Helping Disc Golf Soar

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No… it’s a disc!

“If you are looking to do something fun and competitive that doesn’t cost much and involves a community of people who are really relaxed, then disc golf is your sport,” said Jordan Infield, ’14.

In Jordan’s case, it’s true to say the skeptic has become the advocate. As of September 2021, Jordan had 11 amateur wins in the Professional Disc Golf Association on his résume, plus he has designed and overseen the installation of four new disc golf courses in Whitley County – Briar Creek Park, Whitley Branch Veterans Park, Thompson RV Park, and Sheltowee Camp. He also started a Facebook page for local disc golfers which has grown from four followers to 350 in a few years. When Jordan first moved to Williamsburg after living in Knoxville, there were only four disc golf players in the area. Now, there are well over 100 active disc golfers.

But before 2015, Jordan’s only experience with discs was a few rounds of ultimate Frisbee in college. During the two years post-graduation when he lived in Knoxville, a friend and mentor of his metaphorically dragged him out to a disc golf course to give the sport a shot. Having been a baseball pitcher for years, Jordan knew how to throw a mean slider, but tossing a disc felt foreign. He awkwardly threw a few discs (like they were baseballs) with his friend, trying not to laugh the whole time – not just because his throws were admittedly terrible, but also because he didn’t take the sport seriously at all.

“I originally thought it was a joke,” said Jordan. “I had never heard of it before. Now, throwing a disc feels almost as natural to me as throwing a baseball did when I was growing up.”

Disc golf is the “laidback cousin” of regular golf. Similar to golf, in disc golf, a “round” is played consisting of a number of “holes”, and the player with the lowest score wins. There is a tee (also called the “tee box” or just “the box”), a square pad on the ground made of cement, asphalt, turf, or other material, and there is a target (also called the “hole” or “basket”), a pole with a chain-link net at the top, which catches the disks. Players try to get their disc from the tee to the target in as few throws as possible. Sometimes, the basket cannot be seen from the tee box due to trees or other obstacles, so courses include a sign at every tee box with a simple map of that section of the park and where the target is in relation to the tee box. The disc golfers’ imagination and skill take it from there.

Newcomers to the sport may only see a cement square, a basket far off in the distance, and some trees in the way. Avid disc golfers like Jordan have learned to view the courses completely differently.

“There are a lot of factors you learn to notice as you play. The wind, the tree branches you never noticed before, the muscles that get sore that you never knew you had…” Jordan joked. “Honestly, disc golf is unbelievably technical and creative.”

During the pandemic of 2020, disc golf was one of the few sports people were able to safely play, since players are able to socially distance and only touch their own disc. Plus, any age group or skill level can play it, it can be played alone or in a group, it’s great exercise without being overly exerting, and it’s cheap – a disc costs less than $20, and most disc golf courses are free to play on.

“On a community level too, it’s a great way to build relationships,” said Jordan. “It is helping more and more people in our community get relationally connected. It also can be a great attraction for cities to generate interest for their town, which in turn generates revenue for their city as people travel and play on courses.”

That’s why several local communities have accepted Jordan’s proposal to build disc golf courses in their parks. Earning several communities’ approval for the courses, designing the courses, and watching them be built has been a satisfying and exciting experience for Jordan. For him, the dream is that, in the next five years, southeastern Kentucky will be a destination location that people from around the country would come visit to play disc golf.

Jordan has gone from disc golf know-nothing to disc golf course designer, tournament director, sponsored player, and coach. He does it for the fun of it and to help communities. And also, deep down, he hopes that it inspires others to realize the wealth of creative opportunities available to them to share their passions with others.