When the green disc left Isaac Robinson’s hand, it was right on target.
Don’t call it a Frisbee. A Frisbee is wide and ungainly, a Wham-O–trademarked children’s toy meant for lazy afternoons on the beach or gentle toss-and-catch games across the college quad.
No, discs like Robinson’s, smaller and denser, are meant to fly. His disc soared through an impossibly tight wooded corridor, barely missing limbs to travel almost 400 feet, well over the length of a football field. With a gentle curl, the disc settled just 20 feet from its target basket.
Robinson, 23, a Lawrenceville native, would go on to birdie the first four holes of that course in Bedford County, Virginia, building up a lead he would never relinquish en route to winning his second consecutive Professional Disc Golf Association’s pro world championship last August. As he was about to clinch his second win, a fan yelled to Robinson, “Two time, baby!”
Invented in the 1970s, disc golf is a variation on its ball-and-club forebear, played by trying to land a plate-sized disc in a chain-draped basket in the fewest number of throws. But, unlike traditional golf’s manicured fairways, disc golf courses are seldom wide open, often snaking through trees, up and down scrubby hills, and around constructed obstacles. One course in North Georgia is even played inside a massive, commercial-size chicken coop.
When it comes to novel sports, pickleball has gotten international attention for its postpandemic explosion, but disc golf is not far behind. There are now more than 10,000 disc golf courses in the United States—more than there are Dunkin’ Donuts shops—with an average of 3.4 new disc golf courses being installed worldwide every day. According to data compiled by UDisc, an app used by both casual and competitive players to keep score and find places to play, Atlanta-area disc golf courses have seen a 300 percent increase in usage since 2019.
This growth has spilled over to the professional side, with top touring players receiving multimillion-dollar sponsorships. About 50,000 subscribers tune in weekly to the streaming Disc Golf Network, and a few tournaments are broadcast on ESPN2, but most viewers, new and returning, rely on a YouTube channel, JomezPro, for coverage of the growing sport.
Robinson’s love of disc golf began in childhood. “I’m the oldest of eight, so disc golf was a way to get the kids outside,” he says. “It was very cheap, and as a big family, we didn’t have the most expendable resources. It was a way to give my mom a break from the kids, so my dad would just drag us all over to the park.”
Soon after, Robinson and his younger brother Ezra emerged as wunderkinds on the Atlanta disc golf scene: teenagers who would get dropped off in the big family van and outthrow all the adults at local tournaments. Now both travel the country on the pro tour, the best brother duo in the sport’s short history.
Robinson’s game is decidedly old-school. He throws primarily backhand, and while he may not match the big arms on tour that can launch a disc 600 feet or more, his precision reigns supreme, shaped by the Georgia woods. Both of his world championships have been considered upsets; Robinson has a knack for rising to the occasion in the season’s biggest moments.
This summer’s world championships will be held in disc golf–crazed Finland, with crowds of more than 10,000 spectators expected to line the fairways. The two courses to be used, nicknamed The Beast and The Monster, are full of unforgiving forested tunnels and precise landing zones.
At their mention, Robinson smiles. “I’m not trying to be cocky or overconfident, but I think both of those fit very well with my game,” he says. “So I’m very excited to go over there.”
This article appears in our March 2025 issue.
