Jock Itch Tee up with the everyman’s golf—just don’t call it a Frisbee

Go into any office in America and some blowhard is talking about his golf game. Traditional golf, the one played on nicely manicured courses with a small white ball, is the game of the elite and those who wish they were elite. It can be fun but it’s hard to learn, expensive to play, and the people who love it are often insufferable. Disc golf on the other hand is cheap to get started, free to play, and the people who play it probably won’t try to sell you life insurance. 

The first thing you need to know about disc golf: Don’t call it a Frisbee. That could not only get you into legal trouble, but earn you the scorn of serious disc golf players the world over. Disc golfers throw discs, not Frisbees. Take that shit to the beach.

The second: It’s free. Courses are beautiful and you don’t have to have a tee time. There are several just minutes from downtown Denver and many more farther out. For a good breakdown of courses, check out the aptly named Disc Golf Course Review. Assuming you pay taxes, you’ve already paid your green fees, so get out and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Okay, it’s almost free. Discs cost about $6. Considering a set of golf clubs can run you hundreds, if not a thousand dollars, this is a pretty good deal. You can get away with playing with just one disc, but ideally you should use at least three, like I do: a driver, midrange, and a putter. The cost to buy in is minimal. After that, it’s up to you whether you want to buy the crazy bag that holds 24 discs, two water bottles, and probably some sort of wi-fi hotspot.

You don’t need a golf cart when playing disc golf. Mainly because you’re not carrying a 30-pound bag full of metal, but mostly because disc golf is about walking in the sunshine. A golf cart would be a lot of fun zipping from hole to hole, but I’m pretty sure most of the parks these courses are in don’t allow them. Instead, I’ve seen disc golfers lug around small fold-out chairs they use to rest up while in between holes. I do understand the need to have several discs at your disposal based on hole lie or weather conditions, but taking along your own chair? I can’t imagine the pressing need to sit so much. Check back with me when I’m older, I may need to sit down more.

The goofy clothes you wear are strictly up to you. In traditional golf, you have to have the right shoes and sometimes not wearing the correct clothes can get you a citation from the fun police working the grounds. In disc golf, the only rules regarding clothing are what your local laws deem appropriate for dressing in public. A tube top and an afro wig? As long as it doesn’t hinder your approach shot, you can wear it playing disc golf.

Disc golf is at your pace and on your time. I’ve been golfing and had some jerk who worked for the course admonish me and my friends for moving too slow. We were then told to pick up our balls and move to the next hole. It was a bit humiliating and I wonder if I wasn’t so noticeably out of my element (tube top and afro wig) would I have been hassled at all. In disc golf, someone may yell at you for moving too slow, but he/she (let’s not kid ourselves here, it’s probably going to be a dude) is a player just like you. They have about as much jurisdiction as the squirrel that just ran across the tee box. Be cool out there and have respect for the other players and chances are no one will hassle you. That is, as long as you don’t call it a Frisbee.