Goshen area part of sport’s Midwest hotbed for disc golf
· Yahoo Sports
GOSHEN — Most locals probably have seen those baskets with chains and people aiming at those targets with what they might refer to as a Frisbee.
That’s disc golf and it’s growing in popularity.
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Like ball golf, players start on a tee, but instead of a club striking a ball, they throw a disc. The number of throws count the same as strokes do in ball golf. To hole out, you must land the disc in the basket.
In ball golf, there are drivers, irons and putters. In disc golf, there are discs of differing widths used for driving, mid-range shots and putting. These discs can cost as little as about $10 to more than $20. Some players will carry dozens of discs with them in a bag that can go for anywhere from $20 to $400.
“The drivers have a much thinner profile to help cut aerodynamically through the wind,” said Jason Samuel, a long-time player, organizer and head coach of the first Goshen College disc golf team.
Many disc golf courses are either nine or 18 holes, though the one at Ox Bow Flying Disc Sanctuary at Ox Bow County Park near Dunlap has 24 and there are short and long tee pads on some holes.
Like ball golf, there are hazards and out-of-bounds. Most holes are around 300 feet with the longest at Ox Bow being about 500 feet.
Players might compete in singles or doubles. Some events have groups of three, four five players.
All holes on the course — regardless of length or difficulty — are par-3.
Samuel notes that some championship-style courses with par-4s and par-5s.
In 2004, Samuel led an 18-month capital campaign that helped raise $30,000 for the remodeling of the Ox Bow course. It was the first upgrade in 35 years. The course was established in 1989 by Goshen residents Jim Ingold and Dan Shenk.
Besides Ox Bow, area courses include — but are not limited to — nine-hole courses at Brenneman Memorial Missionary Church, DISCipes (Goshen Life Center) and Mullet Park in Goshen, plus layouts at Cook Station Park in Millersburg, Wakarusa Memorial Park, The Lodge in Syracuse, Island Park/Lundquist-Bicentennial Park in Elkhart, Ferrettie/Baugo County Park in Osceola and George Wilson Park in Mishawaka.
A nine-hole course is on the way at Goshen Intermediate School.
The Professional Disc Golf Association website (pdga.com) lists nearly 250 courses in Indiana.
With several disc manufacturers in Michigan, folks in these parts are flocking to the sport.
“The Great Lakes area is a hotbed for disc golf activity,” Samuel said.
The United States Amateur Disc Golf Championship was in June in Milford, Michigan. The PDGA World Championships are slated for Aug. 26-30 in Milford. The PDGA Masters (amateur and pro) World Championships are slated for Sept. 22-26 in Peoria, Illinois.
The Junior Disc Golf World Championships was July 7-11 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Amateur Disc Golf World Championships are Aug. 11-15 in Buffalo, New York.
The Maple City Spring League at Ox Bow run by Samuel drew 99 players a week March through May.
A Maple City Doubles League meets Thursday nights with about 15 to 20 players showing up and is run by Tex Farrell.
“This a weekly get together,” Farrell said of the best-shot competition. “It doesn’t track over time. You get a random partner and it’s whoever wins that night.”
A Goshen resident, Farrell said what he likes about the course in the variety.
“There’s difficult holes and there’s easier holes,” he said. “It’s beginner-friendly and it challenges the upper levels as well.
“This is one of the premier courses in the area for sure. It’s meant to be fun and enjoyable. I’ve learned a lot from Jason helping him with the leagues and stuff. He keeps them simple where people can have fun, instead of just being super-competitive.”
Scott Slusser, who lives not too far from Ox Bow, is a regular at the Thursday gathering. He picked up the sport in the early 1990s while living in New York and came back to it about 10 years ago.
“I got the bug and I got it bad,” Slusser, said, saying he often plays the course solo. “It’s bam, bam, bam. You don’t have to wait on anybody.”
While strokes are currently tracked the old fashion way, Slusser says he is working on a live scoring system.
A Maple City Late Summer League is planned for August and September. The Maple City Fall League is in September and October.
Elkhart County’s “Biggest Disc Golf Weekend” is Friday through Sunday, Aug. 14-16, at Ox Bow. The “Summer Sizzler” is 2 to 6 p.m. Friday and is a singles event. “The Classic” is Saturday and features two rounds. “Dog Days Doubles” begins at 2 p.m. Sunday.
The Maple City Ice Bowl has raised more than $171,000 for The Window food pantry in Goshen since 2021, including more than $43,000 at the 2026 event held Jan. 24.
“That’s the all-time record since these ice bowls started (across the country) in 1996,” Samuel said. “We were No. 1. We had been No. 2 the previous two or three years.”
Samuel, who is an elected Indiana state coordinator for PDGA, said Indiana had the sixth most disc golf events in the country in 2025 with over 200.
“If you did it per capita, Indiana would have the most events per capita in the United States,” he said.
Samuel, 56, is now executive director at a local radio station after 23 years as general manager. He devotes about 25% of his time to radio and the rest to disc golf.
The Goshen College team has men and women who receive athletic scholarships. The online roster for the men has Goshen High School graduates Anton Alstrom-Brookhyser, Anthony Beatriz and Jacob Near on the men’s side. Women come from as far as Spain and the Bahamas.
“We’re always actively recruiting new members the college team,” Samuel said.
The Maple Leafs are joined by Crossroads League members Mount Vernon Nazarene, Spring Arbor and Taylor as competing schools in the Great Lakes Conference. Other conference members include Bowling Green, Calvin, Cincinnati, Ferris State, Grand Valley State, Great Lakes Christian, Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Technological, Notre Dame, Ohio, Ohio State, Toledo and Western Michigan.
The Maple Leafs had a soft opening to their program in the spring. There was a match with Purdue and a Great Lakes Disc Golf Conference meet hosted by Western Michigan.
The 2026-27 season is to begin with a GLDGC meet Sept. 12 at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, followed by The GC Dash Bash at Ox Bow Sept. 19; Bluegrass Regional in Lexington, Kentucky, Oct. 17; Midwest Collegiate Takeover in Morton, Illinois, Oct. 24; and GC Collegiate Regional at Ox Bow Oct. 31. Preparation for the spring season will begin ramping up around Feb. 1.
“There are 270 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada that play disc golf on some level,” Samuel said. “Of that number, there are probably 100 of those schools that are serious about it, 50 are very strong and about a dozen are elite.”
Among the places he visited on the recruiting trail, Samuel went to the Michigan Junior Disc Golf State Championships and Junior Golf Championships in Pittsburgh.
Tim Drescher and Nate Osborne are Samuel’s assistants.
“They are geniuses and they are great teachers,” Samuel said. “They really know how to break things down. They complement me well. I’m the guy who’s out there on the course for hours and hours on a Saturday watching kids. They’re in a room watching footage and all that kind of thing.”
All three GC coaches are slated to compete in the PDGA Masters Worlds in Peoria.