Is Disc Golf Really "Exploding"?

[DavidSauls]

I see this as having a downside as well. In the past, people got out of town and explored new courses and cities. It was cool to travel and see a bit of the world, just because you love competing in the sport. Now, I get strange looks when I tell folks I've driven three hours to play in their C-tier event.

With the price of gas and the lousy economy, a ton of local events is definitely a good thing. But we are heading toward a future where the vast majority of tournament players will never leave their home town.

True. And I do miss the some of the people from neighboring states who I used to see a couple of times a year. Tournaments had a reunion aspect then.

But ultimately, I like having more choice, more.

 

[bikinjack]

I'm of the opinion that the sport is definitely growing. Whoever said it would be good to know how many discs Innova and Discraft are selling is probably on the right track. I think that may be the best metric but we'll never know.

 

[PhillyMatt]

Good post ^^

 

[Red33]

They were selling baskets at Costco a month ago... I'd say thats a pretty good sign of growth (at least here in michigan). Those big stores stock only what they know they can sell

 

[south city flyer]

I have the pleasure of working at Disc Golf World in Kansas City, and I can say that in the time I've been working here (about 3-4 months), the amount of customers in store and online orders has increased a lot as the summer months come in. A lot of people come in that know exactly what they want, but a surprisingly large number of new players come in to get a beginner set or pick up 1-3 discs to start out. We get at least 10-15 of these people a day it seems like, and that's great! I do believe that disc golf is "one" of the fastest growing sports in the world, but it's just not getting the recognition that "exploding" sports such as lacrosse are getting. In time, I do see disc golf being a very popular sport worldwide, it just takes time and effort to spread the word.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Don't know if the "fastest growing" claim can be validated, but----

Disc golf clearly has impressive growth by most measurable standards. Number of courses, number of tournaments, number of tournament participants, merchandise sales, presence of merchandise in mainstream stores.....

I think the actual existence is a better measure of growth than google searches.

The interesting question would be why searches have not kept pace.

^this.
Just look at how the number of disc manufacturers has grown. Convenience strores near courses are carrying more discs than they were a few years ago. There's only one reason the owner of a small store with limited space would tie up more money in inventory, and dedicate more shelf space to any product: because it's generating more sales than some other product(s).

Hell, now Meijer and Walmart even carry Innova.
No way all that add'l sales is being sustained by the same core group.

 

[Greatzky]

the sport has steadily been growing by around 13% a year every year i've been playing.. with those numbers it will eventually get big to the point that people won't have to "stumble" into the game. They will see it and with the amount of stores carrying discs, disc companies, and apparel companies now(including mine), it will become more recognizable.
Our sport has been growing faster than paintball or snowboarding did so just by numbers it should become a much more noticeable and acceptable sport soon.

 

[jblough]

I'm perfectly fine with there being a perception that it's "exploding." It's helped me to persuade city and county officials to put more courses in the area. Whereas I used to get responses like "we need to have sustainability" or "show me that a lot of people are playing here," recreation board and park officials are much more receptive now. Not sure if that's a trend across the country or not.

 

[Jukeshoe]

^This.

The county parks board in the area has responded very favorably to the emails of local disc golfers calling for more courses in the area. They don't seem at all skeptical of the idea, despite very few existing courses in the county.

 

[Dr.Disc]

Yes atleast in missouri I live 30 minutes south of st.louis and in the last 7 years we have gotten 8 disc golf courses in the two countys south of st.louis county which are both rural countys jefferson and washington countys Everyone should look at the new courses in there state and ask is your state spending your taxes the way you would like are you getting new courses that other states are

 

[Rockiesfan4ever]

In my area of the "Northlands" of Kansas City we've gotten 2 new courses in the past couple of months. I think you need to look at the number of courses that are popping up rather than the Google searches

 

[Tfire25]

I blame the one time disc golfers partly on the groove. I can just imagine if I threw the groove as my first disc, I wouldn't have come back. All joking aside, there is a deeper meaning in my jab. Part of the reason some don't come back is because they don't know enough to enjoy the game. I'm only a year in so I'm pretty much a noob but I try to answer as many questions as possible. Then on the next drive they double their distance and they start bombarding me with questions so I steer them here. It was the same thing that happened to me and I haven't had to research any other disc golf issues because they are all here.

Maybe the success of this website is part of the reason the google search isn't showing adequate "explosion". Did you look at the increase in how many times dgcoursereview was googled?

 

[bilythekid]

There was about 75 or more cars in the parking lot at sedgley woods yesterday around 3pm. The parking lot is at least the size of a 350ft hole, it was full and some more across the street. No tournaments, tags was done for the day. Sedgley is the 2nd oldest permanent course in the country. The scene here is growing, I see new golfers all the time. I think it's safe to say the older clubs/courses are still susceptible to growth. It is quite rare to see less than 15 cars at sedgley, unless it just rained.

 

[412Disc]

I haven't witnessed an explosion and I'm not complaining

 

[jhgonzo]

I think the fact that there are more DG companies than a few years ago simply illustrates that some business-savvy and/or innovative folks (who probably happened to be disc golfers) realized, "Hey, there's a market here for my idea, and I've got the know-how to make some money!" I'd correlate that growth also with the HUGE improvements in technology in general..."stuff" is just getting better and more futuristicalish.

Same thing happened to skateboarding...after the "explosion" in the 90s (which rapidly plateaued), skate equipment was everywhere...or so it seemed to someone who was constantly surrounded by skaters!

 

[New013]

The only explosions happening in disc golf are in our pants when we see hot girls on the course.

 

[garublador]

I think the fact that there are more DG companies than a few years ago simply illustrates that some business-savvy and/or innovative folks (who probably happened to be disc golfers) realized, "Hey, there's a market here for my idea, and I've got the know-how to make some money!" I'd correlate that growth also with the HUGE improvements in technology in general..."stuff" is just getting better and more futuristicalish.

Innova's beveled edge disc patent expiring had something to do with that, too.

 

[sgamerp]

This. One disc wonders, and their buddies who will show up, and refuse to let you pass, and always throw into the woods, and take 20 minutes to find ONE of the people in their groups disc.

hmm this reminds me of every round I play with you.