- This one, I'm pretty confident I can make.

But, I don't wanna get overconfident.

(disc golf basket chiming) (Chance and Daniel laughing) That's why!

(upbeat theme music playing) (exciting music begins) Do you know what this is?

It's not a weird looking basketball hoop, it's a disc golf basket.

I've only been disc golfing, a couple times in my life, but I found out recently, there's four hundred and thirty two disc golf courses in Minnesota, making it the third most, in the country.

Gonna meet up with Daniel Polk, a professional disk golfer, to show me the ins and outs, but first, I gotta learn how to throw a disc.

Disc golf's rise in popularity is because it's easy to learn and can be played by all ages and skill levels.

It's played much like traditional golf, except instead of a ball and clubs, players use a flying disc.

The object, is to complete each hole in the fewest throws.

A disc golf hole begins from a tee area and ends at an elevated chain basket.

It's an extremely accessible and inexpensive outdoor activity.

The majority of courses at public parks, are free to play.

Pay courses, public or private, range from five to ten bucks.

The price of most discs, vary between ten and thirty dollars.

Other than that, just make sure you have some comfortable shoes, to get you around the course.

(exciting music playing) What do I need to know to get started?

- First of all, you need some discs.

Here's a nice starter pack for you, driver, that goes the farthest.

We got a fairway driver, it's more controllable, then we got a midrange and these are mainly shots, for two hundred and fifty feet.

- That seems like a long range, to me.

- Yeah.

(Chance laughing) Then I got you, approach disc, so when you're a little bit closer to the basket.

And then, the putter, it's the straightest disc that you'll find.

The way I throw, is a backhand and I curl my, all my fingers into the rim.

Twist into an athletic stance and then you pull through, don't go wide.

Nice and level, then it should fly straight and forward.

(clothes rustling) - [Chance] Oh... oh, okay.

You're throwing it like, out there, out there, okay.

I feel like I should warm up, before I pull something.

I might pull something sneezing, much less chucking this thing.

All right, here we go.

(clothes rustling) - [Daniel] That's not bad, right there.

That disc could be a little bit more, overstable, so, meaning, it goes to the left.

- Alright.

(clothes rustling) - [Chance] Little straighter than last time, - Yeah!

- Probably like, hundred and fifty feet.

- I mean, that wasn't even your full power throw, so, - Yeah, it was.

Nice and controlled.

(Chance laughing) And then, you got the sidearm, you throw from the side, or they call forehand.

(clothes rustling) That throw was awesome.

That's your natural throw, right there!

- I'm feeling like, I got the basics down.

- Lets go have some more fun and see how these play.

(hands smacking) - Yes.

- [Chance] Some of the original disc golf courses in the Twin Cities, were installed in the late seventies and eighties, but, it wasn't until the nineties and two thousands, when they began popping up, all over Minnesota.

Not just in public parks, private courses too.

Minnesotan's financial investment and commitment to parks is a big reason we have so many courses, making Minnesota a destination for disc golfers, as well as a location, for Pro tournaments.

So, this is hole one.

- [Daniel] now, the tee box, we can't step over this line, otherwise, we get a penalty stroke.

You see a little ditch, right there?

The mow line, is the out of bounds line.

You land in it, it's a penalty stroke.

This is a par three, so try to get it into three shots.

The basket, just right there, looking for you to put it in there.

- Asking for it, ha ha.

Oh, my goodness!

- And we got it right there, got a birdie throw.

- That's a nice approach.

(Chance laughing) Out of bounds, okay yeah.

- We'll do a mulligan.

- Disc, hopefully we can find that one.

Sorry about the disc.

(clothes rustling) (Chance sighing) A lay up.

In bounds!

- [Daniel] And then, this where we keep track of our throws, in our head.

Where the disc is, you gotta stand behind it.

(clothes rustling) - Oh!

- [Daniel] That's just fine, right there.

You got a putt.

- Drive for show, putt for dough.

- [Daniel] Not bad.

(basket chiming) There you go!

(Chance laughing) - Is that why you're a champ?

- Putting's the hardest part of the game.

- This one, I'm pretty confident I can make.

(disc thudding) (both laughing) That's why.

Alright, hole number one, double bogey.

Gotta start somewhere.

This looks like a whole lotta trouble.

- This gap is really tight.

My throw for this, is a forehand roller, which is a sidearm grip, I'm throwing this way and I'm a let the disc land on the ground and it should roll forward, - [Chance] Roll.

- [Both] Oh!

- It rolled right out into the open.

- Well, let me show you how it's not supposed to look.

(clothes rustling) (Chance laughing) - [Daniel] What you threw, was a tomahawk and that's when you saw, the disc fly upside down.

- Yeah.

Alright, second try.

(both laughing) He makes it look easy.

- [Daniel] I would just pitch out.

- Ha ha, okay - [Daniel] There you go!

- Best shot of this hole.

(leaves crunching) Look at that.

- Oh!

(clothing rustling) (disc ringing) - [Both] Oh!

(basket chiming) - [Chance] That was a very easy looking par, on a very challenging hole.

- Everything's more mental, than physical.

If you're able to let that go, you're gonna be able to do better on this hole.

(dramatic music playing) This is not about power, this is more about control, trying to stay in the middle.

(clothes rustling) - Uh.

- [Daniel] Oh!

- Looks like, it was decent bounce.

Uh!

(Chance laughing) Like, the harder I throw, the more wild it's gonna be.

- [Daniel] Yeah.

(clothes rustling) - I recognize, I gotta close my hip a little bit more.

- Everything's your lever.

(body whirring) Slide, slide, slide - [Chance] Yeah.

(basket chiming) - Yeah!

Not bad.

- Is that only a double bogey?

Alright.

(body whirring) - Oh, no.

- [Chance] Oh ho!

Everybody can throw a bad one.

(clothes rustling) - [Daniel] Look at that, I make the mistake and you take advantage.

- My best tee shot.

Wanna bet five bucks on this?

(both laughing) It is amazing, I can see how addicting it can be, when you see a good shot.

- The guy that taught me, he threw a whole football field length and I was hooked.

(fingers clicking) (Chance laughing) I didn't realize, discs could fly that far.

- Right.

- And I just wanted to do it.

When I do shots like that, or when beginners see shots like that, that keeps them coming back, for more and more.

- [Chance] Yeah.

- [Daniel] Yeah!

(Chance laughing) Look at that!

- So I heard, two weekends ago, you had a pretty big tournament, - The Minnesota State Championships, it was the forty first annual, - [Chance] Okay.

And I won it for the first time.

(Chance laughing) I mean, (hands clapping) I've been playing this, for so long.

- [Chance] Congrats.

(basket chiming) It's my best hole, so far, only improving, (discs hitting) bogey!

- For my par save.

(basket chiming) Didn't we bet ten bucks on that too?

- [Chance] Yeah... that uh, yeah we did.

(both laughing) (cool music begins) - I'm throwing a putter off the tee, because there's water in the middle.

(body whirring) Ah!

- [Chance] Dink!

Yeah!

- [Daniel] Okay.

(clothes rustling) - I made it past these first two near trees.

- Stay up, stay up.

- [Chance] Oh, it's in the water!

- Oh!

- This one, makes me nervous.

(leaves rustling) Don't kick in there, okay.

So with that ice forming over that lake, do you play, like, year round, or?

Disc golf in Minnesota is year round.

It's definitely an investment to play in the wintertime.

I mean, obviously you gotta find your disc, so people tape ribbons, to their disc, - [Chance] Okay.

It'll stick out of the snow.

- [Both] Yeah!

- Do people ever play at night?

- Oh yeah, we have these lights that we tape on our discs and it's actually a lot of fun, because, it kind of, (Daniel groaning) makes it easier, you can't see all these branches.

- Ah... ha ha!

- Oh, ha ha.

We're gonna tie.

(basket chiming) Kobe!

- I keep on improving.

(exciting music playing) (adventurous music playing) I was wondering what your training is like.

- Disc golf, it's exploded.

So, the top pros, they're actually making a living off of this now, - [Chance] Sure.

- When I started, it wasn't feasible, but now, people are getting sponsored, contracts and all that, so it's actually, - [Chance] A career path.

- [Daniel] You can build for it, yeah - [Chance] Yeah.

- [Daniel] In order for me to compete against the youth, which are getting good, really fast, I always tell myself, I gotta work twice as hard.

This is for par.

(basket chiming) (both laughing) - So, are you originally from Minnesota?

- Originally, from Pinon Arizona, that's where the Navajo reservation is, so, - Oh okay, yeah.

- I'm half Navajo.

My dad's side is, I'm from San Carlos Apache, and the Quechan Tribe.

- Is disc golf, pretty common?

- [Daniel] To my knowledge, not very many Natives, at that moment playing.

Nowadays, I do see some Natives out.

As a Native, myself, I do wanna see more of them enjoy the sport.

From my teachings, of my traditional life, being respectful for the gifts I'm given, I try to bring that into disc golf.

- [Chance] Respect and gratitude, are the things that I've felt stand out, from what you bring to the game.

So, when people just get started in this, what do they believe, that might not be true?

- [Daniel] It's a stoner sport, but it's evolved.

Like for me, I've never drank or smoke.

You hear it on the Native side too, this conception that they're drunks, but I grew up this way and I can tell people, like, that's not true, you know, we all don't do that and now I can say that about disc golf.

- People are diverse, even among diverse groups.

(Chance laughing) - [Daniel] Yeah.

And, disc golf is, it's very diverse.

(dramatic music playing) - That was sweet.

Learned a lot about the sport, what's also really neat is, you're probably not very far from a disc golf course, that is either free, or very affordable.

(basket chiming) Well, the high ones are more challenging.

As far as technique, you know I just took a lot of strokes.

But, I started getting the hang of it, I feel like today was as successful as I could have hoped for.

It was awesome getting to know you, thanks for sharing all your wisdom.

What a cool guest, current State Champ.

Guy really loves what he does, I would strongly recommend, getting out there - [Daniel] Oh!

- And giving it a try.

It's Chance baby, signing off.