This comes from the PDGA Website:
A Milestone for Disc Golf!
by Michl Priester #34623(Introduced by Dan “Stork” Roddick #3)
Just recently, Cliff Towne, keeper of the PDGA Course Directory, reported that he had registered the 3,000th disc golf course. This was particularly exciting because the course, which is the Schmitten Discgolf Parcours, is the first to be registered in Austria. To put this milestone into some perspective, do remember that the first permanent disc golf course in the world, at Oak Grove Park in Pasadena, California, was established by Ed Headrick and Wham-O in 1974. Disc golf had been played for a good many years at tournaments prior to 1974, but this was the first permanent installation. So… it’s been 35 years from the first to the 3,000th course. That may seem a long time to you, especially if you’re under twenty. But, if we take a look at our much older cousin, ball golf, we see an interesting comparison of development. The first mention of golf was way back in 1452 when King James (not of Cleveland... King James II of Scotland) banned the playing of golf because it was cutting into time spent on archery practice. So, we know the game was being played informally for many, many years before the Society of St. Andrews Golfers got it together to form the first club in 1754, which would later become the Royal and Ancient. It’s hard to find a good timeline of global ball golf course development, but we do know that the 3,000th course did not get built in the U.S. until 1916. So, it took the grand old game roughly 450 years from inception to 3,000 courses. Or, more realistically, 162 years from the first club to that point of development. Given that, our 35 years is pretty darn impressive. We got traction on this game very quickly. Now, do remember that ball golf has continued to grow and now boasts over 31,000 courses worldwide, with about 17,000 of them in the U.S. It’s also estimated that there are about 50 million ball golfers on the planet… and of course there’s been one on the moon.
But, back to our 3,000th course, which is special in several ways. For one, because it’s the first registered course in Austria, it’s emblematic of the global burst of interest that has hit disc golf.
Just recently, Cliff Towne, keeper of the PDGA Course Directory, reported that he had registered the 3,000th disc golf course. This was particularly exciting because the course, which is the Schmitten Discgolf Parcours, is the first to be registered in Austria. To put this milestone into some perspective, do remember that the first permanent disc golf course in the world, at Oak Grove Park in Pasadena, California, was established by Ed Headrick and Wham-O in 1974. Disc golf had been played for a good many years at tournaments prior to 1974, but this was the first permanent installation. So… it’s been 35 years from the first to the 3,000th course. That may seem a long time to you, especially if you’re under twenty. But, if we take a look at our much older cousin, ball golf, we see an interesting comparison of development. The first mention of golf was way back in 1452 when King James (not of Cleveland... King James II of Scotland) banned the playing of golf because it was cutting into time spent on archery practice. So, we know the game was being played informally for many, many years before the Society of St. Andrews Golfers got it together to form the first club in 1754, which would later become the Royal and Ancient. It’s hard to find a good timeline of global ball golf course development, but we do know that the 3,000th course did not get built in the U.S. until 1916. So, it took the grand old game roughly 450 years from inception to 3,000 courses. Or, more realistically, 162 years from the first club to that point of development. Given that, our 35 years is pretty darn impressive. We got traction on this game very quickly. Now, do remember that ball golf has continued to grow and now boasts over 31,000 courses worldwide, with about 17,000 of them in the U.S. It’s also estimated that there are about 50 million ball golfers on the planet… and of course there’s been one on the moon.
But, back to our 3,000th course, which is special in several ways. For one, because it’s the first registered course in Austria, it’s emblematic of the global burst of interest that has hit disc golf.
For more on this course and a run-through of the course catch this link;
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