By Alex Lee
The U.S. leads the world in disc golf, with 75% of the world’s courses. Michigan is among the top 10 states where the sport is played. And one of our state’s courses is in the Vicksburg Recreation Area located just off Sprinkle Road.
Disc golf follows traditional golf rules. There are different types of discs to throw from different places on the course, much like different clubs in traditional golf. The hole is completed when the disc comes to rest in the chains or catch chains of the “basket,” like putting the ball into the hole or cup on a traditional green.
The 18-hole village course is graded by the online Disc Golf Scene as an A-minus, and also as the 26th best course in Michigan and the 159th best in the nation. The course is 8,000 feet in length, with three holes under 300 feet, eight holes between 300-400 feet, and seven holes over 400 feet. Playing the course is free.
Vicksburg Village Manager Jim Mallery described the course as an asset to the village in a wide variety of ways. “Events like the 2015 Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) Amateur Disc Golf Championships played here in Vicksburg put us on the map. Having this green space available for recreation in our community adds to a quality of life for our residents.”
Mallery said new baskets were recently added to improve the course, and an outbuilding was painted to promote the village’s historic downtown and social district to get visitors to discover the downtown. The next planned improvement: new tee signs and hole maps posted at the tees.
The course gets busier during league play and tournaments, but usually during the week the course is not busy.
Modern disc golf, formerly known as Frisbee golf, started in the early 1960s. There is a lot of debate about who started the game, but college kids around the country have been hurling discs at trees, lamp posts and empty barrels at least since that time.