Players spin Sunday away at Bloomington-Normal disc golf tourney | Recreation sports

But what makes the sport more appealing to Miller is its accessibility. He said most courses are in public parks and don’t require entry fees. Clubs for ball golf can be expensive, he added, and those courses may expect stricter dress codes for players.

Miller said disc golf is more relaxed.

“You got guys coming out here in sweats with an $8 disc,” he said.

He also believes most people can throw a Frisbee better than they can hit a golf ball.

With Miller was 26-year-old Tad Carlson, of Champaign. He noted disc golf courses are designed differently, and use more vertical topography. Carlson also said they like to have obstacles like trees on their courses.

The biggest problems disc golfers encounter?

To Miller, that’s landing a disc into water.

Discs can also get struck in trees, but that’s why card-mate Myles Miller, an Illinois State University junior in mid-level education, carries a retractable disc retriever pole.

Johnnie Harrison, owner of Plastic Addicts Disc Golf Supplies, 405 Radio City Drive, North Pekin, was present Sunday with his wares as the official tournament vendor.

He said disc golf originated from Ivy League students throwing around tin pie pans as Frisbees. He said it officially became a sport in the 1970s.

Harrison said the inventor of disc golf had worked for Wham-o, which copyrighted the Frisbee product. But he had a falling out with his employer.

He said Wham-o told him he could take the game with him, but he couldn’t use the term Frisbee.

“That’s why it became disc golf rather than Frisbee golf,” concluded Harrison.

He said clubs were formed in Peoria by the 1980s.

“We have 25 courses within a 30-mile radius,” Harrison said of Peoria-area disc golfing.

Second-time tournament director Danny Strine, of Gridley, said they had people attend from all over Illinois, from Collinsville near St. Louis, to Chicagoland suburb Schaumburg.

Pom Holiday, of the small island of Koh Mah in Thailand, made it to the tournament, too. He told The Pantagraph he’s spending 120 days in Bloomington this summer for disc golfing in the region.

Strine added Sunday was their biggest tournament in the Twin Cities yet. And during the pandemic, he said the sport “exploded” in popularity.

“Disc golf grew from 100,000 members to over 250,000,” he counted. He said his whole family gets in on the game, including his three kids.

Strine encouraged those interested in trying out the sport to attend one of the club’s two leagues. That includes a “scratch league” for those who score at course par. The other is a handicapped league, which adjusts player scores by skill level.

Top-performing players are eligible for winning payout prizes, for a $5 buy-in. Strine said people can also go on a trial run for $1, but are not eligible for payouts.

Scratch leagues meet during the summer season on Thursdays, and handicapped leagues meet on Tuesdays. Schedules can be found on the club website.

For many disc golf players, their community is what keeps them spinning.

Miller said: “I’ve had people that I’ve never even met before going swimming in a lake to get my disc for me. That’s just the kind of people you meet out here.”

“They’re super nice, super friendly and they all want you to play the sport.”

Final scores were not available at The Pantagraph’s press time.