For as long as I’ve been playing disc golf I’ve also been explaining to people that, yes, disc golf is the same as frisbee golf. Nearly everyone has heard of frisbee golf. But why are there so many of those people that don’t equate frisbee golf to disc golf? To find that out, let’s look back at the history of disc golf.
Historic Disc Throwing
People have been throwing objects for sport for thousands of years. The history of throwing discs even goes back to at least ancient Greece. Artist Myron created a bronze statue of Discobolus, the athlete depicted throwing a disc, around 450 BCE. While the earliest examples of throwing discs likely did not inspire modern disc sports, it is interesting to know that that humans have always been fascinated with disc flight.
Tin Lids and Trash Cans
Long before anyone called it disc golf or frisbee golf, people were already playing games that looked a lot like it. One of the earliest recorded versions dates back to 1926 in Bladworth, Saskatchewan, where a group of schoolchildren played a game they called Tin Lid Golf. They threw metal lids at targets such as trees and fence posts, keeping score much like modern disc golfers. This piece of history came to light years later when one of the participants reflected on the game after seeing a more formalized version of disc golf.
By the early 1960s, the rise of the plastic flying disc, specifically the Wham‑O Frisbee, sparked similar games across the United States. These were informal, improvised, and wonderfully creative. Students at Rice University held tournaments using trees as targets as early as 1964. In Augusta, Georgia, players aimed at 50‑gallon trash cans. And in Santa Barbara’s Alameda Park, teenagers created full courses using lamp posts, gazebos, water fountains, and trees as their “holes.”
These early players weren’t thinking about standardized discs or professional organizations. They were just tossing Frisbees at whatever they could find. In doing so, they laid the groundwork for the sport we know today.
When “Frisbee Golf” Was the Name
During the 1960s and early 1970s, the term “Frisbee golf” was the common label for the game. That made sense, since people were literally using Frisbees, and the name “Frisbee” itself was becoming a cultural icon. These games were casual, creative, and often community‑driven. No one owned special discs, and no one knew that the sport would evolve into something more formal.
But one person did see the potential.
From Frisbee Golf to Disc Golf
The turning point came with “Steady” Ed Headrick, an inventor at Wham‑O who patented the modern Frisbee in 1966. Headrick believed flying discs could be more than toys, they could be the foundation of a real sport. In 1975, he patented the Disc Golf Pole Hole, the chain‑and‑basket target that instantly transformed the game. That same year, the first official disc golf course was installed at Oak Grove Park in Pasadena, California.
With baskets came structure. With structure came competition. And with competition came the need for a name that wasn’t tied to a single brand.
In 1976, Headrick founded the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA), and the term “disc golf” became the official name of the sport. The shift wasn’t just branding, it reflected the sport’s evolution from casual Frisbee tossing to a standardized competitive activity with its own equipment, rules, and identity.
Specialized Discs and Explosive Growth
Once baskets and formal rules existed, disc technology took off. Manufacturers began designing discs specifically for golf, drivers, midranges, and putters, each with unique flight characteristics that a traditional Frisbee couldn’t match. This innovation pushed the sport further away from its Frisbee‑based roots and solidified the distinction between the two terms.
By the 1980s and beyond, disc golf courses spread across parks, schools, and recreation areas. The PDGA grew into a global governing body, and the sport developed its own culture, language, and competitive scene. With the advent of the Internet players could connect and learn about clubs, leagues, and tournaments. That gave the evolving sport a big boost. The development of online video site such as YouTube meant that people could watch and follow professional disc golfers. Online instruction videos also helped disc golf become more popular.
Today, millions of players worldwide enjoy disc golf, and while many still call it “frisbee golf,” the modern game is unmistakably its own sport. Whether you call it disc golf or Frisbee golf, it is nice to know you are part of an activity that has been going on for millennia.
