On Sunday, Sept. 21, a group of Luther students with a passion for disc golf held a family weekend outing to promote the newly created Luther College Disc Golf Organization. Making use of the existing nine holes scattered around the northwest side of campus, students came to toss and connect, building up the budding organization.
According to club leader and founder Mike Benoit (‘26), the idea to start a disc golf club was spurred by a tournament that Student Senate had put on last spring.
“I went and participated in [the tournament], and I know a lot of people were really happy with it and mentioned the idea [of a disc golf club],” Benoit said about the idea’s origins.
After seeing that tournament’s turnout, Benoit and others saw the opportunity to bring their pastime to the masses, even if those masses admittedly need a bit of time to come around.
“While there’s not really a huge disc golf community on campus, we’re trying to grow that right now the best we can,” he remarked. He went on to say that Luther College Disc Golf is “still in a testing-the-waters phase” and “trying to pique interest” in disc golf.
Benoit emphasized the accessible nature of disc golf as a strength for growing the club in the future, as someone who himself only picked up his first frisbee two years ago.
“For me and a lot of other people that are relatively new to disc golfing, they just need to try it and they love it. We want to bring people out to experience disc golf the same way,” Benoit said.
“Disc golf is a great way to get outside and take a break from studying. The course at Luther is a great course for beginners and casual players because none of the holes are super difficult or long,” said Isaiah Kahl (‘26), Vice President of the Luther College Disc Golf Club.
One of the goals the organization has moving forward is upgrading and expanding their current course. While the current nine holes are in pretty good condition, Benoit and the board have some ideas for how to improve the course.
The first step revolves around the state of the tee pads. While holes one through six have cement tee pads (which is the standard for most courses), holes seven through nine do not.
“In my short time left, we would like to try and get one pad put in,” Benoit said about his personal goal for improvement before he graduates.
As a reviewer on disc golf reviewing website Udisc.com said, “Tees could be more obvious for [the] last 4 throws”.
Looking further to the future, Benoit has hopes for course expansion. “If we could get another three to four holes in within the next few years, that would be our big goal,” he stated.
Putting in new holes on the pool lawn on the east side of campus has been floated as an idea. However, if holes are only added there, the course as a whole could become too easy. Disc golf thrives in challenging terrain and wooded areas, neither of which describe the pool lawn.
“We don’t want to just make another nine holes that are just wide open fields to throw at,” Benoit said. “It’s nice for people that are newer to disc golfing, but in terms of an actual challenge, we want to get some variety in there.”
The only other alternative for course expansion at the moment involves the area by the ropes course and driving range area, which is also flat. While the team continues to brainstorm potential expansion areas, the actual task of expansion will be left to those taking the lead after Benoit’s departure.
To remedy this and prepare new leadership, the club is trying to bring in underclassmen, to give them exposure to the ins and outs of running a student organization.
The club believes that there is plenty of room for growth, with a target size of 50-60 people within the next couple of years. Anyone interested in joining the club can reach out to [email protected] with inquiries.
