Tyler Disc Golf Courses

Tyler Courses

Disc Golf has grown considerably in East Texas in the last 10 years. During that time we've had seven courses developed in Tyler, 4 of which are now active. There are two courses at Lindsey Park, one at University of Texas at Tyler, and one at the ROC. Prior to Lindsey, there was an object course at Noble E. Young. That course was later redesigned with homemade baskets briefly. There was also a course designed on a nearby 9-hole golf course, Bellwood. Another course still exists at University of Texas Health Center at Tyler, although it is not being maintained and is rarely used.

Noble E. Young

Philip Wheeless created the first object course in Tyler at Noble E Young park . It was an 18 hole course in a park that had a playground and a paved running trail that surrounded the course. That course was probably around for 5-7 years, which is a guess. It was frequented mostly by members of Westwood Baptist Church where Wheeless was the youth pastor.

Lindsey Park

When we were notified that we would have to leave Noble E Young park; they put in a skateboard park, we were given space in Lindsey. Lindsey Park contained several baseball fields and soccer fields. It now has disc golf.

One of the milestones was the establishment of the first full metal basket course at Lindsey in the late 90's. In the minds of some, it's not a disc golf course without baskets. Since then, the Lindsey course was expanded to include two separate 18-hole courses, with a mixture of Mach5 and DisCatcher baskets. Presently they are named with the colors Red and Blue, though some refer to the Blue course as the North course. Both courses are listed on the pdga site (Red, Blue). A third course is also in the planning stages.

University of Texas at Tyler

A more recent addition to Tyler disc golf was at The University of Texas at Tyler. Designed and installed in 2006, the new 9-hole course was designed by Lawrence Nance and other members of the disc golf community. It is located on grounds near the athletic facilities along Spur 248. An additional 9 holes have since been added that trail through the pines.

UT Health Center

The course at UT Health Center was actually the first basket course, although those baskets were homemade hybrid wood/metal baskets. The Bell-Wright course is not officially maintained and was primarily used by employees of UTHCT, such as Dana Bell and Paul Wright. Located directly behind the research building, some of the graduate students also played there.

ROC

There is now a course at Green Acres South, deep South Broadway, that is fairly popular. I think ROC stands for something like the Recreational Outreach Center. It is an 18-hole course with dual tees on many of the holes. Good mixture of hills, woods, with some deceptive distances. It winds through a recreational facility, and during some events a few holes may not be playable.