How did disc golf come about? When and by whom was the Swiss association founded? And how has the association developed since 1980? Here you will find the Swiss Disc Golf history in facts and figures.
1926 First mention of a type of disc golf as a game in Bladworth, Saskatchewan, Canada. A group of students were playing with tin lids in holes they found in the sandy schoolyard. They called the game “Tin Lid Golf”.
1960 The beginning of modern (frisbee) disc golf in the USA. However, there is still some debate as to who actually came up with the idea for the game. It was played in various parks in California, Texas and Georgia. Various targets such as dustbins, light poles, trees etc. were used for the course.
1965 The company Wham-O, the producer of the Frisbee discs and the Hula Hoop, organized a tournament where the Hola Hoops were also used as targets.
1970 Until the development of today’s disc golf basket (disc pole hole), various universities in the USA and Canada played on so-called “obstacle courses”, which already had 18 lanes and a few rules. The game was played with Frisbee discs.
1977 Ed Headrick invents the disc golf basket with catch chains, formulates the first disc golf rules, founds the DGA (Disc Golf Association), the PDGA (Professional Disc Golf Association) and the RDGA (Recreational Disc Golf Association). The first 18-hole disc golf course with the new target baskets is installed at Oakgrove Park in California.
1980 The first Swiss Frisbee Championship (still without Disc Golf) is held in Basel. The Swiss Frisbee Association is founded in the same year.
1983 Dave Dunipace invents the modern golf disc with a beveled edge called “Eagle”.
1986 Swiss disc golfers are organized in a newly formed section of the Swiss Frisbee Association. The section organizes the first disc golf tournaments and a Swisstour. Wooden sticks are still mostly used as targets.
1990 Disc Section Disc Golf applies to transform the section into an independent association. Motion is rejected.
1993 The Disc Golf section is transformed into an independent Swiss association. The Swiss Disc Golf Clubs will become members.
1996 With the Culture Clash (today’s Presidents Cup), a team tournament between the best disc golfers in Europe and the USA is held in Gstaad for the first time.
1999 Switzerland is hosting the European Disc Golf Championships for the first time. The venue is Gstaad.
2012 Swiss Disc Golf becomes a member of Swiss Olympic together with Swiss Ultimate as members of the umbrella organization Swiss Disc Sports.
2014 Geneva is the venue for the European Championships and sets a new standard. The European Disc Golf Federation (EDGF) is founded at the tournament by the national disc golf associations of Switzerland, Austria and Germany.
2020 The coronavirus crisis is helping the sport of disc golf to boom. Licenses have tripled.
2022 The association now has 20 disc golf clubs as members.
