Story and photos by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi –
Disc golf isn’t just a sport, it’s a culture—a family of folks who enjoy being outdoors for friendly competition with fellow enthusiasts. By all accounts, it’s addictive.
“It’s relaxing and affordable and you don’t have to wear plaid,” said Brian Bayford, who loved the sport so much he designed a course at his home in Gloucester.
Bayford is a 44-year veteran of the sport. As a teenager in 1977, he was introduced to disc golf by his brother who was in the Navy in Virginia Beach. After playing on a weekend visit, he returned home and started practicing by throwing discs into grocery carts.
“It really is addictive,” said Bayford. “My father was 78 or 79 when he stopped playing. You can play at any age. It’s a sport for anyone.”
Disc golf was invented in the early 1900s with the first game held in Canada in 1926. The Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) was founded in 1976. Now, the sport is growing so quickly courses are popping up all over the place, literally in people like Bayford’s backyards.
Over the past year, most likely because the COVID-19 pandemic has forced families to seek more and varied outdoor activities, the sport has become increasingly popular in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula.
Gary and Janice Hutt have seen more traffic on their course at Lake Marshall in Westmoreland County.
“We have had people from all over, from Texas, even had some from Alaska that were in the area and heard of the course,” said G. Hutt. “COVID has definitely had an impact. This is a place where people can get outside with their families and friends and let go of stress.”
For those not in the know, disc golf is played much like golf except with a flying disc instead of a ball. The disc is thrown from a tee area towards a basket or “hole”. The player progresses down the fairway throwing from each spot where the previous throw landed, again a lot like golf. The final toss or “putt” lands the disc in the basket and the hole is complete. Like golf, the player with the lowest number of throws wins and each hole has a designated par.
Unlike traditional golf, which can be costly with an expensive set of clubs and pricey green fees, disc golf is affordable. Although veterans of the game and serious disc golf players can carry a bag full of discs, novices of the game can start with two discs—a driver and a putter. Discs costs on average between $9-$30. Public parks are usually free to play. Even private courses like Lake Marshall charge a very minimal fee.
Three of the private courses in the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck–Lake Marshall in Montross, Dragon Hills in Heathsville and Bay 26 in Gloucester—are all listed on UDisc, the official app for disc golfers that includes a directory of over 10,000 courses.
“Since COVID, I’ve had more people play in the last year than since I put [Dragon Hills] on the app,” said Talmadge Newsome, who designed a course at his home in Edwardsville in Northumberland County.
Newsome started playing in 1995 but didn’t realize it was even a sport until 1998.
“I played with regular big frisbees and we were aiming at telephone poles,” he said. “Then people said, ‘you know that’s a real sport’.”
Now a serious disc golfer, Newsome and his family play every Sunday afternoon at their home course. His bag is filled with discs in all makes and colors. Some discs include a ratings system, which is a set of numbers that reveal the disc speed, glide, turn and fade. But those new to the sport can play with just a few discs and need to concentrate only on throwing the disc. As players progress they can fine tune their mechanics, said Newsome, who on a good day can throw a disc about 380 feet.
“Professionals average about 500 to 600 feet,” he said. “Just like baseball and golf, it’s all mechanics and form. Of course the bigger and more muscular you are helps. But there are some guys out there my size who can throw it another 100-feet farther than me.”
Newsome started designing his course in the early 2000s. His course, although it has some added hazards and out-of-bounds that make it more challenging, is open and flat, relatively forgiving for beginning players.
Bayford’s Bay 26 course includes a few one-of-a-kind holes including a hanging basket hole and a chicken coop “ramp” hole, which requires the golfer to make a bank shot. He has 26 holes plus 10 bonus holes on six acres. The basket on the island hole with a water hazard serves as two holes. All holes are par 3.
The course includes a few open holes but is primarily wooded and once served as a motocross track for Bayford and his son. As with most courses, the trees and shrubs serve as natural hazards. Golfers are usually greeted, and often followed, by the course mascot, Biscuit the rooster.
“Brian has been absolutely amazing for growing this sport in this area,” said David Lowey, who’s been playing about four years and plays Bay 26 about twice a week.
Although the course is private, Bayford says he often gets several requests a day and has two to three groups play the course on weekends.
“I don’t discourage anybody, ever, even if I’m not home,” he said.
The weekend of May 13-15, Lake Marshall’s three courses were packed with players of all skill levels. Some 200 disc golf players came to the picturesque course for a three-day tournament that included a $7,000 purse. Players from as far as Tennessee and North Carolina, both pros and amateurs, participated in the PDGA-sanctioned event.
“I’m an old golfer myself, but I’d never even heard of this game til about seven years ago,” said G. Hutt, who was initially approached by Trey Hamlet about designing a course on his property.
“I didn’t want a golf course here, but then he explained what it was,” said G. Hutt.
Today, there are three courses on the land around the lake. G. Hutt has more than 500 acres, his brother more than 300. The property has been in the Hutt family since the 1660s.
The family-owned agriculture and seafood industries locally have dwindled over the last few years, he said.
“That world has changed. We’ve gotta reinvent a new economy in this area,” he said. Visitors come to the Northern Neck to “mitigate the stress in their lives.”
G. Hutt says his motivation for developing the Lake Marshall courses is a way to preserve the environment while improving the economy. The course itself “includes trails, so you’ll see all the wildlife you want to see while playing.”
The Lambs course at Lake Marshall includes a 9-hole intermediate course and an 18-hole pitch-n-putt course for beginners and children. The Lair is an 18-hole advanced level, 8,000-foot par 65 pro-level course. The Lions is an 18-hole championship grade course. It’s a par 72, 12,000-foot course with two sets of tee boxes per hole.
The courses all wind through the woods, up and down hills, over water hazards and include open and forested holes. Some folks just enjoy the course for its scenic trails, said G. Hutt, who allows camping on specific locations along the lake.
Although Lake Marshall is privately owned, players are always welcome and there is a nominal fee.
“We get such a diverse group of people,” said J. Hutt. “There are 70 and 80 year olds that come out here that can really play and there are 13 year olds that can show everybody up.”
John Biscoe, who was director of the May tournament at Lake Marshall, says he’s one of a handful of people, probably nationwide, who makes a living exclusively off the sport. Biscoe designs disc golf courses, primarily in Virginia and West Virginia.
“The [Lake Marshall] course is among the very best in the world and built for high end events,” he said.
A farmer most of his life, Biscoe changed careers in 2019 and now owns Thrown Disc Golf. He says there are more than 150 public and private courses in Virginia.
Disc golf is a sport for everyone, said Newsome, who always finds a course to play while vacationing. “It’s for old people, young people, men, women, kids. Everybody just enjoying the sport.”
