It’s Always a Nice Day for Disc Golf in Southwest Florida

Disc golf is proving to be a very popular sport in Bonita Springs.

Disc golf, also known as Frisbee golf, is a flying disc game, as well as a precision and accuracy sport, in which individual players throw a flying disc at a target.

According to the Professional Disc Golf Association, “The object of the game is to traverse a course from beginning to end in the fewest number of throws of the disc.”

And on a recent day at the park, Schwegel, 52, Hollenbach, 30, Jim McGirr, 51, and Ken Weaver, 43, can be seen playing from the pro distances, this Naples Daily News article says, while Sean Coate, 39, was teeing off from the shorter, beginner course.

The pro course is 7,264 feet, a par 56. The short course is 5,292 feet, a par 55. Playing the shorter course, Coate said it also gave him easier tosses from the “tee.”

Soon, however, the course will have new, permanent concrete pads as the center gears up to offer tournaments closer to the summer months.

“We want to have youth clinics to grow the game,” Schwegel said. “We want to become an educational facility and go for grants.”

Disc Golf Fever

It’s amazing how many people have caught on to the sport in the last four or five years.

“The sport has seen unbelievable growth,” Hollenbach said. “Four to five years ago there may have been 2,000 playing, now it’s more than 6,000. Tournaments and sponsorships are bringing in big dollars. There are probably two tournaments a week in Florida.”

Don’t worry all you adventurous golf lovers out there, terms are similar to regular golf, but the varied discs are used as long distance drivers, fairway drivers, irons and putters. And the “hole” is a metal basket with chains that the discs must reach to fall into the “hole.”

For those interested in giving disc golf a try, here are a few local courses to check out:

Lee County: Estero Recreation Center, 239-498-0415.

Bonita Springs Recreation Center, 239-340-2841.

Bay Oaks in Fort Myers Beach, 239-246-1059.

North Fort Myers Community Park, 239-462-2962.

Florida Gulf Coast University, 239-826-3219.

Collier County: there is a new course at Palm Springs Park, Naples. Contact Bob Buchan at 239-300-8043.