Disc golf is just like golf, except without the balls and clubs. Replace those with a plastic disc and swap out the flag sticks and holes for metal baskets. There you have it: Disc golf, mostly.

It’s cheaper and requires less equipment, but like golf, the disc version is played in a wide open space—a chance to enjoy New Mexico’s high desert scenery. While professionals are starting to make a name for themselves, earning millions in sponsorships, the sport remains a relaxed game for most players, works for big groups of friends and there’s something satisfying about the way a plastic disc hovers and slices through the air before falling back to earth.

Among the local disc golf community are the die-hards who, on any given day, can be found toting their bag of discs from tee to tee. Still, disc golf is the type of sport anyone can play and one of the fastest-growing in the nation. Home to a few courses with a new one on the Southside nearing completion, Santa Fe could be the place where the interested player turns into a devoted enthusiast.

“Disc golf is booming,” says Ryan Flahive, who leads the Santa Fe Disc Golf organization. “We saw the numbers spike during COVID and, in 2021, there were 1.5 new courses installed [nationwide] every day. That’s huge growth.”

The most played course in Santa Fe is Arroyo Chamisos Park, behind the Genoveva Chavez Community Center (3221 Rodeo Road, (505) 955-4000). The 18-hole course has three different sets of tees, giving players of all skill levels a place from which to start: Red tees are for beginners, blue for the more experienced and yellow for advanced golfers. The basket placements require some clever shots to navigate around the juniper trees, and an active disc golf league can be found discing it up most…