Growing disc golf club welcomes all new players

Hawke's Bay Disk Golf club is steadily growing as the sport becomes more and more popular. Photo / Paul Taylor

Always wanted to give golf a go, but were put off by the price of equipment and club fees?

Well disc golf being cheaper and faster may just be the new sport for you to try your hand at.

Disc golf is usually free to play in public parks, takes about half as long as traditional golf to complete a round, and is designed to be enjoyed by people of all ages, gender identities, and economic status, making it a great lifetime fitness activity.

Hawke’s Bay disc golf is becoming more and more popular and the local club is always looking for new players and meets every Tuesday night at Flaxmere Park for a few rounds.

The club was formed through the mutual passion of the members for the sport and their desire to grow the sport and share their enjoyment with others.

Hawke's Bay disc golf club committee member Matthew Stowell left, and club president Leon Crellin, at the Flaxmere Park disk golf course. Photo / Paul Taylor

While the club now has more than 35 members now, forming the Hawke’s Bay disc golf club was slow going as the local 9-hole course at Flaxmere Park wasn’t installed until 2017.

Hawke’s Bay Disc Golf Club committee member Matthew Stowell explained for a long time the Flaxmere course was only “sparsely utilised”.

Disc golf is played much like golf except instead of a ball and clubs players use a flying disc. Like normal golf, the object of completing each hole in the fewest strokes or, in the case of disc golf, the fewest throws.

A disc golf hole begins from a tee area and ends at a target, which is an elevated metal basket. As a player progresses down the fairway, he or she must make each consecutive throw from the spot where the previous throw landed.

The trees, shrubs, and terrain changes located in and around the fairways provide challenging obstacles for the golfer. When the ‘putt’ lands in the basket, the hole is complete.

All you need to play is a disc which is usually inexpensive, ranging from about $20 to $35 depending on the quality of the plastic and other features and can be picked up at a local sports store.

Hawke's Bay Disc Golf Club president Leon Crellin is the most experienced disc golf player in the region. Photo / Paul Taylor

Following the Covid pandemic and lockdowns people began looking for a sport they could play while still maintaining physical distancing and the popularity of disc golf began to rise.

In January 2021, the club formed its first social league night, where players would gather one night a week to play against each other.

Once the regular social night games started the club continued to grow and since then extra tee locations have been added to make the Flaxmere course a full 18-hole course.

Compared to clubs around New Zealand the Hawke’s Bay club is small but has a constantly growing active membership.

Hawke’s Bay members have also had success at tournaments around the country and the club itself will be hosting its first national tournament in late April, at the club’s championship-level course, which has been put in at the Te Pohue golf course.

The upcoming tournament is NZ disc golf accredited and will also use the worldwide Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) ranking system.

Disc golfers take over Flaxmere Park every Tuesday evening for a few social rounds of the popular game. Photo / Paul Taylor

“The tournament is really important as it puts our club on the map and shows players around the country that our golf course is a destination to travel to,” Stowell said.

Hosting a big nationwide tournament will also bring in some money for the club which will help them cover the costs to install more courses as the sport grows over the next couple of years.

If you are interested in joining the Hawke’s Bay Disc Golf Club, there is an annual fee of $20 to pay for the bag tag which is used to rank players by a number system starting from one.

That bag tag is ranked and is played for on Tuesday nights. Before the game starts players will put their tags into a pile and after the game, the tags will be given back with the lowest numbered tag going to the winner and so on.

“Members can also ‘play for tags’ whenever they want to give a friendly game a bit more spice,” Stowell said.

The club is always looking for more players and members and we welcome people of all ages and skill levels, to find out more about the club join the Facebook group by searching Hawkes Bay Disc Golf Club on Facebook or following this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2389673321249628.