ARVADA — The sound of clanging chains echoes through Johnny Roberts Disc Golf Course at Memorial Park as small orange discs crash into metal baskets. This course — the busiest in the nation — is in constant motion. The disc-hurling duffers log more than 21 million rounds in the wooded links on the banks of Ralston Creek every year, sending their plastic soaring.
“People build communities just because they see other people out on the course regularly,” says Monica Thomas, the chief operating officer at UDisc, an app created in 2017 that helps users find nearby courses.
Disc golf is growing in popularity nationally, with more than 17,000 courses worldwide, and Colorado ranks first in the nation for disc golf availability, according to the UDisc 2026 Disc Golf Growth Report.
A disc golf course can contain up to 18 strategically placed baskets, and traditional golf courses, vary in difficulty and length. The goal of the game is to spin a variety of discs — each specifically weighted as drivers and putters — through sometimes technical terrain and land them in chain-draped baskets. The fewest throws win, just like regular golf.
Disc golf has a much smaller footprint than traditional golf. That’s part of the appeal. Since the sport’s founding in California in 1975, towns and clubs have built more than 11,000 disc golf courses in the U.S., compared with around 16,500 golf courses. The Nordic countries are all in, with Norway building 100 disc golf courses a year in the last five years and Iceland having more disc courses per capita — one for every 4,500 residents — than any other country.
The growth of disc golf has extended beyond the game itself, as players have come to embrace the connections it fosters. Tournaments — with three- to five-player teams — are common events, but with 89% of U.S. courses free for users, recreational play is the biggest draw.
“It’s something that you could do during your lunch break, or the kids can get out there and do,” says Josh Lichti, the cofounder and CEO of UDisc.
Ali Lance, a Colorado local and longtime disc golfer, started playing in 2014, long before the sport’s recent surge.
“I was definitely one of the only women out on the course,” Lance says.
Wanting to promote a large female presence on the course, Lance started the Boulder Ladies Disc Golf Club. Every Monday in the summer, Lance leads a group of women through the Belmont Park disc golf course in Longmont.
“I wanted to create a space for the women to play together and learn from each other while they play,” Lance says.
What started as a one-woman club has transformed into a community of more than 70 members. Their efforts to bring more women together on the course reflect the broader idea that disc golf can create new networks among players.
Players of all skill levels are welcome on the course, whether you are there to compete or play casually with friends or people you’ve just met.
“You could probably go up to any of these people and say, ‘Hey, this is my first time here,’ and they would give you a Frisbee and teach you how to play,” Lichti says.
With UDisc, it’s easier for people to find nearby disc golf courses. According to the same survey conducted by the UDisc team, 500 million people live within 6 miles of a disc golf course as of 2023. A player using the UDisc app can view the course’s difficulty and length and track their scores.
Access to courses also gives people the opportunity to connect with the outdoors while focusing on fitness as they walk from basket to basket. At Memorial Park in Arvada, players pass through tangles of trees along a babbling creek as they make their way to each basket.
Colorado’s scenic courses have helped expand the sport. UDisc counts more than 320 courses statewide, with 144 full-length, 18-hole courses.
“They have so many courses, it’s just really amazing to see. But it is also really an outdoors-focused society,” Thomas says.
“It just gets people outside, and people can be outside together,” she adds.
Unlike many recreational activities that require expensive equipment and substantial investment in facilities, disc golf continues to prove itself as a low-cost sport accessible to both players and communities looking to expand playful amenities.
“You could build the disc golf course for $15,000 or less. That’s a fourth of the cost of a playground,” Lichti says.
The UDisc team continues to actively encourage more people to take up the sport in their communities.
“It’s good for public health, good for the environment, and it’s really good for parks too,” Lichti says.
The chains of the baskets have echoed through the Johnny Roberts course since 1978. The park is named after Johnny Roberts, a member of the World Disc Golf Hall of Fame and a beloved teacher at Arvada West High School. One of Colorado’s newest courses opened in May at Summit High School in Breckenridge, with a student-designed, nine-hole course named after teacher and disc golfer Rick Karden, who died last summer.
In 2025, the UDisc app recorded 21.2 million disc golf rounds played at the Johnny Roberts course. Although the number of courses nationwide can indicate the sport’s expansion, its impact can also be measured by the community it creates.
“For some people, it is much more of a relaxing activity, and so they go for that reason,” Thomas says. “Some people like to meet up with their friends, and it’s a social activity. It really depends on who you are. That’s what I love about disc golf, is that you can pick one of many, many things.”