New York City’s first official Disc Golf course has found a home at Highland Park, providing Brooklyn and Queens residents with a free outdoor space this summer to experience the unique sport.
The 10-hole course required months of planning, negotiating and coordinating—involving groups and organizations such as the New York City Disc Golf Association, the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, the Paul McBeth Foundation and various community leaders. The game, which is growing in popularity, much like pickleball, has similar rules to the all-familiar game of golf, with players tasked with throwing a disc into baskets in as few throws as possible.
NYC Parks Administrator Portia Cook-Dyrenforth, who oversees Forest Park and Highland Park, shared that the process to bring the city’s first disc golf course to Brooklyn-Queens could not have been a more positive experience.
“The thing about Disc Golf that I think fits so well at Highland Park is that it really blends with the landscape,” said Cook-Dyrenforth, mentioning how the course needed to avoid interfering with the park’s scenery.
Above all else, Cook-Dyrenforth said the community’s feedback took precedence every step of the way, particularly when she brought the idea to Jacqueline Langsam, borough commissioner at NYC Parks.
“She challenged us in that she wanted to make sure this was something the community was open to,” Cook-Dyrenforth said, while further detailing her correspondence with Brooklyn Community Board 5 and nearby civic organizations.
The sporting achievement of bringing the first Disc Golf course to New York City unquestionably belongs to the minds behind the New York City Disc Golf Association.
Alex Bender and Alex Hoyle, co-founders of the NYC Disc Golf Association, told QNS that their passion for the sport is what brought them together.
More specifically, Bender had approached Hoyle while playing a pop-up game of disc golf with a bunch of friends at Prospect Park in Brooklyn around the same time the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, the two recalled.
The group of disc golfers followed under the name Brooklyn Disc Golf Club for a time and, shortly after, changed to the NYC Disc Golf Association when Bender and Hoyle said they realized there was a need for courses across the city.
However, Disc Golf was not always a sport Bender played. The Colorado native said the introduction to the sport came from a friend of his back in his hometown around 2019, and ever since the introduction, it has become a primary hobby.
“Ever since 2019, I always played it very casually. I’m actually not even that good,” Bender said modestly. “But the reason I find it to be such a passion of mine is I think it is just such an incredibly accessible sport where you can just show up and play.”
Easy accessibility and affordability were two of the main points the co-founders focused on in their conversations with NYC Parks, Brooklyn Community Board 5 and community leaders, the two shared.
Tami Green, the president of the Jackie Robinson Residents Block Association, and many fellow community members expressed support for the course.
During a community day hosted by the NYC Disc Golf Association on Saturday, July 13, QNS spoke with Green while showing her support and throwing a few discs.
Green said the co-founder’s perseverance in introducing the sport to the community and answering community needs is what helped them achieve their goal.
“They formulated programs for people to come out and experience the game of disc golf,” Green said. “They have fun activities for community engagement and involvement.”
Green shared her admiration with Bender and Hoyle for their commitment to maintaining relationships and greenspaces at the park so far.
The group’s efforts started in October of last year, and since chatting with community members like Green, the Disc Golf Association has made it a habit to pick up litter from around the course for about an hour before playing a game.
The group also welcomes others to try out the sport during its community days, where passersby can learn the game.
Disc Golf, which requires players to throw a disc into the chain netting, requires a great deal of practice.
The co-founders said that this is especially true for newcomers to the sport, like this reporter, who tried out the sport for the first time at the Saturday event.
The sport also features different types of discs that are meant to glide more to the left or the right, depending on the person throwing.
Cole Entress, with his seven-year-old son Halden, played like pros throughout the day. Entress even had a specialty backpack to hold multiple discs, for the enthusiastic disc golf enthusiast — catching the eye of the handful of players.
Weather does not necessarily stop the fun either. Although partial rain showers rolled across the course on Saturday, the players continued on with the game without hesitation.
Besides explaining the basics of the game, the co-founders also had to convince the community of the sport’s many benefits to the Brooklyn-Queens space.
Hoyle has been playing disc golf since middle school in his hometown in Arkansas. To him, disc golf is much more than just another hobby or sport.
“It’s hard to describe, but the flight of the disc is just like a very magical thing to watch if you get it right,” Hoyle said. “Then on top of that, you start making friends, learning that there’s a community of disc golfers, people that share the same passion.”
The Disc Golf community also supports charitable organizations like the Paul McBeth Foundation. Paul McBeth is a six-time disc golf world champion and the association’s founder.
“With nearly nine million residents in New York City and not a single disc golf course available to play, this project has been a dream of our foundation for a long time,” the Paul McBeth Foundation shared in a statement with QNS.
Disc Golf has spread across the globe with some players earning millions of dollars in competitions. The foundation gladly funded the installation of the course, costing $25,000 overall, the NYC Disc Golf Association confirmed.
“We hope that this first course will demonstrate the significant benefits disc golf can offer to communities, inspiring New York City Parks to install many more courses across the city,” the disc golf foundation added. “Our ultimate goal is to ensure that everyone in the world will have the opportunity to experience and enjoy this fantastic sport and New York City is a big step in making that possible.”
Overall, one of the most significant benefits of the newly installed disc golf course is its accessibility and affordability to varying age groups.
“We like to say it’s school age to old age,” Bender shared, who has also started his own company selling discs for disc golf.
As a final reminder from the two-disc golf enthusiasts, to enjoy the sport of disc golf, all visitors need is a disc.
