Philo Brathwaite, a professional disc golfer, takes a running start.
In one fluid motion, he twists his body, uncoils, and flings his disc.
The disc leaves his hand and soars through the air about 50 yards before delicately curving to the right around a group of trees.
As the disc travels, amazingly, its flight path starts to change. It starts veering to the left, narrowly splitting two trees, and rocketing toward the “basket,” which is the equivalent of a hole in golf.
Clang.
Brathwaite hits the basket on the fly.
The miraculous toss, captured on video, was quickly shown on ESPN’s SportsCenter. The clip also went viral on YouTube, garnering
1 million views.
Everything about Brathwaite’s toss—the skill level it took to do it, the setting of it, at a Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) tournament in Oregon, the fact it was videoed and shared on social media, and how it was highlighted on ESPN—is emblematic of how the sport of disc golf is rapidly growing in popularity and legitimacy all across the U.S.
“Prior to 2015, disc golf had not made ESPN one single time,” said Justin Lieberman, a local disc golfer and the tournament coordinator for the Waller Park Disc Golf Course. “Last year it made it on ESPN seven to eight times, and it’s already made it a bunch of times in 2016.”
While Brathwaite ended up placing second at the Beaver State Fling despite his miraculous toss, he’s the defending champion at the Santa Maria Open, the annual disc golf tournament held at Waller Park.
Waller Park and its 27 holes of disc golf action are regarded as a top destination in the state for disc golf players, in addition to being a hit among locals.
The Waller Park Disc Golf Course quietly opened to the public in 1996. Over time, the popularity of the course has significantly increased.
“It’s a great sport, and it’s really grown over time,” said Bob McNally, the man who helped design the Waller Park course back in the ’90s. “The first tournament we had, there was just a handful of people. The second one, through word of mouth, we got a group of 30.”
Now, the course is celebrating its 20th anniversary with the upcoming Santa Maria Open on July 30 to 31. A whopping 175 disc golfers will migrate to Santa Maria to compete.
“We’ll have a barbecue and birthday cake and everything,” Lieberman said. “The players love coming to the coast during this time of year because the rest of the state is so hot.”
The rules of disc golf are structured much like regular golf, where players “tee off” from a concrete slab located hundreds of feet away from the metal basket, with the simple goal of reaching the basket in as few throws as possible.
Players use a variety of discs for different types of tosses. A hard, small, and aerodynamic disc is used for long-distance tee shots, while a softer, loftier, Frisbee-like disc is used like a putter in golf, for tosses closest to the basket.
While disc golf has its roots in traditional golf, in many ways, the sports couldn’t be more different. Their differences range from technique to the characteristics of the courses to the sports’ cultures.
“Whereas in golf, you use a club to control your flight path, in disc golf, you use your body to control your flight path,” Lieberman explained. “We’re also not out on these purely manicured greens. We’re out in the forest; sometimes you’re in pretty remote places. And it’s a much more laid-back atmosphere. Nobody’s snooty or in a real rush.”
The Santa Maria Open is just a small slice of what Lieberman, McNally, and others work hard to facilitate at the Waller Park Disc Golf Course.
On a daily basis, there are dozens of people of all ages and skill levels playing the course, free of charge. If you’re curious about disc golf and never played, starting out is simple.
“My recommendation is to go to Play It Again Sports, buy $30 worth of plastic, and go out with a few discs,” Lieberman said. “Waller Park is a very beautiful place and [the disc golf course] provides a different view of the park.”
The park hosts a competitive league that plays on Wednesday nights. There’s a monthly tournament, too, as well as an annual doubles tournament in December. The course, leagues, and tournaments are open to all ages and skill levels.
“We see 8-year-olds and we see 80-year-olds,” McNally said.
Lieberman believes that many factors have helped disc golf become a popular activity both locally and nationally.
“It’s a very active sport and inexpensive,” Lieberman said. “It’s a very easy sport, with minimal impact on the body for most people.” He added that the internet and social media are also helping disc golf get more visibility.
McNally thinks the friendly learning curve of the sport makes it attractive to all types of athletes.
“You go out there and at first you think, ‘Yeah, I don’t know how to do this.’ But within a week you see massive improvement,” he said. “And within six months, you’re playing with the big boys.”
Lieberman and McNally are both on the board of Friends of Waller Park, a nonprofit organization that oversees the disc golf course. Lieberman credited the good teamwork between the Friends of the Park and the Santa Barbara County Park Rangers as the key to success.
“It’s an amazing support system,” he said. “The rangers do a majority of the park maintenance, which allows our club members to take it to the next level and plan great events. It’s a cohesive situation where we’re able to really enjoy Waller Park on a regular basis.”
Making disc golf financially sustainable at the park is never simple, but it is much more viable now than it used to be. Before the sport had the glam and hype it does now, it took stubborn dedication for it to survive.
“The first two or three years I ran the tournament, it lost money,” McNally said. “People would ask, ‘Why are you doing this if you’re losing money?’ I guess I love doing it. I love having this thing happen. Any sane man probably would’ve walked away a long time ago.”
Times have changed—and for the better. The growth of the sport, both competitively and recreationally, has made it easier to attract more tournament participants and sponsors at Waller Park.
“It’s really started to blow up in the last couple of years and draw major sponsors,” Lieberman said. “It has really reached the masses.”
Contributor Peter Johnson can be reached at pjohnson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Jul 14-21, 2016.