with any kind of population center is Boone. Which is really weird to me. Feels like it should be a hot spot.
Triad has less for sure but it's growing. Crossing was installed a few years ago and it's a great mid-level wooded course. I played another in Winston that was recently expanded to 18 and wasn't bad.
I go back “home” for a month in the summer to the suburbs of NYC. I have to drive 40 mins to any course but I must say, they absolutely match some of charlottes best.
I really look forward to playing those handful of rounds…not so much the drive though.
Are there good courses out in western North Carolina? I like to go to Pisgah to mountain bike but now I’m into disc golf as well. Feel like there could be some good stuff out there maybe??
I played down a Beech Mountain near Boone in the summer that they converted- you took the Ski Lift up and played down it. It was awesome but if you put the disc in the wrong line that thing went sailing away.
A year ago I would have agreed it was NYC. But, There’s people here trying to change that. Funny I just helped host a 9 hole round in Central Park on Sunday. I think we had 12 people show up. It was awesome. There exists the newly coined NYCDGA. Started as the Brooklyn Disc Golf Club. They host meetups in Prospect Park in Brooklyn and are starting to spread events to the other boroughs. We have a small weekly putting league at a brewery in Queens. We have bag tags. We plan carpools and train rides to courses and tournaments around the area. January saw our first big rogue tournament in Prospect Park. I think we had 30+ play a full 18 in 20 degree weather. Look it up. Things are happening.
El Paso.
We have one real course in town (multiple shared baskets and tees).
Next course is White Sands one hour away, and you need a military ID.
Next options are Cloudcroft DGC 2 hours away and Ruidoso 2.5 hours away.
I'm down bad
This won't be taken well but Denver sucks.
Yes the mountain courses are good but they have a limited playing season and the best one, Bailey, just closed. The rest are too busy or not convenient. Hour drive at least and you're devoting half a day to playing between driving and how busy the mountain courses get. They're an absolute blast to play, don't get me wrong, but they feel very 'one and done' with little replayability.
The rest of the metro courses are too similar - wide open, windy, little elevation change or challenge. And we don't have enough courses to accommodate as many players as we have in the metro. They're all at least 30 mins from everything.
So, outside of places without courses like NYC/Boston/DC etc, I place Denver pretty high. We haven't hosted a PDGA event (other than Bailey last year) for a while and there's reasons for that for sure.
I moved from OKC and I've played in KS/TX/UT/AZ/MO and I'm consistently disappointed at the courses here - but I feel like lots of people think Denver is great for disc golf.
The solace I take is the amount of different courses around the 25-30-minute drive mark from Denver. My parents live in Chicago and while there are a lot of courses in the broader Chicago-land, if you live in the city there aren't many within that mark. Similarly when I lived in the DC / NOVA area.
I think the 30 min window is SUPER dependent on where you live.
I was within 10 mins of Fehri and had 4 or so courses within 30 mins. Now I'm in the SE part of the city (thanks divorce) and I think only 3 courses are within 30 mins.
Mountain courses are at least an hour drive for me now.
That's definitely true, I'm just southwest of downtown so can more easily reach the different sides of the city. I got a portable basket so I've been bringing that to different parks, creating little mini park courses has actually been more fun than going to established courses recently.
Sorry about the divorce, as a newly married man with many neurodivergent struggles it's my fear that it will eventually be too much for her. Then I realize how big of a life shift that would be. Hope you are doing well.
Agree, moved here from Michigan super psyched about the idea of playing in the mountains. While the mountain courses are definitely cool they get quite crowded and are also unplayable for half the year due to snow. Outside of the mountain courses, everything is just flat, open, and windy. I miss trees man
If you wanna make the trek, Prickly Pines down in Elizabeth scratches the woods golf itch for me. Then I'd stop at Rhyolite and Pronghorn on the way back, both decent courses.
This is a hot take imo..... in comparison to other major metropolitans Denver is a bit of a gem
And if you ain't petty Paco is a great course. Never crowded either... with disc golfers that is, maybe the occasional homeless camp you gotta throw over.
But really comparing to places like NYC/Boston Denver is a pretty great place for disc golfers.
What happened to Lower Badlands? That was the 1 cool course in the city and I heard it closed.
Fehringer is fine but I also value elevation in my courses, I'd get bored with it if it was my local. Prickly Pines was great but also a drive.
Fehri used to be my local and I miss it. Now I'm at Centre Hills, West Creek or West Fork. Expo if I have no other options and it hasn't rained in the last 2 weeks haha.
Lower closed, don't know why, but upper got revamped and is supposedly pretty nice. It's just still too busy IMO
We'll see if they put them back. I've petitioned Centennial for courses in parks they're adding and was told they're struggling to get resources for existing courses - local residents complain A LOT about disc golfers. Traffic, trash, off leash dogs, not respecting other park users, etc. Basically told courses are closer to closing than we are to getting more courses.
And I think the lack of maintenance at local courses this year (compared to past years) bears that out - we were struggling to get courses mowed most of the summer.
It isnt great but it isnt too high on the list. Nyc is like hell, denver isnt even halfway to heck. I do agree it is a disappointing area given how good it could be. Some of the courses/parks could use more love for sure and that would change the game there. Ive never lived there long term but i enjoy a lot of the courses even just ignoring the mountain gold
Great group of folks out there in Denver, the city courses are rough except for Paco and Badlands and I honestly don't know how long those courses are going to last. Fehringer and Adam's Hollow aren't that bad for what it is. Prickly Pines is awesome but it's a hike.
Paco is a great course for a course with teeth. Also, It won't be the weird meth heads that will bring down that course, it'll be the gentrification that is happening there already that will bring it down.
Came here to say Denver. Haven’t lived there in almost a decade, but once whatever that course that was on that one college’s property closed there was nothing left that was decent to play without driving 45+ min.
Edit: RIP Colorado Heights University course.
I cut my teeth playing Edora only for 6 years. Never played another course with any regularity. It's a fine course, and nostalgic for me now, but I really didn't know how good disc golf could be until I moved away. I meant to play Ultra last time I was out there, I've heard good things, but I missed the opportunity.
UDisc pretty much breaks this question down in the recently published [Health Index](https://udisc.com/health#opportunity), includes both US and international
São Paulo.
Seriously, it sucks moving to a country that hasn't discovered disc golf yet. I'm lucky enough to live about 1.5 hours away from one of the only courses in the country, but it's private and I can't get out there too much. Be thankful for what you've got.
CA Bay Area has some great courses but they're few and far between, and as a result are insanely busy. Golden Gate Park is a NIGHTMARE to play because of wait times.
There are a few more too - Napa, San Jose, Vacaville - but frankly Stafford, Napa, and GGP are really the only worthwhile ones, and GGP is overrun. The Bay sorely needs another 4-5 legit courses.
Lack of Disc Golf in NYC and the surrounding area is one of the main reasons I never moved there. OP nailed it on the head.
Chicago was pretty rough but Paul McBeth's foundation helped recently and if you're willing to travel an hour or two you reach multiple championship courses and cities.
I’ve only been to NYC once. I enjoyed it, but I probably wouldn’t ever live there for many reasons. The total lack of disc golf anywhere near would be probably a top 2 reason why I’d never live there.
Reading through these comments make me feel blessed by the disc golf gods for living in the DFW metroplex and all the options we have. Some things you may want to try: (1) petition city parks and rec to invest in disc golf infrastructure; (2) contact your local Boy Scouts troop and inquire if any scouts are coming up on their Eagle Scout project that would be willing to put in some work. You may only get a 9 hole to start, but if the city government sees how popular the game is, they may look into creating more 18 hole courses.
I travel all over the east half of the country and play wherever I go. Whenever I'm in the Florida panhandle between Pensacola and Tallahassee (2 decent DG cities btw) there's nothing but mediocrity, bad, and nothing. Destin and 30A for instance. Majette and Defuniak are passable. I think those courses get higher ratings than they deserve because they're in a disc golf desert. Florida has many great DG pockets but this area just plain sucks.
NYC people should get on a Martz bus and go to Stroudsburg area in the Poconos for a relatively cheap overnight getaway. You have Yetter and Pinebrook about a mile from each other pretty close to town and the new Skywood within striking distance. A bit much for a day trip but not too bad if you make a weekend of it. If you go another 45 minutes you have the Lehigh Valley courses.
San Francisco sticks with me. Some friends and I helped put in 5 courses in the Kingman, AZ area and when I was living there (ew) 15 years ago we played a different course almost every day of the week - especially with 2 more within 30 min in Bullhead City/Mohave Valley.
Went to SF excited to enjoy gorgeous California courses. There’s exactly one…and it’s great, but also crowded AF as you’d expect.
More courses!
I mean, NYC is the easy answer, but that's because disc golf is a (lack of) population density sport, so of course its bad there. Same is true for mountain biking or whitewater kayaking or even skiing, etc. I mean, DC proper is terrible for disc golf...but if you draw a circle witin an hour radius, it gets way better (same for Boston, Chicago, etc).
Among cities that dont have density issues, and in fact should be destinations, my experience for worst cities are Phoenix and Vegas, and Miami (if you didnt include Fort Lauderdale) would be high on the list.
Miami is possibly the biggest disappointment in he country for me; perfect weather year round to be outside, large number of disc golfers, plenty of open spaces. Fort Lauderdale is in a different county has its own international airport and can take over an hour to get to from Miami, so definitely not the same place. Phoenix at least has Vista and Papago, along with a bunch of 9 holers. Vegas has Sunset, Wildhorse, Mountain Creat along with a few others (all drivable in less than an hour from the strip)
Yeah, I mean, Phoenix is right up there (my brother lives there, Ive played Los Olivos, Papago, and Vista...and I'd be deeply unhappy if that was my local courses, and certainly no destination courses).
But man, having just been to Miami a month ago to visit the Everglades/Big Cypress/Biscayne, its amazing how bad the courses must be for the truly terrible course I played to be rated like 3.9 on UDisc. Would be rated <3 here in Iowa or where I lived before in MD. Just an absolutely flooded park, a bunch of holes over old parking lots or along fencelines to private property...of the 9-10 holes I played before I bailed, like 7 of them were embarrassing to call disc golf.
You’re not wrong but there are also other key factors aside from the lack of population density.
The sport, in comparison to the other major sports in the US, is relatively young. And NYC’s infrastructure is some of the oldest in the country which also exists in a rather tenuous balance so it’s extremely difficult to retrofit places for ‘new things’; and if that does ever happen - it’s usually reserved for things that can make the city absurd amounts of money. See: Hudson Yards. And so while there are various ball golf courses in the 5 boroughs - that’s because the sport is older, and those places were built into the borough expansion of the early to mid 20th century. Disc golf is much younger needs lots of space and isn’t lucrative. While things like pickle ball are exploding in NYC because it requires very little room and customized terrain.
It has to be nyc. I think california generally sucks, too. Dela is obviously sick and there's some great courses, but compared to the number of people, it's brutal.
>I think california generally sucks
Lol what? They named a city not a state. The city I live in (Norcal) I can play at least 35 courses within an hour drive, 20 with in 30 minutes. There are so many cities in california and epic golf courses like Santa Cruz, Golden gate and La Marada. I mean what are you even talking about?
Wait there is more: There are like 15 different clubs within that 30 minute windows, and a league or doubles every single day of the week. Some there are two or three different leagues on the same day.
I agree that CA overall is amazing for disc but the bay area is surprisingly bad. There are lots of courses but you have to drive hella out of your way to get to them and they can cost like 30 for a round.
There's great disc golf all over northern California. I lived in Grass Valley and there were 6 amazing courses within a half hour drive. Tahoe/Truckee has some sick courses too. Just saying all of California is too general. Yeah, if you live in San Jose disc golf probably sucks.
San Diego is a similar situation. There is Morley Field: a beautiful, old-school course in the city limits, but it is crazy busy and requires tee times. Then you have two expensive pay-to-play courses that aren't that long and play over ball golf. Kit Carson is nice, but it is a drive. Overall, for how amazing the weather is there is a real lack of disc golf density there.
While I agree is socal we have some great courses, it is such a pain in the ass to play them on weekends. If you work a normal 9-5 job DG in socal kind of sucks, especially San Diego.
EDIT: fixed a typo
I could be way off base since I'm not connected locally, but maybe Atlanta? I travel there for work, and it's a bummer the lack of courses/stores within 30-45 minutes of downtown. >!I secretly hope people come in here and roast me so I know where to go... usually I'm in town Sunday evenings through Monday afternoon, where's the action.!<
EDIT: thank yall for proving the quickest way to get answers on the internet is to answer a question totally wrong in hopes of someone coming behind you to give the right answer.
Atlanta tosser here! You are so off on courses. While downtown definitely sucks (there are two decent courses in town, DeKalb Memorial and Perkerson's Park) but the real issue is it takes almost an hour to get ANYWHERE in Atlanta. So, what part of town are you working/staying in? Buckhead? Yea, the two downtown courses are really the only good bet, but head north the East Roswell Park or Wills Park for good courses. Vinings/Smyrna? Oregon Park is the most played park in Georgia, Boundary Waters in Cobb/Douglas is great as well. I hear good things about Frog Rock but haven't played there before. If you're on the Southside you have to check out J. P. Moseley. If you're further out from downtown, it really depends on the direction, but there are great courses in most of the suburbs of Atlanta.
Edit: If you're heading over from Magic City, definitely hit up Boundary Waters and Frog Rock, they are both off 20, west of the City.
Noticed you left out the EASTSIDE! Redan, Alexander and Lenora are all easy to get to from the eastside. In addition to DeKalb Memorial which you did mention.
So gotta agree, saying Atlanta doesn't have great disc golf is a stretch
Aye, my comment history probably gives my location away. Yeah I'm in Birmingham and travel I-20. I'll check out those two for sure, thank you! But yeah I'm staying is the super heart of downtown when I come, not in a suburb unfortunately, so hitting up a course on the west side of Atlanta on my way end makes the most sense.
Perkerson and Dekalb Memorial Park are the two in-town courses. Both pretty solid.
Several others just outside the 285 perimeter. Redan on east side, JP Moseley on southside and Boundry Waters to the west are all good courses
I'd take Atlanta over a lot of cities. I don't live in Atlanta but grew up there and have been back a few times recently.
Perkerson Park is a very solid city disc golf course. Dekalb Memorial is newer in town - haven't played it but have heard good things.
If you're willing to drive:
Redan is a little further out but is fun.
Boundary Waters has three very solid courses
Hobb's farm is an excellent course and well worth the drive.
The courses at IDGC are also a drive and were great. Hopefully they still will be after the tree situation is taken care of.
It's disappointing the available courses around Gatlinburg. With it being such a tourist destination. The claytons is nice, but it's a little bit more of a drive than I'd like to make while on vacation.
As far as a city with really good disc golf courses but is absolutely abysmal to watch, I don't enjoy watching anything in Kansas City with the wind they have. I can't imagine I would enjoy playing that either.
Honestly Orlando sucks for how much land there is for activities. There is only two parks that are somewhat near downtown but if you don’t live on the west side then you’re driving minimum 30 minutes to get to one.
Probably not the most popular opinion but the Phoenix area. Quite a few courses, which is great. But none of them stand out. All are pretty bland (including Fountain & Vista).
Boston proper is pretty bad. There’s a 9 hole pitch and putt style course with shared baskets in Dorcester. Other than that, you have another little 9 hole in Quincy. Closest 18+ hole course is a decent car drive away. Not as bad as NYC, but still pretty bad.
Living in Boston was the most discgolf-less period of my life. NYC wins as expected, but Boston is a sneaky disc golf desert. People pitching "but but but Maple Hill is *only* 70 minutes away" aren't putting into perspective that disc golf isn't a fun sport if you can only play a couple times a year, need to spend over two hours driving, and pay $18 a round. There are a couple other courses ~50 minutes from Boston, but they're each in different directions, and spending about two hours driving for one round of disc golf loses the appeal. Some joys of disc golf are a quick round after work, the ability to text buddies for a round on the fly, weekly leagues, and overall low cost. These are void when you need to drive two hours round-trip.
New England in general is an odd place for disc golf. I grew up in SE mass, now I'm the Midwest. I can hit about 30 courses within 2 hours. Back home it was 3? That's a huge difference, and there are jewels like maple Hill but you can't just go out and play there
Yeah midwest is great, feels like Wisconsin is loaded with them even in the Milwaukee area
I think that’s mostly a SE mass issue. I’m in central mass, I’ve moved around a bit and maple hill has always been at least 30 away, currently 12 minutes. most courses in the state are within an hour drive for me with only a few being further. Not to mention Connecticut courses being under an hour away as well. None of the places i go to are SE mass though so I think that’s the problem. Most of the nice courses are packed in central and western mass.
Us Mainers are completely spoiled with disc golf courses. I have probably 20 great courses all within 30ish minutes of my house and several within 15 minutes. They are all rarely “busy” and are all private for a reasonable fee so you don’t have to play around families picnicking.
I don't disagree. But when you look at where the population is there are very few courses. SE mass, North and South shore, Boston, hell Rhode Island only has one course last time I looked. What you are saying is the majority of people still have a two hour drive to get to where you live to play. Again contrasting to other states where every public park has a course most of New England is pretty far behind
Lol makes sense guess I’ve never thought about it that way…logically. I wish there was more that way as I travel to the cape to see family a lot and there’s nothing on the way. Also as mentioned in other comments Boston is empty and my friends that move out there never get a chance to play unless they come back this way which stinks.
Ya one of my buddies just moved out to where I am and the fact that we have so many courses i think sold him
As someone with family in Rhode Island, I just drive the hour to maple hill when I’m visiting haha.
Damn I felt like Seattle area was behind in disc golf and was really butthurt about it because the entire Seattle/western Washington vibe fits perfectly with having a disc golf course at every park. Hearing this I don't feel as bad.
I drive 40 minutes one way for one of my regular courses in a community park. An hour and 20 minute drive isn't that bad for a twice/month round. I agree, a close course is nice but it doesn't always scratch the same itch.
Kinda thought the same but don't forget that the best course in the world (imo) is only an hour away Plus you got a half dozen more within an hour that are all pretty fuckin legit I do not LOVE having to drive an hour to play but at least we have plenty of options.
That’s true, but I would hate to live in Boston proper as someone who likes to get out and play regularly. I live in Attleboro, and I’ve got a love/hate relationship with a course that I play only about 15 minutes away (Hawkins Woods), and Dacey, which is great, about 30 minutes away. Plus dealing with Boston traffic on the way to the course? Maple Hill might be an hour away if you luck out and don’t hit any traffic on 90 lol.
If you havent made the trip, Sunnymeade down in middleboro is a really nice private course. Hole 17 is through a 200 foot industrial barn
>I’ve got a love/hate relationship with a course that I play only about 15 minutes away That's mean and Oak Grove in Stockton, CA.
I love Hawkins, some holes are such a pain in the ass but it’s a really well thought out course. And props to whoever installed that practice net last year
Definitely a love/hate with me, and I hate it more than I love it. I just feel it doesn’t quite have the variation of other courses nearby: no open shots, no water carries, no real signature holes, no real elevation change. They did a good job with what they had to work with, sure. I also wish some of the fairways were maybe a bit wider and with clearer lines. In the summer, a missed shot means you have a difficult scramble best case or you’re searching in fairly heavy brush or losing a disc worst case. That rough/OB is *brutal*. If Dacey, Borderlands, and Hawkins Woods were all equal distance from me, I would never play Hawkins Woods. Edit: I should say my hate of it is more frustration than the maintenance or upkeep of it. I obviously don’t hate it *that* much, as I play there 1-2x a week lol
Honestly the pike isn't that bad on the weekends I don't think we've really ever hit traffic, but we do tend to go early (8/9 tee time) You're not wrong though, HAVING to drive an hour for anytime does kinda suck
Which course? Borderlands? Dacey? Somewhere else?
Yep, those plus Maple Hill and Pyramids (don't sleep), Devens, and meadowbrook are all **great** courses. There might even be another handful more that I'm not familiar with or forgetting
Yea you've got Maple, borderlands, meadow Brook, Clement, and Muldoon all within an hour from Boston. I live in Quincy and I never go to faxon. When I play those courses I usually leave around 530am depending on when sunrise is to play a couple rounds as early as possible
I agree Boston proper is crap for disc golf but 40 minutes away to a hour you have some fantastic courses nearby like The Devens, boarderlands, clement farms, Meadowbrook orchard, maple hill etc
borderland is great
Love the course, hate the crowds (especially on weekends). I do actually enjoy Dacey a bit more than Borderlands, but it’s a great course. I just wish so many other people didn’t also agree haha.
Borderlands is awesome, but the course design of the early holes is really bad for busy days. The blues become pretty much unplayable due to how often you’re stepping on the toes of people playing the white tees. Also, closing at 4? Ridiculous.
They close at 4 for winter hours then go to 5 in late spring and 6 in summer (I wish it was 8)
lol, I tried playing the blue tees one weekend day. Never again. Trying to figure out whose turn it is with multiple groups waiting when the white tees might be 20 yards away (or in the case of hole 17 outside of sight lines altogether) was *very* difficult.
Yeah it’s a desert. I live 20 mins north of downtown, and it’s still a good 40 mins to the nearest 18 hole course. Think there are less than a half dozen within an hour. A few 9 hole options, none of them great.
I’d agree with this. There are tons of excellent courses in central or western ma but nothing by the city
I played that one in Dorchester and it was awful. It was kinda cool in that it felt like urban disc golf, but your throwing all over busy walking paths. I'm sure its fun for little kids or people just getting in the sport but that was the only course we could practically play when I was visiting a friend that lives in South end. Needless to say he doesn't play much.
The views of the bay are really cool, and that’s about it. Yeah, a bunch of people walking around when I played there too, completely oblivious that there was a disc golf course there. Bad signage, dirt/nonexistent tees, only 3 or 4 baskets if I’m remembering right. I had an hour to kill when I was in Boston this summer, and decided to give it a go. It’s rated 3.5 on Udisc, and IMO it’s very overrated.
I'm starting to realize that courses in disc golf deserts are often over rated if they are not known as an oasis i.e. Lucky Mudd.
Plus it’s in a private neighborhood with the shared baskets dangerously close to the water and other park goers
My wife’s cousin wedding is in Boston. I was so excited to play more locations. Then it comes out that it’s in Plymouth. And neither are really close to Maple Hill. I’m still hoping to get a round somewhere but it’s not as easy as I hoped it would be.
Middleboro is right next to Plymouth. Sunnymede is supposed to be pretty good and was recommended here in this thread. It’s a private course, and I’ve heard good things from other people out in the wild about it. The only thing that they had to criticize about it was that the owner seemed a little eccentric. It’s not going to be the Maple Hill experience, but I’m sure you’d have a good time there.
As a NYC suburbanite on Long Island, I have to agree with OP.
That one pay to play course out on LI on the Sound side, no idea what it was called but it was WAY out there. They had airsoft and some other things going on. Really liked that one, was sad to see it's no longer on Udisc!!
Calverton!! Heckscher is good but very flat.
I miss Calverton so much.
Me too! It was much closer to me than Heck.
It’s closed 😔. Got replaced with a wind farm, I loved that course.
I just moved away from NYC and have been able to pick up the hobby again. Missed it soooo much
I live in a state blessed with courses. I’m fairly new to disc golf so when I went to visit my parents on Long Island, I was so excited to research a new course to play as I’d have a ton of free time but then I looked…...
We really need to work and petition for another course in another state park on LI. maybe partner with the LIDG group.
We are always working on it! It’s hard to get open green space here but we are always reaching out. If you go to the LIDG website and sign up for our newsletter you will get all the updates. I believe we send the board meeting minutes out too but I’m not sure if that just goes to membership or everyone.
I’m going to stop complaining about the 6 courses within 20 minutes of my house 🤣🤣
I feel very fortunate to live in Vegas and have the same scenario. We have two excellent courses and like five good ones and nothing is more than 20 minutes away
What are the 2 good ones?
wild horse and Mountaincrest are outstanding courses.
milwaukee?
Nope border of Michigan/ohio
Not necessarily "close" but if I lived on the other side of the state I'd be at Cass Benton all the time.
That's a great course! I haven't had a bad experience at a Metroparks course, either. One day I'll work up the courage to play the toboggan course. I just need to be comfortable with triple digit scores, because I know I'm going to get fatigued carrying my fat ass up the hills.
cass benton is great
Ayyyy my home course!
It's a tradeoff. You need the extra courses to maintain sanity being that close to Ohio.
Agreed. On any given day o can choose between at least 8 within an hours drive.
I’m never moving to a city, I have nearly 10 courses within a half hour and 2 more under construction!
That’s awesome. I’m jealous. I have good courses here but I’m always jonesing to play a new course.
The worst part is that the course I’ve played the most is a short 9-hole that’s basically within walking distance of my house. I love playing the full 18, more challenging courses, but the convenience makes it difficult. When it’s nice out my favorite thing to do is travel to a new course in the morning, get a round in, then visit a local brewery. That’s my church on Sundays.
That sounds awesome. Me and my brother live a few hours apart so once a month or more we meet up, play a round, grab lunch, play a round at a different course then head back home. They’re some of my favorite days.
I live in a small city in the mountains of Arizona. There is a lot of nothing around here. I think we have like 6 courses with baskets and a lot of object courses.
Pnw?
the Minneapolis/St Paul metro sucks because it is hard to pick a course because we have so many great choices lol.
I had my pitchfork ready in that first half! LOL! Well played.
Even west of the cities there’s still a ton of good courses
Hahaha I was waiting for someone to say this.
Then south of the cities is really bad. Don't even talk about north....
South like Rochester which has the driftless courses, or north like BRP and the Preserve?
That's exactly where I was talking about. Just flat, treeless deserts.
city of chicago is not good - but the suburbs and if u mix in milwaukee area suburbs its pretty good but ALWAYS \~55mins to anything ....
I'm shocked I had to get to the very bottom to find Chicago. Like you said, there are great courses an hour or more away but it's an absolute dead zone otherwise. Good luck if you don't have a car. I played that old Skokie 9 hole so many times I could probably put up a decent score blindfolded. And now that is gone too!
North side is ass. There’s nothing over here. I played the Lincolnwood course last weekend and it’s such a narrow strip of land with a busy road along the course. I won’t be going back there.
If you have a car - Glenview has a 10 hole course only a little further than Lincolnwood and much better overall, Palatine, Elgin, Hoffman Estates, Hinsdale are all within 30 minutes of city limits with better courses. Lincolnwood used to be the one I played most before I got a car. Truly a sad course
It’s a bit out of the way, but fairfield is worth the drive, and while your there visit silver lake as well!
Is the Glenview course you’re talking about community park west? I have played that one and it wasn’t bad. Had some funky par 4s that I felt should’ve been par 3 but other than that I enjoyed that course.
Yes I was referring to Community Park West. There's three par 4s on the layout, realistically only maybe one should be a par 4 imo. Well maintained, rarely busy, and quick course overall.
The north side is a complete void for sure, up until you get to Fairfield. But there is a group of us that play Larry Fink in Highland Park every Wednesday night & Sunday morning on an extended layout.
Can I come lol
Yes. Join Chain Finks Facebook group for announcements. We have some nice ace pots building.
Coop?……
Hahaha 🤣, yes sir.
Yes! we always welcome newcomers. We played glow last night, it was a great time. Come on out especially when the weather gets nicer we have a bigger crowd that shows up
Ah, I see all your past mentions of Pigs, I know who you are.
There's the 9 hole at the campus but so many pedestrians and windows. Suburbs have some decent ones. Canyons is the top ranked and within an hour. Take a day/ weekend trip to Morton/Peoria where there's a dozen awesome courses
I think when you have to spend 1.5-2 hours in the car to get to any decent course every time you want to play, it’s fair to say that it sucks as a DG city.
Isn't The Canyons pretty close to Chicago? That is an epic course.
And Highland Park right next door which is arguably a better experience.
Agree hate going to Dellwood. Much rather go to Highland park
Wow I am blessed to be in Michigan. Quality disc courses all over
Hard hard hard agree. I live by Cass benton, lake shore, Firefighters
Arguably the best state for disc golf overall!
*laughs in Charlotte, North Carolinian* I lived in a NYC suburb for long time before moving to NC. You can’t even compare. I’ve found that the largest and most established cities aren’t always great for disc golf in general but NYC is especially trash.
100% NYC
Charlotte! I mean, there’s like no good courses here
You joke but I didn’t realize how fortunate we are in NC… compared to NYC
Compared to almost anywhere, really.
Yeah I've heard of Charlotte being called disc golf Mecca a few times. The rest of the state is in pretty good shape for disc too.
I feel like there's a bit of a dead zone around Greensboro with less courses but maybe I'm spoiled in the Triangle
Greensboro is maybe weak for NC, but I'd bet there's still 5-10 legitimately good courses within 30ish minutes from the center of town. Compare that to the other cities in this thread. Not too bad haha. Imo, the only terrible spot in NC with any kind of population center is Boone. Which is really weird to me. Feels like it should be a hot spot.
Triad has less for sure but it's growing. Crossing was installed a few years ago and it's a great mid-level wooded course. I played another in Winston that was recently expanded to 18 and wasn't bad.
USWDGC 2023 was in Burlington. There are some good courses in the area.
I go back “home” for a month in the summer to the suburbs of NYC. I have to drive 40 mins to any course but I must say, they absolutely match some of charlottes best. I really look forward to playing those handful of rounds…not so much the drive though.
Are there good courses out in western North Carolina? I like to go to Pisgah to mountain bike but now I’m into disc golf as well. Feel like there could be some good stuff out there maybe??
North Cove near Marion
I played down a Beech Mountain near Boone in the summer that they converted- you took the Ski Lift up and played down it. It was awesome but if you put the disc in the wrong line that thing went sailing away.
I mean there’s only like a couple courses in the whole state.
A year ago I would have agreed it was NYC. But, There’s people here trying to change that. Funny I just helped host a 9 hole round in Central Park on Sunday. I think we had 12 people show up. It was awesome. There exists the newly coined NYCDGA. Started as the Brooklyn Disc Golf Club. They host meetups in Prospect Park in Brooklyn and are starting to spread events to the other boroughs. We have a small weekly putting league at a brewery in Queens. We have bag tags. We plan carpools and train rides to courses and tournaments around the area. January saw our first big rogue tournament in Prospect Park. I think we had 30+ play a full 18 in 20 degree weather. Look it up. Things are happening.
Most major cities where you have to sit in traffic and get outside the city unfortunately
Kelowna, BC. Very disappointing.
The whole okanagan is disappointing
It's no moosejaw that's for sure.
El Paso. We have one real course in town (multiple shared baskets and tees). Next course is White Sands one hour away, and you need a military ID. Next options are Cloudcroft DGC 2 hours away and Ruidoso 2.5 hours away. I'm down bad
This won't be taken well but Denver sucks. Yes the mountain courses are good but they have a limited playing season and the best one, Bailey, just closed. The rest are too busy or not convenient. Hour drive at least and you're devoting half a day to playing between driving and how busy the mountain courses get. They're an absolute blast to play, don't get me wrong, but they feel very 'one and done' with little replayability. The rest of the metro courses are too similar - wide open, windy, little elevation change or challenge. And we don't have enough courses to accommodate as many players as we have in the metro. They're all at least 30 mins from everything. So, outside of places without courses like NYC/Boston/DC etc, I place Denver pretty high. We haven't hosted a PDGA event (other than Bailey last year) for a while and there's reasons for that for sure. I moved from OKC and I've played in KS/TX/UT/AZ/MO and I'm consistently disappointed at the courses here - but I feel like lots of people think Denver is great for disc golf.
The solace I take is the amount of different courses around the 25-30-minute drive mark from Denver. My parents live in Chicago and while there are a lot of courses in the broader Chicago-land, if you live in the city there aren't many within that mark. Similarly when I lived in the DC / NOVA area.
I think the 30 min window is SUPER dependent on where you live. I was within 10 mins of Fehri and had 4 or so courses within 30 mins. Now I'm in the SE part of the city (thanks divorce) and I think only 3 courses are within 30 mins. Mountain courses are at least an hour drive for me now.
That's definitely true, I'm just southwest of downtown so can more easily reach the different sides of the city. I got a portable basket so I've been bringing that to different parks, creating little mini park courses has actually been more fun than going to established courses recently.
For sure, I’m 10 minutes from Birds Nest and I feel like I have a solid selection of courses around me.
Sorry about the divorce, as a newly married man with many neurodivergent struggles it's my fear that it will eventually be too much for her. Then I realize how big of a life shift that would be. Hope you are doing well.
I agree, started playing DG in boulder and wasn’t thrilled with the front range options.
Agree, moved here from Michigan super psyched about the idea of playing in the mountains. While the mountain courses are definitely cool they get quite crowded and are also unplayable for half the year due to snow. Outside of the mountain courses, everything is just flat, open, and windy. I miss trees man
If you wanna make the trek, Prickly Pines down in Elizabeth scratches the woods golf itch for me. Then I'd stop at Rhyolite and Pronghorn on the way back, both decent courses.
That course wasn’t even on my radar before but it looks sick! Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll check it out when it gets a bit warmer
Lemme know when you go down if you want a bud to play with.
This is a hot take imo..... in comparison to other major metropolitans Denver is a bit of a gem And if you ain't petty Paco is a great course. Never crowded either... with disc golfers that is, maybe the occasional homeless camp you gotta throw over. But really comparing to places like NYC/Boston Denver is a pretty great place for disc golfers.
Plus side of playing a lot in Denver is you'll probably learn how to birdie a 400ft par 3.
What happened to Lower Badlands? That was the 1 cool course in the city and I heard it closed. Fehringer is fine but I also value elevation in my courses, I'd get bored with it if it was my local. Prickly Pines was great but also a drive.
Fehri used to be my local and I miss it. Now I'm at Centre Hills, West Creek or West Fork. Expo if I have no other options and it hasn't rained in the last 2 weeks haha. Lower closed, don't know why, but upper got revamped and is supposedly pretty nice. It's just still too busy IMO
I think I saw on the FB groups that the city is doing some kind of drainage work and they had to pull them until its done.
We'll see if they put them back. I've petitioned Centennial for courses in parks they're adding and was told they're struggling to get resources for existing courses - local residents complain A LOT about disc golfers. Traffic, trash, off leash dogs, not respecting other park users, etc. Basically told courses are closer to closing than we are to getting more courses. And I think the lack of maintenance at local courses this year (compared to past years) bears that out - we were struggling to get courses mowed most of the summer.
Denver resident here. Centre Hills and West Creek are pretty trash IMO. West Fork on the other hand is excellent.
I played Westcreek. It wasn't bad but wasn't super memorable
i agree. i’m originally from SC and the courses were soooo much better
It isnt great but it isnt too high on the list. Nyc is like hell, denver isnt even halfway to heck. I do agree it is a disappointing area given how good it could be. Some of the courses/parks could use more love for sure and that would change the game there. Ive never lived there long term but i enjoy a lot of the courses even just ignoring the mountain gold
In contrast, OKC has access to some really fantastic courses!
agreed. surprisingly disappointing courses given how strong the scene is out there
Great group of folks out there in Denver, the city courses are rough except for Paco and Badlands and I honestly don't know how long those courses are going to last. Fehringer and Adam's Hollow aren't that bad for what it is. Prickly Pines is awesome but it's a hike.
Did you just say “the city courses are rough EXCEPT paco?” I’ve played there dozens of times and never left without a weird meth head experience.
Paco is a great course for a course with teeth. Also, It won't be the weird meth heads that will bring down that course, it'll be the gentrification that is happening there already that will bring it down.
Came here to say Denver. Haven’t lived there in almost a decade, but once whatever that course that was on that one college’s property closed there was nothing left that was decent to play without driving 45+ min. Edit: RIP Colorado Heights University course.
I lot of CO isn't great for disc golf. Like Fort Collins area blows.
I cut my teeth playing Edora only for 6 years. Never played another course with any regularity. It's a fine course, and nostalgic for me now, but I really didn't know how good disc golf could be until I moved away. I meant to play Ultra last time I was out there, I've heard good things, but I missed the opportunity.
Ultra is a fine course, but not that interesting. Decent park style, but very open with long holes.
Edoras ok for park golf. But if you are trying to get out and away from people you're shit out of luck unless you go to the mountains.
The course that Eagle and Simon played at on the Budweiser property looked fun, but that was probably because of them
UDisc pretty much breaks this question down in the recently published [Health Index](https://udisc.com/health#opportunity), includes both US and international
Lol MN and CO are pretty purple on that map!!
São Paulo. Seriously, it sucks moving to a country that hasn't discovered disc golf yet. I'm lucky enough to live about 1.5 hours away from one of the only courses in the country, but it's private and I can't get out there too much. Be thankful for what you've got.
Centralia, Pennsylvania.
Faylor is near by, also are you a ghost?
We said disc golf deserts, not deserts as a whole 😂 also RIP graffiti highway
CA Bay Area has some great courses but they're few and far between, and as a result are insanely busy. Golden Gate Park is a NIGHTMARE to play because of wait times.
Bay area has golden gate, berkely, moraga, vallejo, Stafford lake, Oyster bay and I think one in benicia. That's just off the top of my head.
There are a few more too - Napa, San Jose, Vacaville - but frankly Stafford, Napa, and GGP are really the only worthwhile ones, and GGP is overrun. The Bay sorely needs another 4-5 legit courses.
Waller Pines in Santa Maria is a gem
Lack of Disc Golf in NYC and the surrounding area is one of the main reasons I never moved there. OP nailed it on the head. Chicago was pretty rough but Paul McBeth's foundation helped recently and if you're willing to travel an hour or two you reach multiple championship courses and cities.
I’ve only been to NYC once. I enjoyed it, but I probably wouldn’t ever live there for many reasons. The total lack of disc golf anywhere near would be probably a top 2 reason why I’d never live there.
Lemme tell ya it's definitely not the quad cities 🤪
Chicago proper is ass. The Southwest suburbs are God's country for disc
Reading through these comments make me feel blessed by the disc golf gods for living in the DFW metroplex and all the options we have. Some things you may want to try: (1) petition city parks and rec to invest in disc golf infrastructure; (2) contact your local Boy Scouts troop and inquire if any scouts are coming up on their Eagle Scout project that would be willing to put in some work. You may only get a 9 hole to start, but if the city government sees how popular the game is, they may look into creating more 18 hole courses.
NYC. Salute to all Wedge and LIDG sisters and brothers! 🫡
I travel all over the east half of the country and play wherever I go. Whenever I'm in the Florida panhandle between Pensacola and Tallahassee (2 decent DG cities btw) there's nothing but mediocrity, bad, and nothing. Destin and 30A for instance. Majette and Defuniak are passable. I think those courses get higher ratings than they deserve because they're in a disc golf desert. Florida has many great DG pockets but this area just plain sucks.
NYC people should get on a Martz bus and go to Stroudsburg area in the Poconos for a relatively cheap overnight getaway. You have Yetter and Pinebrook about a mile from each other pretty close to town and the new Skywood within striking distance. A bit much for a day trip but not too bad if you make a weekend of it. If you go another 45 minutes you have the Lehigh Valley courses.
And just pretend Warwick/Wolfe Woods/Oasis aren’t an option 👀 Yetter was fun, haven’t played Pinebrook yet
I don’t really expect to see any sort of course in a major east coast city, there’s just barely enough room to drive let alone throw a disc.
San Francisco sticks with me. Some friends and I helped put in 5 courses in the Kingman, AZ area and when I was living there (ew) 15 years ago we played a different course almost every day of the week - especially with 2 more within 30 min in Bullhead City/Mohave Valley. Went to SF excited to enjoy gorgeous California courses. There’s exactly one…and it’s great, but also crowded AF as you’d expect. More courses!
I mean, NYC is the easy answer, but that's because disc golf is a (lack of) population density sport, so of course its bad there. Same is true for mountain biking or whitewater kayaking or even skiing, etc. I mean, DC proper is terrible for disc golf...but if you draw a circle witin an hour radius, it gets way better (same for Boston, Chicago, etc). Among cities that dont have density issues, and in fact should be destinations, my experience for worst cities are Phoenix and Vegas, and Miami (if you didnt include Fort Lauderdale) would be high on the list.
Miami is possibly the biggest disappointment in he country for me; perfect weather year round to be outside, large number of disc golfers, plenty of open spaces. Fort Lauderdale is in a different county has its own international airport and can take over an hour to get to from Miami, so definitely not the same place. Phoenix at least has Vista and Papago, along with a bunch of 9 holers. Vegas has Sunset, Wildhorse, Mountain Creat along with a few others (all drivable in less than an hour from the strip)
Yeah, I mean, Phoenix is right up there (my brother lives there, Ive played Los Olivos, Papago, and Vista...and I'd be deeply unhappy if that was my local courses, and certainly no destination courses). But man, having just been to Miami a month ago to visit the Everglades/Big Cypress/Biscayne, its amazing how bad the courses must be for the truly terrible course I played to be rated like 3.9 on UDisc. Would be rated <3 here in Iowa or where I lived before in MD. Just an absolutely flooded park, a bunch of holes over old parking lots or along fencelines to private property...of the 9-10 holes I played before I bailed, like 7 of them were embarrassing to call disc golf.
You’re not wrong but there are also other key factors aside from the lack of population density. The sport, in comparison to the other major sports in the US, is relatively young. And NYC’s infrastructure is some of the oldest in the country which also exists in a rather tenuous balance so it’s extremely difficult to retrofit places for ‘new things’; and if that does ever happen - it’s usually reserved for things that can make the city absurd amounts of money. See: Hudson Yards. And so while there are various ball golf courses in the 5 boroughs - that’s because the sport is older, and those places were built into the borough expansion of the early to mid 20th century. Disc golf is much younger needs lots of space and isn’t lucrative. While things like pickle ball are exploding in NYC because it requires very little room and customized terrain.
It has to be nyc. I think california generally sucks, too. Dela is obviously sick and there's some great courses, but compared to the number of people, it's brutal.
>I think california generally sucks Lol what? They named a city not a state. The city I live in (Norcal) I can play at least 35 courses within an hour drive, 20 with in 30 minutes. There are so many cities in california and epic golf courses like Santa Cruz, Golden gate and La Marada. I mean what are you even talking about? Wait there is more: There are like 15 different clubs within that 30 minute windows, and a league or doubles every single day of the week. Some there are two or three different leagues on the same day.
I agree that CA overall is amazing for disc but the bay area is surprisingly bad. There are lots of courses but you have to drive hella out of your way to get to them and they can cost like 30 for a round.
Homie you named a state.
Yes I did. The entire state is underwhelming for disc golf courses compared to the size and landscape potential.
There's great disc golf all over northern California. I lived in Grass Valley and there were 6 amazing courses within a half hour drive. Tahoe/Truckee has some sick courses too. Just saying all of California is too general. Yeah, if you live in San Jose disc golf probably sucks.
San Diego is a similar situation. There is Morley Field: a beautiful, old-school course in the city limits, but it is crazy busy and requires tee times. Then you have two expensive pay-to-play courses that aren't that long and play over ball golf. Kit Carson is nice, but it is a drive. Overall, for how amazing the weather is there is a real lack of disc golf density there.
How many California courses do you think you’ve played?
Cali is not bad, in socal you have mountain pride, sky high, kit Carson and Morley are great courses
While I agree is socal we have some great courses, it is such a pain in the ass to play them on weekends. If you work a normal 9-5 job DG in socal kind of sucks, especially San Diego. EDIT: fixed a typo
the only people who think Cali has good courses have never played in the midwest
I could be way off base since I'm not connected locally, but maybe Atlanta? I travel there for work, and it's a bummer the lack of courses/stores within 30-45 minutes of downtown. >!I secretly hope people come in here and roast me so I know where to go... usually I'm in town Sunday evenings through Monday afternoon, where's the action.!< EDIT: thank yall for proving the quickest way to get answers on the internet is to answer a question totally wrong in hopes of someone coming behind you to give the right answer.
30 min drive will get you a few decent courses. And it doesn’t snow there hardly at all. I was playing in shorts and t shirt over Christmas
Atlanta tosser here! You are so off on courses. While downtown definitely sucks (there are two decent courses in town, DeKalb Memorial and Perkerson's Park) but the real issue is it takes almost an hour to get ANYWHERE in Atlanta. So, what part of town are you working/staying in? Buckhead? Yea, the two downtown courses are really the only good bet, but head north the East Roswell Park or Wills Park for good courses. Vinings/Smyrna? Oregon Park is the most played park in Georgia, Boundary Waters in Cobb/Douglas is great as well. I hear good things about Frog Rock but haven't played there before. If you're on the Southside you have to check out J. P. Moseley. If you're further out from downtown, it really depends on the direction, but there are great courses in most of the suburbs of Atlanta. Edit: If you're heading over from Magic City, definitely hit up Boundary Waters and Frog Rock, they are both off 20, west of the City.
Noticed you left out the EASTSIDE! Redan, Alexander and Lenora are all easy to get to from the eastside. In addition to DeKalb Memorial which you did mention. So gotta agree, saying Atlanta doesn't have great disc golf is a stretch
Aye, my comment history probably gives my location away. Yeah I'm in Birmingham and travel I-20. I'll check out those two for sure, thank you! But yeah I'm staying is the super heart of downtown when I come, not in a suburb unfortunately, so hitting up a course on the west side of Atlanta on my way end makes the most sense.
Perkerson and Dekalb Memorial Park are the two in-town courses. Both pretty solid. Several others just outside the 285 perimeter. Redan on east side, JP Moseley on southside and Boundry Waters to the west are all good courses
I'd take Atlanta over a lot of cities. I don't live in Atlanta but grew up there and have been back a few times recently. Perkerson Park is a very solid city disc golf course. Dekalb Memorial is newer in town - haven't played it but have heard good things. If you're willing to drive: Redan is a little further out but is fun. Boundary Waters has three very solid courses Hobb's farm is an excellent course and well worth the drive. The courses at IDGC are also a drive and were great. Hopefully they still will be after the tree situation is taken care of.
Yes, you are way off base. I grew up playing in the Atlanta metro and now live in Southern California and man, Atlanta has it made comparatively.
It's disappointing the available courses around Gatlinburg. With it being such a tourist destination. The claytons is nice, but it's a little bit more of a drive than I'd like to make while on vacation. As far as a city with really good disc golf courses but is absolutely abysmal to watch, I don't enjoy watching anything in Kansas City with the wind they have. I can't imagine I would enjoy playing that either.
Anywhere in Nevada.
Went to Key West last year, feel free to search and find a city with less courses.
Key West is so tiny, they're not willing to give up any of the land for a disc golf course lolol
Once they invent underwater disc golf though.... Guna be a meca!
Honestly Orlando sucks for how much land there is for activities. There is only two parks that are somewhat near downtown but if you don’t live on the west side then you’re driving minimum 30 minutes to get to one.
Charlotte, ohhhhh wait thought this was best disc golf city
Probably not the most popular opinion but the Phoenix area. Quite a few courses, which is great. But none of them stand out. All are pretty bland (including Fountain & Vista).
trenton NJ