Ted Hegemann, Author at Infinite Discs Blog

State of Disc Golf 2021

February 11, 2021 Ted Hegemann 10 comments

2021 State of Disc Golf

Another year has rolled around and once again we are pouring over the results of our annual State of Disc Golf survey to see what disc golf looks like for the past year. What an interesting year! We are really curious to see how the pandemic affected the results of the survey. Our sport is one that can be played while maintaining social distancing, or even played/practiced solo. That caused a lot of growth for disc golf. We anticipate many of the survey results will reflect both the growth and the limitations put upon the sport because of Covid19. With that in mind, let’s get to the results!

2021 Disc Golf Demographics

We’ll start by looking at who took the survey. Where do you live? What is your gender? How old and how skilled are you? Basic demographics.

This year, 6,286 people took the survey. That is down a few hundred compared to the last couple of years. Here is a breakdown of the respondent’s genders.

Gender

Checking out the last few years of data, we see that the numbers are relatively consistent. Last year we did a last minute push to get more women to take the survey, so there was a small ‘spike’ in the numbers. But, the overall numbers for women in the sport remain a lot lower than most of us think it should be. In our local club, we only have a couple female players that will show up for leagues. There are quite a few wives/girlfriends of club members that play disc golf. They just don’t have a desire to play at leagues or competitively. Here are the last few years in a graph:

Where Do You Live?

Not surprisingly, an overwhelming number of people who took the survey live in the United States. Looking at the numbers for each state, we see Texas and California leading the country with the highest number of disc golfers that took the survey. Given their populations and their climates, it’s easy to see why they have so many. They don’t have the highest number per capita, but we’ll have to explore that information in another blog. Here are the numbers for each state.

Here are the top ten states, along with the top ten from two years ago:

Our sport is global, and so are our customers. Here is a chart that shows the numbers of respondents from each country/region outside of the USA. If without adding up all of the provinces in Canada, they lead the world in the number of people that responded to the survey.

How Old Are You?

Checking the survey results for the ages of people who took the survey, we find the largest number of people in the 30-35 age bracket are once the most popular age bracket. That has been the case in all of our survey results in the past. One thing you’ll see is the 36-40 age bracket dip down, only to shoot back up in the next age group. That is because the age brackets go from 5-year increments to 10-year increments at that point.

I checked out the 2015 survey results (here) to compare numbers and see if there are many differences in the age brackets between the two years. Here is a chart with both years’ data expressed in percentages of people who took the survey that year. I like that the older groups are trending upward for 2021, meaning people are playing later in life. I know that the younger age groups are the same or decreasing in percentage, but I don’t think that is a general trend in the sport. We’ll look at some other statistics that might help us understand those numbers better, and see why the older age groups are growing faster.

Are We Getting Better?

One of the questions we like to ask is how we rank our skills as a disc golfer. One way to come up with an answer is to look at what division we play in most of the time. That can vary, depending on how many tournaments we play. Often times playing in one division at a club league doesn’t mean we will play in the same division at a sanctioned tournament. From what I see, the level of competition is higher at a tournament, and it becomes necessary to play in a lower division. Not as a sandbagger, but as someone who couldn’t be competitive unless they play down. Once you move up to the pro ranks that is less of an issue. But for the rest of us, we might play a different division out of necessity. Even so, I feel like we have a good idea how we rank generally, and that is what we hope to find out with the survey. We asked people to rate their skills by choosing which of four divisions they consider themselves:

Beginner/Recreational, Intermediate, Advanced, or Professional

First, let’s look at this year’s results. Typical of past years, the majority of the respondents consider themselves Intermediate players. Here are the numbers:

We also took a look at a few previous years to see how we ranked ourselves. Interestingly, there is a declining number of people that thought they were Advanced and Professional players. I don’t know yet if there were more people new to the sport, people are judging themselves more accurately, or players are dropping divisions. Either way, here is a graph of survey results for 2015, 2016, 2020, 2021.

Check Back For More Survey Results

Check out our blog next week to find out more survey results. Also, let us know what you would like us to ask in next year’s blog.

Introducing Disctroyer

February 10, 2021 Ted Hegemann 61 comments

Disc Golf Manufacturer Spotlight: Disctroyer

Infinite Discs carries a large selection of brands and we want to introduce you to some of the brands and molds that you might not be as familiar with. Each week we will spotlight a different company and tell you a little more about them. Because of Covid shutdowns, our supply of discs was severely affected. Therefore, we may not have all of the molds from all of the brands we will talk about. But, it might put a few more molds on your radar for the future. We are out of the country again this week checking out Estonian disc manufacturer, Disctroyer.

The country of Estonia sits along the Baltic Sea, with Finland due north, Sweden to the west, and borders with both Russia and Latvia. According to UDisc, Estonia got their first disc golf course in 2004, and now has more than 180. Based on the population, that makes the course density at about one course for every 7360 people. If the USA had that same ratio, we could have more than five and a half times as many courses as we have now. The sport is blowing up in Estonia, and in the midst of that growth, a new company was started: Disctroyer.

Starting a Brand

The company was started in Tallinn, Estonia, by Alver Kivirüüt and Kaspar Lillmaa in 2016. The name ‘Disctroyer’ was introduced in 2018. One year later, their first disc was PDGA approved. The Starling, a high-speed driver was the first disc produced by Disctroyer. After that was the midrange, Skylark. Their third disc that was approved in 2019 was the Sparrow, a stable putter. The Stork is their fairway driver, and is the most recent release from the company.

The Disctroyer Lineup

The most popular plastic from Disctroyer is their A-Medium. As the name suggests, the plastic is middle of the road when it comes to firmness. It has a slight amount of flexibility and is a durable plastic, although the A-Hard and A-Soft have a little more grip. The A-Soft definitely has a lot of grip and flexibility, but not the durability of the Hard and Medium. Their A-Hard Plastic is popular for the Stork,

their fairway driver. The folks at Disctroyer are working on a B-plastic, which they think will be popular for their putter. That plastic is currently in the testing phase. They expect to have it in production later this year.

Disc Molds

The Starling is the high-speed member of the Disctroyer family. It is a speed-13 disc that has a little bit of turn and a reliable fade. The flight is similar to the DD Captain, Innova Shryke, or Discraft Crank. The Stork is the newest member of the Disctroyer lineup. It is a fairway driver with high-speed stability and a good fade at the end, similar to a Teebird3.

Disctroyer’s midrange, the Skylark, is a stable disc similar to the Shark in flight. Fairly straight flying, the Skylark can fight off a headwind, and still give a good fade at the end. The Sparrow rounds out the lineup. It is a slightly overstable beaded putter that flies similar to the PA-1 or Axiom Envy.

Disc Identifiers

One of the things that makes Disctroyer stand out is their desire to make the flight of their molds easy to understand and identify. To that end, they have made a clear visual method to show what type of disc you are looking at. Is the disc light grey? That would be a high speed driver. Putters are blue, midranges are red, and control drivers are yellow. Additionally, discs will have a symbol in the center that indicates the stability of the disc. A circle indicates a stable disc. A star is for overstable discs, while the plus sign means the disc is understable. This method of understanding the mold’s flight makes it easier for newer disc golfers to identify what molds they should be throwing.

Growing Disctroyer at Home

Although Disctroyer isn’t sponsoring players at the moment, they are constantly looking for ways to grow the sport, and make it better for existing players. Currently, the sport is more popular in some countries than others. Disctroyer recognizes that as an opportunity to teach about the benefits of disc

golf to communities that aren’t familiar with the sport. That desire to introduce the sport has become even more urgent with Covid19 causing disruptions with people’s lives. Now, more than ever, people need a safe activity to participate in.

Other ways they hope to grow the sport is by introducing it to a variety of people. Including disc golf as part of a school curriculum, teaching people in nursing homes about the benefits of disc golf, and

working with private businesses to teach their employees about the sport are ways they are working on to grow disc golf. As the sport grows, there will be more incentives for TV programs to air disc golf related content such as tournaments. Which will speed up the growth.

In addition to educating the public about disc golf, Disctroyer works to improve disc golf technology. They work with specialists in a variety of fields, including people at a university, to explore possible designs and ways to make designing more efficient. They feel that living in a small country adds more opportunities to work with people outside the industry.

On The Horizon For Disctroyer

In addition to work on another plastic, Disctroyer is also working on molds to add to their catalogue. Two molds that are in the que are a driver and a putter. For the driver, they want something more overstable, to complement the more flippy Starling. For the next putter, they want a straight flying putter. One with a little more flip than the Sparrow. It will be fun to see what future molds and plastics come out of this Eastern European company.

Popular Disctroyer Molds

Check out Infinite Discs’ selection of Disctroyer molds here:

https://infinitediscs.com/category/Disctroyer

Check out Disctroyer here:

https://www.disctroyer.com

Comment About Disctroyer And Win!

Infinite Discs would like to give a couple Disctroyer discs to random commenters to this blog post. Answer one of the questions below with your opinions of Disctroyer discs.

Do you throw Disctroyer discs? Tell us which mold is your favorite.

Never tried Disctroyer? Tell us which mold you would like to try.

We’ll pick the random winners and post the results next week when we look at another brand we sell.

Last Week: Mint Discs

Last week we looked at Mint Discs. We selected three random people who commented on that blog. The winners will receive a Mint mold. Here are the winners:

Gabe S.

Nathan D.

Russ R.

Congrats! We’ll get your disc shipped out shortly.

General

Best Disc Golf Bags of 2021

February 4, 2021 Ted Hegemann 130 comments

What are the Best Disc Golf Bags?

*Note, this article was written several years ago. While many bags are the same there are is lots of innovation that has happened over the last two years. Check out this post for our most recent version of “Best Disc Golf Bags.”

With only a couple of exceptions, every disc golfer I know has some kind of device to carry their discs. From bags to carts, disc golfers usually carry enough discs and accessories to warrant having something to carry those things around the course. Typically, a new disc golfer will start with a small bag, then work up to either a large bag or cart as their disc collection and needs grow. Our choice of disc transport devices depends largely on our level of involvement in the sport. Casual disc golfers who carry 3-6 discs will need something completely different to carry their discs than people who play tournaments regularly.

This blog will look at the most popular disc golf bags for 2021 based on our sales for the past year. We’ll compare the bags based on bag size. Keep in mind, like with pretty much any analysis of disc golf for 2020, most of the statistics we’ll see were severely affected by the COVID19 shutdowns that occurred. But, we can’t do anything about that so we’ll show you the information we have.

Best Small Disc Golf Bags of 2021

Let’s start with the small bag, the bag preferred by most beginners. They usually carry less than ten discs and maybe a water bottle and a snack. These minimalist bags suit the needs of the beginner and are priced lower than other bags, with several models less than $15, making them attractive to people new to the sport. The nice thing about starting with a smaller bag is that it is something that a more experienced disc golfer can use from time to time, long after they have graduated to a larger bag. Here are the top small bags for 2021.

Leading the pack are several bags from Infinite Discs. Holding the number one spot is the Infinite Slinger bag. Designed out of a desire to have a bag that held a decent number of discs but not be too bulky, the Slinger Bag has been a hit since its beginning. The single strap is used like most people use a bag with two straps: with only one strap over the shoulder. It can be adjusted for use over either shoulder. With a putter pouch and room for several more discs, the bag fills a variety of disc golf needs. The Holster is a new product and made an impressive splash into the small bag world. The top-selling non-Infinite small bags are the Latitude 64 Slim bag and the MVP Beaker bag.Here is how the Slinger bag stacked against the other ‘small’ bags.

Looking at the top small bags sold of all time, we see that the Infinite Starter Bag and Slinger still make the list for the top five. They both have a great price point for what you get, making them desirable for a large number of disc golfers. It is fortunate that our supply of these bags helped keep their numbers up. Discraft Weekender and Innova Standard Bag also made the top all-time small bag

Moving On Up

When a disc golfer finds themselves playing more frequently, or attending more tournaments, they usually determine that they need to move from a starter bag to one that can hold more discs and accessories. It’s at that point they start considering the next size bag they want to purchase. Move all the way up to a backpack bag, or just upgrade to a larger bag? Let’s look at the next level above beginner bag: the Large Bag.

Best Large Disc Golf Bags 2021

Large Bags run from $24-$40 and most have a single sling to carry over the shoulder. However, some have backpack-like straps that can go over both shoulders. Looking at the numbers for the bags that fall into the ‘Large Bags’ category, we see an interesting product. For both the best Large Bag of 2020 and the best Large Bag of all time, we see that the practice bags are very popular. These are the bags that hold around 30 discs, but not much else if the bag is carried to capacity. They are great for playing a round of disc golf, or doing field work. The versatility undoubtedly contribute to its popularity. (I like using mine to organize all of the extra discs that I keep in my trunk!) Here are the best-selling Large Bags of 2020.

And here, by comparison, are the best-selling Large Bags of all time. Keep in mind, the number one bag, the Prodigy Practice Bag V1, stopped selling in 2019, so it didn’t even make the list for the best-selling Large Bag for 2020. If you look at the combined numbers for the Prodigy V1 and V2 practice bags, and compare them to the combined numbers for the Infinite Large Bag and Infinite Large Bag w/straps, the total sales are comparable. And if you combine the sales of both Infinite Large Bags with both Prodigy Practice Bags, you end up with three-fourths of all Large Bag sales! Here are the top all-time sales numbers:

Still Expanding…?

So, now you have moved from a small bag to a large bag, but still find you need a little more room. You want a few backup discs, a few more snacks, and maybe another water bottle. You still have some choices to make. Do you want to move up to the larger and more expensive full-sized backpack? Or will the economy backpack do the trick? There are economy Backpacks that range in size and price from those that hold the same number of discs as a Large Bag, and at the same or cheaper price point, to bags that hold a bit more, and cost a bit more.

Best Economy Disc Golf Backpacks 2021

We’ll start with the economy backpack bags. These bags typically cost under $40 and hold 10-25 discs. While they hold the same or more than most Large Bags, they don’t have all of the room of a larger backpack (Although, some come close). Some bags in this category cross over between Large Bags and Economy Backpacks.

Once again, the Infinite Slinger Bag dominates the field. It doubled the sales of the next most popular bag, the Infinite Stealth. Another Infinite bag, the Huck Pack, took the third spot in the category. In fact, the only non-Infinite bag to make the top 5 is the Prodigy BP-4, which made up about 8% of the Economy Backpack Bags.

A look at the all-time sales for Economy Backpacks reveals that the top economy backpack bags sales of all time look very similar to the 2020 results. Four of the top five bags are Infinite bags, with the lone non-Infinite bag being the popular Dynamic Discs Trooper. The Slinger remains atop the charts for all-time sales.

Still Not Enough Room?

If an Economy Backpack Bag isn’t cutting it for you because you need a little more space, you can always make the final leap in the bag realm and get a Backpack bag. Bags in this class can cost hundreds of dollars and carry over 20 discs. This type of bag can be seen frequently at tournaments and even leagues. They have room for discs, backup discs, snacks, drinks, and accessories. That extra space comes in handy as you find yourself carrying more stuff during your rounds.

Best Disc Golf Backpack Bag 2021

Let’s look at the most popular Backpack Bags for 2021. Leading the ‘pack’ are several Prodigy bags. Different version of the BP-1 and BP-2 account for three-fourths of all the bags sold. The BP series of bags have a large horizontal pocket that holds lots of discs, with side pockets for extra items. The only non-Prodigy bag on the list is the Dynamic Discs Trooper.

Comparing the best bags for 2021 with the best all-time bags, we still see a couple Prodigy bags, the BP-1 V2 and BP-1 V3, but also see some other classic bags on the list. Starting with the Dynamic Discs Commander bag, the most popular Backpack Bag of all time. The Commander barely beat the BP-1 V3 for the top title. The other discs in the top five are the Dynamic Discs Sniper Backpack, and the Innova Heropack. Here is a breakdown of the top five Backpack Bags.

Picking YOUR Bag

If you are new to disc golf and you’re looking for a bag, starting with a small bag is a great way to go. Even after you upgrade to a larger bag, the small bag can still come in handy. Sometimes, you just want to focus on a throwing and getting to know a few specific discs. No need to haul around a big bag. Just grab the starter bag and go! Helping someone that is just getting into disc golf? No problem, let them use the small bag until they get their own. You really can’t go wrong starting small, then working up to larger bags as the need arises. Then, as your needs change, you’ll know it’s time to look for something that fits your needs. This handy guide will help you as you consider all of the bag options on the market today.

Let us know in the comments what bag you use, and how you like it!

Check out Infinite’s line of disc golf bags and bag accessories:

General

Introducing Mint Discs

February 4, 2021 Ted Hegemann 67 comments

Disc Golf Manufacturer Spotlight

Infinite Discs carries a large selection of brands and we wanted to introduce you to some of the brands and molds that you might not be as familiar with. Each week we will spotlight a different company and tell you a little more about them. Because of Covid shutdowns, our supply of discs was severely affected. Therefore, we may not have all of the molds from all of the brands we will talk about. But, it might put a few more molds on your radar for the future. For the last couple of blogs, we traveled overseas to check out a couple of brands. This week we come back home to visit a company in Texas, and introduce Mint Discs.

Mint Discs is an Austin, Texas company started a few years ago by friends Guy Boyan, Zach Jansen, and Chris Herbert. The trio were avid disc golfers and in 2015 had a thought about a disc golf business that undoubtedly many others have had about their passion: Why aren’t we doing this?! That conversation led to a years of work and planning, and it culminated in the release of their first disc, the Alpha.

Guy, Zach, and Gordo of Mint Discs

Minted In The Heart of Texas

Mint’s first release, the Alpha, was released in April, 2017, and was their sole mold for a couple of years, until their next few releases, the Bobcat, the Freetail, and the Profit. That added a midrange, a distance driver, and a putter to their catalogue. Those three molds were all PDGA approved in 2019, and have been released.

Last year, another batch of three molds was approved by the PDGA for Mint Discs: the Mustang, Bullet, and Longhorn. That gave them another mid, another putter, and another distance driver. Mint already has one disc approved for 2021, the Jackalope. The Jackalope is a control driver with a little more turn than the Alpha, and will be released in the spring or summer.

Choice of Plastics

In addition to offering a variety of molds, their company has several plastic types to choose from. When Mint releases a mold, they usually do so in a variety of plastics, giving the thrower choices. Their plastics include, Apex, similar in feel to Star, Neutron, and ESP Plastics; Eternal, similar to Champion, Opto, and Lucid Plastics; Nocturnal, which is their glow plastic; Royal, a more firm plastic, similar in feel to DX or Prime Plastics; and Sublime, which is similar in look and feel to Plasma plastic.

Mint Discs Molds

Chris of Mint Discs

Let’s take a look at the molds offered by Mint Discs to see how they fly. Starting with the putters, the Bullet and Profit have a similar flight, with the Profit being a slightly faster mold. It is comparable in flight to the PA-2, Atom, and Infinite’s new release, the Alpaca. The Bullet is one speed slower. The Profit got its name from the Estimated Prophet at Moody’s Disc Golf Ranch in Texas. It is one of Mint’s favorite courses.

For midrange molds, the Mustang is most like the popular EMAC Truth. It has good glide and a solid fade. Need a little more dump at the end for precision shots? Check out the Bobcat. It has a little less glide and is a little more overstable than the Mustang. Perfect for when you want a disc to fly as long as it should, and still finish strong. Infinite will be releasing a limited edition of the Bobcat on February 4.

Newest Kid on the Block

As mentioned earlier, the Jackalope will join the O.G. mold, the Alpha, in the fairway driver slot for Mint. The Jackalope will have a little more flip than the Alpha, making it more of a candidate for tailwind or shaping shots. The Alpha, on the other hand, has the straight, wind resistant flight found in molds like the Teebird3 or DGA Pipeline.

Doing the heavy lifting for Mint are their distance drivers, the Freetail and the Longhorn. The flippier of the two, the Freetail, is a great mold for those who need a little more turn in their flight, or for rollers for the big-arms. In premium plastics, the Freetail will take a little longer to ‘season’. But, once it does, it will have a nice, long flight. The Longhorn is a great driving disc with the turn and fade similar to the Wraith.

Sublime Freetail

Coming up shortly, the Sublime Freetail will be released. Although that mold has been released in Sublime before, this time it will feature a stamp from artist Levi Whitpan. The folks at Mint say it might be their favorite stamp they’ve ever printed! Look for that disc to drop on February 9.

Texas Disc Golf Scene

The disc golf scene in Texas is thriving, and Mint is happy to be in the middle of the growth. They strive to support local disc golfers and local tournaments. Team Mint is made up of local 1000+ rated players, Master’s players, and Legends. One of their team members is FPO player Krissie Fountain. Last year, she won numerous tournaments while watching her PDGA rating rise, and plans on touring even more this year. Check out Fountain in action at the Jonesboro Open last year with Ellen Widboom, here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t424vRh_9f8

Team Mint

New Year, New Opportunities

Although 2020 was an interesting year for all of us, Mint Discs included, this year is already off to a great start for the company. Mint has already had growth opportunities this year, and doesn’t look to be slowing down any time soon. In addition to always having new molds in the works, Mint recently moved into a new warehouse. The expansion will come in handy as they take over a local tour series, the Heart Of Texas Tour (HOTT). The tour series includes the popular tournament, Capitol of Texas Open, which will be the 30^th year of that tournament. Mint is thrilled to be running the competition. They hope to elevate some of the tournaments into NT and A-tiers events.

Mint Disc’s Unique Serial Numbers

One of the unique aspects of Mint Discs is their serial number approach to identifying the year and run of any of their discs. They keep a database on their website that lists the serial numbers of all of their runs. The serial number indicates the plastic, mold, run, and year of their disc. The database also lists the stamp used, the available colors, and the artist who created the stamp. That is perfect for people who want a disc from a specific run. It is also interesting if you want to learn more about their stamps and the people who designed them.

The people at Mint Discs are thrilled to be a part of our sport, and excited about the future. They love the fun and passion that can be found in disc golfers. From the post-production videos covering tournaments, to the accessibility of touring pros, ours is a great sport, and Mint Discs are happy to be helping it grow.

Popular Mint Discs for 2020

Taking a look at the sales for Mint Discs last year, we see that the Mustang was the best selling mold for the year. The Mustang and the Freetail accounted for half of the disc sales. In third is the putter, the Bullet. Here is the breakdown of mold sales for Mint Discs.

Infinite Discs would like to give a couple Mint Discs to random commenters to this blog post. Answer one of the questions below with your opinions of Mint Discs.

Do you throw Mint Discs? Tell us which mold is your favorite.

Never tried Mint Discs molds? Tell us which mold you would like to try.

We’ll pick the random winners and post the results next week when we look at another brand we sell.

Check out Infinite Discs’ selection of Mint Discs molds here:

https://infinitediscs.com/category/Mint-Discs

Check out Mint Discs here:

https://mintdiscs.com/

Last week we looked at Guru Discs. We selected three random people who commented on that blog. The winners will receive a Guru disc. Here are the winners:

Kjell R.

Derek H.

Paul T

Congrats! We’ll get your disc shipped out shortly.

General

Introducing Guru Disc Golf

January 27, 2021 Ted Hegemann 38 comments

Disc Golf Manufacturer Spotlight

Infinite Discs carries a large selection of brands and we wanted to introduce you to some of the brands and molds that you might not be as familiar with. Each week we will spotlight a different company and tell you a little more about them. Because of Covid shutdowns, our supply of discs was severely affected. Therefore, we may not have all of the molds from all of the brands we will talk about. But, it might put a few more molds on your radar for the future. Last week we featured Disc Golf UK/Launch Disc Golf. This week we leave England and travel across the North Sea to pay a visit to Guru Disc Golf.

Guru Disc Golf

Guru Disc Golf is another great example of how global our sport has become. The company is based in Oslo, Norway. It is one of many non-US based disc golf companies. Guru Disc Golf grew out of another company, Sune Sport, which was started in 1996 by Sune Wentzel, a multiple-time Freestyle Players Association Overall World Champion. Currently, Sune Sports carries a variety of hobby and sport related products.

Guru was started in 2016 by Wetzel and former European Disc Golf Champion, Espen Møkkelgjerd. They wanted to have a company that would add to the growth of the sport in Norway. To that end, the company offers molds that are excellent for beginner disc golfers, or more experienced disc golfers who can shape their shots. The first three molds released by Guru Disc golf are the Mjolner, the Thor, and the Midgard. The names come from Norse mythology.

Guru Molds

The Mjolner is a stable, beaded putter that flies straight and finishes with just a little bit of fade. It is available in D-Plastic, which feels like Innova’s DX plastic or Infinite’s D-Blend. Those plastic types beat in easier, giving you a seasoned flight more quickly. It shares the same name as Thor’s hammer. Their midrange mold is the Thor, named after the Norse god. It has flight numbers similar to the Innova Shark. The Thor flies straight, with a decent finish. It also comes in the base D-Plastic, and is available in C-Plastic, similar to Innova Champion plastic. The last of their initial molds is the Midgard. The Midgard is a speed-6 fairway driver that has a little turn and little fade, for an overall straight flight. It is available in D-plastic. The name also comes from Norse mythology. It refers to the inhabited, visible world.

Those three molds make up a starter set offered by Guru. Their flight numbers are excellent for beginners, and are a great way to introduce people to the sport. Since those initial discs were approved by the PDGA, two other molds have become official, the Sleipner and the Fenris.

Higher Speed Discs

Guru’s first foray into high speed discs is their Sleipner, a speed-10 disc similar in flight to an Infinite Discs Aztec. It is named after Odin’s eight-legged horse (Sleipnir) in Norse mythology. It is made in D-Plasitc and S-Plastic. The Sleipner, like the Aztec, is suitable for a variety of skill levels.

The other high-speed driver in their lineup is the Fenris. The Fenris (Fenrir) Wolf creature was featured in the Thor Ragnarok movie. He is the son of Loke. In mythology, it is It flies similar to the Infinite Emperor. The speed-13 disc comes in durable C-Plastic.

Growing Disc Golf

The folks at Guru Disc Golf have been active in growing the sport, particularly in their home country of Norway. They sponsor players from the pro ranks, to up and coming amateurs. One of their sponsored women is FPO player Anniken Steen, who has been racking up a lot of wins the last few years (see her in action at the PCS Open here. American pro Logan Bowers also uses Guru discs and equipment. Check him out battling with McBeth at the 2016 World Championships here.

Guru is excited about the future of the company and disc golf. Despite the challenges the world faced with the pandemic, the worldwide interest the disc golf has been increasing in Norway, too. The number of courses in the country has passed the 300 mark, with no signs of slowing down. Guru Disc Golf is excited about the number of young people discovering the sport, and the increased acceptance by the general public. They anticipates being right in the middle of the growth by sponsoring tournaments and continuing to introduce new players to disc golf.

Veteran Disc Golfers

One of the things that Guru feels is unique about their company is their experience in the sport. Sune Wentzel has been part of the disc sport community since the mid 80’s. Espen Møkkelgjerd has been involved since the 90’s. More recently, professional disc golfer and Norwegian champion Peter Lunde has been added to the team. Lunde, along with other local talent, is helping to bring growth and interest to the nation’s disc golf scene. Keep an eye on Guru Disc Golf, and Norwegian disc golfers!

Infinite’s Top Selling Guru Molds

Taking a look at the most popular molds by sales, the three molds that we sold in 2020 were fairly close. The Midgard took the top spot by just a few percentage points. Coming in second was the Putter, the Mjolner. Following the Mjolner is the Thor. Infinite has a shipment on the way from Guru, and we’ll post about it when it arrives.

Win discs from Guru Disc Golf!

Infinite Discs would like to hear which Guru disc would make it in your bag!. Head to Infinite (links below) and check out our listing of Guru Disc Golf molds. Then let us know:

Which Guru mold would you be the most interested in trying?

We’ll select a few random responses and ship out some swag. Check back in a week when we post the next disc golf manufacturer, and we’ll list the winners.

Last Week’s Winners

There were a variety of discs that people chose as the mold they would like to try from Disc Golf UK/Launch. We have a shipment from them on the way, but it will take a while to get here. We’ll get the word out when it arrives so you can try them out. Meanwhile, two molds tied for first for the disc people would like to try the most: the Count and the Duke. Both of these molds received over 26% of the votes. The Cipher was close at 23%. The rest of the votes were split among the Launch, Duchess, Lander, and Baron.

We picked three random winners from the comments on last week’s blog, and here are the three winners:

Jesse P

Justin H

Scott H

Congrats! We’ll get a disc shipped out to you shortly.

Infinite Discs’ Guru Molds

https://infinitediscs.com/category/Guru-Disc-Golf

Guru Disc Golf

https://gurudiscgolf.com/

General

Introducing Disc Golf UK/Launch Disc Golf

January 20, 2021 Ted Hegemann 34 comments

Disc Golf Manufacturer Spotlight

Infinite Discs carries a large selection of brands and we wanted to introduce you to some of the brands and molds that you might not be as familiar with. Each week we will spotlight a different company and tell you a little more about them. Because of Covid shutdowns, our supply of discs was severely affected. Therefore, we may not have all of the molds from all of the brands we will talk about. But, it might put a few more molds on your radar for the future. This week we travel across the pond to check out Disc Golf UK and their spin-off company, Launch Disc Golf.

Disc Golf UK/Launch Disc Golf

Disc Golf UK (DGUK) is a disc golf manufacturing company that started a few years ago in England. It was formed in 2014 and registered as a business in 2015. The founder, Richard Hatton, was already involved in the disc golf scene in England. He was a member of the British Disc Golf Association, an advocacy group that exists to organize and promote the sport in the Country. He felt like those goals could be better met by having a private business approach landowners and others about disc golf, instead of a volunteer organization.

Disk Golf UK is located in Warwick, England. It is near the Quarry Park disc golf course. (Check out the link below to a tournament at that course, featuring DGUK sponsored pro, 16-year-old Noah Smithson.) Its warehouse, shop and factory are south of Chesterfield, England.

Humble Beginning

The company was created to make inexpensive discs that could be rented out at the courses being created in the area. The exchange rate was not favorable for them, making discs expensive to import. The first mold they made was the Duke, an overstable midrange. However, once people started throwing the disc, people started raving about it! It wasn’t even PDGA approved at the time. The positive comments told them they were onto something more than a cheap rental.

A Quick Start

Shortly after the Duke was PDGA approved, the Baron and the Count were quickly designed and approved. That added a putter and a control driver to their portfolio. The Baron is a beadless overstable putt/approach disc similar in flight numbers to a Harp. The Count is a fairway driver with a little turn and a solid fade. It is similar to the Innova Eagle in flight numbers.

The Duchess, an experiment that turned out to be a success, was the fourth mold from DGUK. The Duchess is an understable midrange/approach disc. Its flight numbers make it great for people just starting out, and a shapeable disc for more experienced players. It is available in Noble plastic, which is their base plastic.

A New Brand Gets Launched

In 2020 DGUK launched a new line of discs under the Launch Disc Golf brand. Launch was started by Dan Whiteman, who is now the area manager for Southeast UK. Four molds have been released under the Launch brand: The Lander, the Code, the Code X, which is the most recent release, and the Cipher. They are a putter, two mids, and control driver, respectively. The Cipher is the first disc released in the new premium plastic, Alpha. The new plastic is similar to Gold Line or Star plastic. The other molds are available in the Omega Plastic, Launch’s base plastic.

The Cipher is a fairway driver, and the first driver from Launch Disc Golf. The Cipher offers a slight turn, with a good fade at the end. Its flight is similar to a seasoned Thunderbird. The Code and Code X are midrange discs, with the Code X being the more overstable of the two. The Code X has a great wind-fighting flight and a solid, dependable finish. The Lander is the first putter from Launch, and performs nicely as both a driving and putting disc. The mold can give a little turn, or a slight hyzer-to-flat flight and sail until the fade at the end.

Hatton, the founder of DGUK, said that the Baron, the Duchess, and the Count are the top selling discs for Disc Golf UK. These three molds make up their starter sets and are found at courses all over the country. Outside of starter sets, the Lander and the Baron are the favorite molds of DGUK/Launch Disc Golf fans.

The Pros Throwing DGUK

Many of the company’s mold are thrown by the top disc golfers in the UK. Multiple-time British Champion James Luton throws the Duke, and calls it the best forehand disc he has ever thrown. Another British Open winner, Noah Smithson, uses his Lander as a driving putter. The 2020 National Matchplay Champion, Jon Tweed, used a Baron for every putt at the tournament. He has been throwing a prototype Cipher, too. FPO British Tour Champion Sian Lee loves the Duchess, and uses it as her go-to mid. All of the above mentioned pros are on Team Disc Golf UK.

In addition to the pros playing on Team DGUK, the company recently launched an ambassador team. These player were selected because of their contributions to disc golf, and their love of DGUK discs!

Popular Plastic

As for plastic types from DGUK, until the recent release of their Alpha plastic, only variations of base plastics were available. The Noble plastic is for DGUK molds, and Omega is for Launch molds. There are also glitter, glow options available in base plastic.

The Future for DGUK

DGUK has lots of plans for the future. Most importantly, they want to continue to add to their line of molds. They recently received technical drawings for three of their upcoming molds. In addition to the molds, they have found a glow plastic formula that they like, and that has received positive feedback from testers due to the brightness of the glow. DGUK also want to expand their line of baskets and bags. They will also be working hard to install more courses around the country. Their long-term goal is to have a course within a half hour of everyone in the country. Plus, they will be working to grow the sport by introducing disc golf to school-age youth.

Infinite’s Sales of Disc Golf UK and Launch Disc Golf Molds

Here is a breakdown of the most popular molds based on Infinite Discs’ sales for 2020. For Disc Golf UK, the Duchess led the pack, a few ticks ahead of the Count for the most sales last year. Coming in third was the Baron.

For Launch Disc Golf, the results were a little closer. Their putter, the Lander, barely beat the Cipher for the most sales last year.

Win Some DGUK/Launch Merch!

Infinite Discs would like to give some swag to some random people who answer the question below. Head to Infinite (links below) and check out our listing of DGUK/Launch molds. Then let us know:

Which DGUK or Launch mold would you be the most interested in trying?

We’ll select a few random responses and ship out some swag. Check back in a week when we post the next disc golf manufacturer, and we’ll list the winners.

Last week we featured AGL Discs and selected three random commenters to win some AGL prizes. The winners are:

Nate D.

Austin D.

James H.

Congrats! I’ll send you an email to verify your mailing address.

Infinite Discs – Disc Golf UK

https://infinitediscs.com/category/Disc-Golf-UK

Infinite Discs – Launch Disc Golf

https://infinitediscs.com/category/Launch-Disc-Golf

Disc Golf UK

https://discgolfuk.uk/

Launch Disc Golf

https://launchdiscgolf.co.uk/

Noah Smithson at 25^th Quarry Park Open

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5O8NRodzSg&t=327s

General

Introducing Above Ground Level Discs

January 13, 2021 Ted Hegemann 132 comments

Disc Golf Manufacturer Spotlight

Infinite Discs carries a large selection of brands and we wanted to introduce you to some of the brands and molds that you might not be as familiar with. Each week we will spotlight a different company and tell you a little more about them. We’ll start with a California brand, Above Ground Level Discs. And we will give you a chance to win some AGL stuff!

AGL Discs

Above Ground Level discs (AGL) is a family run California-based disc golf company that currently operates in San Jose. According to their website, the name comes from the company’s policy of viewing the sport from “the 10,000 foot level”. The company formed in 2011 by Josh Jones and Sam Cooper, and has been operating under the name Above Ground Level since 2016. Sam also started the disc golf apparel company, ChainBang Disc Golf.

Filling Disc Golf Needs

From the beginning, the people at AGL have worked hard to design discs that fill the needs of disc golfers. Using modeling and testing, they have created an ever growing list of molds to cover the range of shots and conditions faced by users. AGL also works to provide the most durable plastics possible, giving a longer life to its molds. Early on, AGL adopted the policy of naming molds after trees, and also including a corresponding seed with every disc purchased. That policy and practice continues today.

The Cypress, AGL’s First Disc

The inaugural mold for AGL is the now-discontinued high speed driver, the Cypress. The name honors disc golf enthusiast and course designer, Stancil Johnson, and the course he designed in Seaside, California. The initial design of the mold was a very overstable disc. It was later retooled to make the mold more usable for a variety of skill levels. In early 2020, the Cedar was released, with flight numbers similar to the Cypress.

After the Cypress, two putters were released, the Madrone and Manzanita. The Madrone, with a flight similar to the new Infinite Alpaca, along with the overstable midrange, the Magnolia, continue to be the most popular discs they sell. As for which mold holds the number one spot, that title changes frequently between the two molds. The Sycamore, a fairly straight control driver, was approved in 2019. It has a flight similar to a TL.

Also released last year is the speed 9 control driver, the Locust. The new mold received great reviews from testers and early buyers. AGL has plans for a high speed driver that has some understability to it. After that release, they will look at increasing their offering of additional understable discs.

In addition to the Locust and the Cedar, two additional putters were approved in 2020, the Baobab and the Ponderosa. The Baobab is a beadless, overstable putter that would be great for headwind shots and big arms. The Ponderosa is a little slower than the Baobab, and slightly flippy. Great for tailwinds or hyzer-flip shots.

AGL Plastics

Their most popular plastic is the Hemp blend, which is both grippy and environmentally friendly. Nearly as popular as Hemp plastic is their premium Alpine plastic. It is reminiscent of the old CE plastic that is popular due to its durability and feel. AGL also offers Woodland Blend, a base plastic that has a variety of firmness.

Supporting the Pros and Disc Golf

Above Ground Level is proud to sponsor dozens of players round the world, up to and including professionals. On the FPO side, they sponsor Amy Lewis and Marissa Kula. Their men’s pros include Michael Henson and Hayden Kujala. A search of these players on YouTube will show a number of tournaments with some of their pro players. AGL also helped to sponsor a couple courses.

One of the exciting parts of the sport for AGL is the growth that disc golf is currently seeing. With the increased exposure from companies like CBS sports and many professionally produces YouTube videos, our accessible touring pros, and courses popping up all around the world, it’s a great time to be involved in disc golf.

Growing Disc Golf for Women and Youth

Two areas of growth that are of high importance to AGL is additional focus on the women and the youth side of disc golf. In addition to sponsoring female players, AGL sponsors female-focused events and will be sponsoring the 2021 USWDGC. It helps that one of the owners has an 8-year-old daughter who plays and looks up to the female players she gets to watch. She also helps out in the business! Their plan for the youth and new players is to work with schools to help them install baskets and teach disc golf fundamentals.

AGL and the Environment

Disc golf isn’t the only thing that the folks at Above Ground Level Discs care about. They also like to take care of the environment. In addition to naming all of their molds after tree, AGL also includes a tree seed with every disc purchased from them. The seed corresponds with the name of the mold. Order a Sycamore in Alpine plastic from them, you’ll get a Sycamore seed with your purchase. Some of their customers have sprouted their seeds into saplings and planted them on their local courses.

Top Selling Discs for Above Ground Level Discs

Taking a look at the sales of Above Ground Level Discs at Infinite, it looks like the Ponderosa is the top selling AGL disc of 2020. The Ponderosa is a straight to understable putter that is currently available in Woodland and Woodland Hemp Blend plastics. The Ponderosa accounted for nearly 18% of all AGL molds that Infinite sells. It just edged out the next four molds, the Baobab, Locust, Cedar, and Sycamore. Those four molds made up around 15% each of sales. All things considered, that’s a pretty even amount of sales for the top mold.

Win some AGL Swag!

To promote AGL, Infinite Discs would like to give some swag to some random people who answer the question below. Head to Infinite (link below) and check out our listing of AGL molds. Then let us know: Which AGL mold would you be the most interested in trying? Want something beefy, like the Cedar? Or maybe a straight putter, like the Madrone. Comment below to be entered in the drawing.

We’ll select a few random responses and ship out some AGL merch. Check back in a week when we post the next disc golf manufacturer, and we’ll list the winners.

See Infinite’s selection of AGL discs here:

https://infinitediscs.com/category/Above-Ground-Level

Check out AGL’s website here:

https://www.agldiscs.com/

Here is a link to ChanBang Disc Golf

https://www.chainbangofficial.com/

General

Best Disc Golf Putter of 2020

September 11, 2020 Ted Hegemann 182 comments

Putters take center stage this week as we post another blog for our series of the best disc golf discs of 2020. With the pandemic forcing many people to stay home for an extended time, many people took the opportunity to use the time to practice putting. Our sales and inventory reflected the surge in purchases, particularly of putters and baskets. We will look at the sales of putters for this year, and compare the top sellers with the top rated putters. We will then turn the voting over to you to help us pick the best putter of 2020.

The Best Disc Golf Putter

	Sales Rank	Star Rating	Fan Vote	Average
Discmania P2	3	6	3	4.0
Gateway Wizard	6	4	2	4.0
Discraft Luna	1	10	4	5.0
Discraft Zone	2	1	12	5.0
Axiom Envy	7	2	9	6.0
Dynamic Discs Judge	5	12	1	6.0

In a first for our category of Best Discs of 2020 we had a tie for first, second, and third. The popular P2 and Wizard tied for first place. These two putters didn’t take first in any single category, but still managed to average the best overall rating of any putter.

Two Discraft molds tied for second place, with each one landing in first place for one category of popularity: the Luna taking first for 2020 sales, and the Zone for the best rated disc of 2020. Although the Zone has been around for more than a decade, the Luna is relatively new to the scene. Even so, when you have the best disc golfers in the world throwing a certain mold, they tend to be more popular.

Two more molds, the Axiom Envy and the DD Judge, rounded out our best disc golf putters category. Notably, the Judge took first place in the fan voting (see results below). The Envy was the second best rated disc for this year.

The Putter Approach

In the 8 years that I’ve been playing disc golf, I’ve heard many players say that you should spend the most practice time with your putter. The theory is that you will end up putting on nearly every hole. While that may or may not be the best approach to practicing, it would be hard to deny the importance of feeling confident with your putter. It needs to feel good in your hand, which means that you need to find the best plastic and mold for you. And you need to have the confidence that the putter will end up in the basket, which means practice, practice, practice.

In addition to using a putter to finish a hole, the putter can also be used as a driver and approach disc. Many overstable molds are popular among disc golfers who choose to throw them hard off the tee. With a putter’s ability to be shaped and still land softly, the putter is also a great utility disc. And we’ve seen what a putter can do in the hands of a pro: amazing drives, touch approach shots, and lengthy putts.

Best Selling Putter of 2020

Let’s start by looking at putter sales for the year. Like with the other disc categories, the numbers are affected by Covid-19. However, putters were affected a little more. The pandemic brought a spike in putter sales, and inventory shortages that still continues. It would be nice to see what sales would have looked like in a normal year, but all we can do is check out the numbers we have. Here are the top selling putters for 2020:

2020 Sales Rank YTD	Disc Mold
1	Discraft Luna
2	Discraft Zone
3	Discmania P2
4	Innova Aviar
5	Dynamic Discs Judge
6	Gateway Wizard
7	Axiom Envy
8	Discraft Fierce
9	Dynamic Discs Warden
10	Discraft Roach
11	Latitude 64 Pure
12	Discraft Banger GT
13	Westside Harp
14	Dynamic Discs Deputy
15	Innova Nova
16	Innova Pig
17	Infinite Discs Tomb
18	MVP Atom
19	Westside Maiden
20	Axiom Proxy

With the top two players in the world, Page Pierce and Paul McBeth throwing the Zone and Luna, it’s no surprise that these two molds ended up at the top of the list. The Zone is definitely more of a driving putter than a putting putter, but it still falls under the putt-and-approach category.

With a third of the top 15 molds belonging to Discraft, they definitely dominated the category for 2020. After Discraft’s five molds, the remaining 15 spots in the top 20 were divided up among ten different manufacturers! The putter category doesn’t have the Discraft/Innova dominance like other categories.

Putter Rank and File

Let’s take a look at the top rated putters for 2020. We took the star rating and the number of reviews to get a weighted score. Then ranked them according to the weighted score. Here are the results of the highest rated putters:

Rank	Mold	Star Rating	# Reviews in 2020	Weighted score
1	Discraft Zone	4.89	64	5.45
2	Axiom Envy	4.79	31	4.88
3	Infinite Discs Tomb	4.88	22	4.84
4	Gateway Wizard	4.75	31	4.84
5	Innova Pig	4.75	30	4.82
6	Discmania P2	4.74	20	4.67
7	Westside Harp	4.69	22	4.65
8	Westside Maiden	4.77	14	4.61
9	Dynamic Discs Warden	4.75	15	4.61
10	Discraft Luna	4.59	26	4.60

The ratings results for the best putter is very unusual compared to other categories of discs. The top seven ranked molds are all from different companies! The Discraft Zone sits at the top of the rankings and sales. This overstable putter is versatile, and can be driven or putted. It was approved by the PDGA in 2008, and is a favorite of many top pros.

Old School, New School

Let’s look at the PDGA approval date for each mold. Here is a list of the top discs and which date they were approved. The elder statesman of the bunch is the Aviar, which was approved back in the ‘80’s, and the newest disc is the Fierce. The average approval year for the top 10 putters is 2009. That year would be several years higher if it weren’t for the Aviar.

Discraft Luna	2018
Discraft Zone	2008
Discmania P2	2007
Innova Aviar	1984
Dynamic Discs Judge	2012
Gateway Wizard	2002
Axiom Envy	2014
Discraft Fierce	2020
Dynamic Discs Warden	2013
Discraft Roach	2015

We also wanted to look at the top selling putters for 2020 and see how those same molds rank in top sales of all time. The Luna has only had a couple years of sales, but still comes in at #6 for all-time sales. As we mentioned in another blog, the sales of the Luna have been amazing this year. As has the sales for all putters.

2020 Sales Rank	Mold	All-Time Rank
1	Discraft Luna	6
2	Discraft Zone	4
3	Discmania P2	1
4	Innova Aviar	2
5	Dynamic Discs Judge	3
6	Gateway Wizard	5
7	Axiom Envy	7
8	Discraft Fierce	34
9	Dynamic Discs Warden	8
10	Discraft Roach	18

Fan Voting Results: Best Putter 2020

We asked you to vote for your favorite putter, and hundreds of you responded. We tallied the votes and have the results below. Once again the Above Ground Level (AGL) fans rallied and got one of their putters, the Madrone, on the top ten list. (AGL fans and others interested in different disc golf companies, stay tuned for a blog series introducing the smaller disc golf brands that you might not be familiar with. AGL will be one of the featured companies).

The beaded putter, the Judge, topped the charts with 10% of the votes. The Judge was also one of the top sellers in 2020, making it a solid candidate for the best disc. The mold has been around for eight years, and the straight flying putter. The comments people made about the Judge varied.

User Comments on The Judge

Steven H said, rather succinctly: (The) Judge is the best putter.

Tanner F elaborated, saying: Honestly I’ve been #teamjudge since I picked one up. Love having a bead and this is so versatile. I throw it up to 200’ for flip over shots. The new hybrid Judge is quite the addition to my top pouch.

Two older molds, the Wizard (2002) and the Aviar (1984) made the top five list. Two molds, the Luna (2018) and the aforementioned Madrone (2018) were the newest on the list. The average year of release for the top ten was 2009, while the average for the top five was 2004.

The Innova Aviar made the top five list, but has several different versions. I counted each version separately, since they are commonly known in the sport to have different characteristics. Most have different flights, while others have a different feel because of the plastic and beaded/beadless rim. I’m referring to the Yeti Pro (Jay “Yeti” Reading), the KC Pro (Ken Climo), the Aviar3, and the JK Aviar (Juliana Korver).

Variety is The Spice of Life

There were nine different manufacturers represented in the top ten molds. Only Dynamic Discs had more than one mold (the beaded Judge, and the beadless version of the Judge, the Warden). That shows the variety of tastes we have in the disc golf community. Additionally, there were 65 molds that received at least one vote. Here are the top voted putters and the percentage of votes that they received.

1	Dynamic Discs Judge	10.0%
2	Gateway Wizard	7.4%
3	Discmania P2	6.6%
4	Discraft Luna	6.1%
5	Innova Aviar	5.3%
6	Above Ground Level Madrone	4.5%
7	Dynamic Discs Warden	3.9%
8	Latitude 64 Pure	3.7%
9	Axiom Envy	3.4%
10	Streamline Pilot	2.9%

As we promised, we selected a random voter to win a $50 Infinite Gift Card. The random voter was Robbie S. of Illinois. Robbie chose an Aviar as the best putter. Thanks for your votes!

What is Your Favorite Putter? Tell Us!

Once again we turn to you for your thoughts on your go-to putter. Let us know your favorite putter mold, and tell us why you like it.

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