The disc golf community is one that sets itself apart from all other sports. With how affordable the sport is — Eugene courses are free to play on and a disc costs around $12 —  it’s continuously welcoming new players. The doses of success when hitting the target and being outside make it that much more attractive to play.

“What I like about it is I meet so many people in the sport,” Ralph Huntoon, the Eugene Disc Golf Club’s treasurer, said. “I have contact with doctors, lawyers, dentists, trades people, chefs, cooks –– almost anybody plays the sport.”

EDGC promotes these relational aspects of the sport through charity and community work, as well as hosting disc golf events and tournaments. It prides itself on giving back to the community. Beyond this, the club has created a social circle around disc golf, making it easy to meet club members while competing in various events hosted by EDGC.

For people looking to get into disc golf, EDGC provides a circle for beginners to improve. Being outside in beautiful parts of Eugene also makes the sport easier to learn. Andy Hock, a member at large, emphasized how being outside in nature is a reward in itself and how the low stakes of disc golf also make it more relaxing compared to other sports.

“When I try to sell people on it, I always tell them there’s not very many things that you can do and be really bad at and still have a good time, and disc golf is totally one of those things,” he said.

Still, steadily improving at the sport keeps players coming back as they try to recapture the feeling of accomplishment on the course.

Club secretary Eugene Hackler said one of the best things to see on the course is “people realizing they’re improving.”

For club president Michael Haines, EDGC isn’t solely about the sport of disc golf, but the community and relationships behind it. Haines quickly transitioned as the newly named club president and continues to seek out ways to improve EDGC and expand the sport.

As a whole, Haines said he sees the disc golf community as one that makes a difference by supporting businesses and connecting people from all sorts of backgrounds.

The executive board prides itself on the community work EDGC consistently does through charity tournaments.

On Feb. 12, 2022, EDGC will host the Ice Bowl challenge in which all proceeds will be donated to Food for Lane County. The board also supports Uplay Disc Golf and Alliance Disc Golf, two other nonprofit organizations in the area.

Along with supporting nonprofits and hosting charity events, maintaining disc golf courses is another piece of volunteer work that is unseen by the general public.

“We put work parties together,” ex-president and member at large Rebecca Duffy said. “We keep our parks where our disc golf courses are clean. We pick up trash. We get rid of invasive species to let our native species thrive.”

Along with the community work the club is involved in, disc golf events the club hosts are popular among players.

A member favorite is the bag tag league. The club sells numbered tags as part of the club membership, each individually numbered.
Each year EDGC hosts a bag tag kickoff and a season ender. In between those events, club members can compete on their own as the goal is to end with the lowest tag number.

“It creates a lot of fellowship, a lot of fun,” Huntoon said. “The more events and fun things you have for people to be involved in to test their skills and develop their skills, the more people want to be a part of it.”

There is a cash prize for the winner with the lowest tag number at the season ender. This year it was $1,200. The bag tag tournament is one of the biggest contributors to boosts in membership, Huntoon said.

Events like this bring club members together as a collective group.

By giving back to different groups and hosting fun, competitive events year round, EDGC has made the disc golf social circle and environment more popular in Eugene. Haines said he is working to create more social events that are not necessarily disc golf orientated.

“The kind of community that the club builds for people, it brings people together who are from all different walks of life and maybe would never have an opportunity to get to know each other,” Haines said. “That’s one thing that I really appreciate about disc golf.”