Creekside park in Holladay (1660 E. Murray-Holladay Rd 4800 S.) is one of the few places to have a frisbee/disc golf course. The best part is that it's free to play! All you need is a few frisbess. Take your family or your friends out today and try it. Here's some general info about the game.
Getting Started Playing Disc Golf
The rules are quite similar to the rules used in the game of "Club Golf", including the matter of courtesy. It is only fair that your opponent’s turn to throw be without distraction, just as you would like it to be for yours. Do not throw your disc until you are sure its flight or landing, will not distract another player.
Tee off order on the first tee will be by mutual arrangement or by flipping discs. The printed side is heads and the odd man should be first. Tee off order on all subsequent holes is determined by the score on the previous hole. The player with the lowest score tees off first.
A marker disc is used to mark every throw and should be a special disc, like a pocket mini disc model that is not used in normal play. The thrown disc is always left on the lie, (where it came to rest,) until the marker disc is placed on the ground directly in front of and touching the disc. The thrown disc is then picked up.
Proper foot placement when throwing will require some practice. The foot that you put you weight on when you throw, i.e., the "plant" foot, must be as close as is reasonable to the front line of the tee or to the marker disc: in no case ahead of the line or disc, or more than 1 foot behind the line, or disc. The other foot can be any place you choose as long as it is no closer to the hole than the rear of the marker disc.
Follow through, (stepping past marker disc after throwing), is allowed on any throw except when putting, (any throw where the rear of the marker disc is within 10 meters of the hole). Falling forward to keep your balance after a putt is not allowed. This infraction is called a falling putt.
If the disc is stuck in a tree or a bush more than 2 meters above the ground, the marker disc is placed exactly beneath it and it is carefully removed from the tree. You have also just added one throw to your score. This is called a penalty throw. You may now proceed; however, take extreme care not to damage the tree or bush, or reshape them in any way to improve your throwing conditions. Some courses have "out of bounds" areas; or for the safety of the players. Observe the boundaries carefully and try to stay out. If your disc is "out-of-bounds" , i.e., you can see "out-of-bounds" area between the edge of your disc and the "inbounds" line, place your marker disc "inbounds" at the place where your disc went "out-of-bounds" and give yourself a one throw penalty. Again, please be careful of natural vegetation.
Water hazards are to be avoided because your disc will sink! If, however, you have been so unfortunate as to land in the water, play it like you do the "out-of-bounds" throw, and don’t forget to take a one throw penalty. If the disc is touching any shore above the water , it is "inbounds". Standing water or mud on the course that is caused by sprinklers or rain is not considered "out-of-bounds" and the disc may be relocated to a dryer area no closer to the hole with no penalty.
A mandatory dog-leg is sometimes used to keep players out of alternate-use areas or to make a particular hole more difficult. It is normally designated as such on the tee sign. The arrow indicates the side and direction the disc must pass. If your disc goes on the wrong side, it can be thrown back on either side of the dog-leg and then passes as the arrow indicates.
Unfortunately, there are usually litterbugs found on every disc golf course. Hopefully, everyone else will get the idea sooner or later.
Basic Disc Golf Terminology
Tee Pad - The location or designated area in which the first throw of the golf hole is suppose to take place from. Tee Pads are typically be made of concrete or rubber. A portion of a side walk or a utility marker flag or spray painted box may also be used as a tee pad.
The Basket - Born of the original tone pole, the game of Disc Golf advanced rapidly with the invention of “Steady” Ed’s Pole Hole or “Basket” as it is commonly referred to by disc golfers. Once a disc comes to rest in the trapper basket, the hole is considered complete.
Throw - The act of advancing the disc towards the basket. This can be accomplished by many different throwing styles; Backhand, Forehand, Rollers. Each throw is counted towards the player’s score.
Lie - the spot where the disc comes to rest. This is often marked by a mini-disc marker.
Par - like in ball golf, each disc golf hole has a posted par. The par is the desired number of strokes that a player would need to complete the hole. To the competitive disc golfer, every hole is a par three, making the total par for 18 holes always 54. This serves to simplify the game.
Drive - any throw off of the tee pad, or a throw from the fairway designed for maximum distance.
Approach - usually the second shot of a hole, designed to place the disc within putting distance.
Putt - The final throw(s) of the hole aimed at getting your disc to come to rest in the trapper basket. Any throw within the circle ( 10 meter radius).
Ace - known as a hole in one in ball golf. An ace occurs when a player makes their first shot, or drive, into the basket. One of the unique practices in disc golf is to have all participants in the ace group or all spectators sign the "ace disc." Aces are more common in disc golf than ball golf as the top pros boast as many as 100+ aces in their careers.
The Circle - This is what helps defines a true disc golf putt. If a player is throwing his/her disc at the basket with in a 10 Meter or 30 Ft circle of the basket, they must follow an addional set of putting rules defined by the PDGA. Basically if you’re in the circle, your disc has to come to rest in the basket before any part of your body touches past the mini marker towards the basket. Failure to do so can lead to a “falling putt” penalty stroke.
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