ZANESVILLE — Tapping into the exploding popularity of disc golf, the City of Zanesville has added a course to Riverside Park.

“It is a cross between frisbee and golf, there is an 18-hole layout like a golf course, with a tee box and a basket instead of a hole,” said Chris Fleming, the city’s supervisor for sewer and storm sewer maintenance. Players throw a variety of discs, mostly smaller and thinner than a regular frisbee. The discs have different weights and purposes, and are used depending on the player’s distance from the hole.

The course is laid out across the northern end of the park, with the front nine threading its way between trees adjacent to the soccer fields, and a more open back nine between the KidZVille playground and the softball fields.

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Disc golf’s popularity is increasing in Ohio

Disc golf has soared in popularity since 2020. Membership in the Professional Disc Golf Association, which represents both amateurs and professionals, jumped from 71,016 in 2020 to 109,862 in 2021. Courses have proliferated as well, with about 13,300 courses worldwide, up 15% from 2020, according to UDisc, a disc golf app that provides course maps and scorecards. There are 392 courses in Ohio, with UDisc ranking it as the 10th best state for disc golf. There are 15 courses within 25 miles of Zanesville, according to the app’s course finder.