Disc Golf Vs. Ball Golf Episode 1--Show Me The Money

    I thought that a comparison between the two golfs might be interesting and might reveal what it is about disc golf that hooked me while ball golf never did.

    First, and perhaps most importantly (to me), disc golf is almost free, while ball golf can be very expensive. A couple days ago I tried counting how many discs I have bought and it was around 30. I probably spent an average of $10 on each disc (many were bought used). So I have spent around $300 on discs. I spent $15 on my bag. I have spent about $25 on disc lights for playing at night. I spend $5 to play at Bud Hill (local private course and my favorite course--I have played it 4 times) or to play in a mini tournament (I rarely get to play in these). And I spent $90 on my backyard basket. If I add all this together and round up it puts me at $500, but I am a nutso disc golf enthusiast who plays several times a week. I have bought way more discs than I need because I can't help myself. You could be well equipped with a bag and seven new discs, which is about all you really need for most shots, (premium plastic) for exactly $104.92.

    After this initial investment your only costs could be gas money and replacing lost discs (I have averaged one lost disc per month).

    However, from what I have seen, people who get into disc golf look for any excuse they can to buy more discs. They buy bags with shoulder straps that hold thirty discs. They play in lots of tournaments. Disc golfers are not reluctant to spend money on the sport they love. But even big spenders in disc golf would have a very hard time matching the spending of a serious ball golfer.

     Even a serious ball golfer on a budget who plays at the cheapest public courses four times a week will be spending $50 a week just on greens fees. Because of the nature of the sport you need acres of manicured fairways since you must play the ball where it lies. These acres of tidy turf cost money. A lot of it. We could even assume that he has no start up costs because he is using his dad's old clubs. He will still spend over $200 a month on fees. If a golfer is a member of a country club, he will spend thousands of dollars to join then maybe $500 a month in fees. This adds up to a lot of money. I'm not saying that it's not worth it for a sport that you truly love. Many private courses resemble a work of art more than a sports venue. They are amazing, beautiful places, but not everyone can afford that. Few can afford it. I am stingy by nature and there is no way I could rationalize (or afford) paying that much money for golf when we are trying to get out of debt and save money.
     The low cost of disc golf may be the most important reason why  I play it. First of all, the day I first played disc golf we were planning on going indoor surfing on an artificial wave, but we opted to borrow some discs and give disc golf a try rather than spend $40 to wait in line for faux surfing. Even though I had a good time on my first disc golf outing, I was by no means hooked. But a couple of minutes on ebay, and a few dollars later, I owned my own discs. After a few hours of practice at the park down the street I was hooked. So I got to try it out for free and got hooked for minimal investment.
     I will follow up this post with more episodes on disc golf vs. ball golf such as time-how long it takes to play a round, distances, etc.