With the weather getting warmer, people are starting to go to their favorite golf course.

They will step onto the first tee, pull out their driver, and throw towards the hole.

Wait a minute.

Throw?

That’s right.

Disc golf is a popular alternative activity to the normal summer standbys of swimming, biking and regular golf.

The object of the game is to throw the disc into a target, typically a basket type device.

The game functions much like golf with one player beginning by throwing the disc and then continuing to throw each consecutive shot from the spot where the previous throw has landed.

Most courses are nine or eighteen holes, and the person with the least numbers of throws at the end of the course wins.

“It’s a great way to spend your day,” said Ames High School student Kyle Vance.

“It’s a lot of fun just to come out here and hang out.”

For people in Ames, the place to hang out is the Carroll Marty Disc Golf Course, located at the Gateway Hills complex.

The course design offers many hills and obstacles over its 18 holes.

Those obstacles help to make the game enticing for some of the participants, whether they are experts or novices.

“This is my first time to get out here and try it,” said Ames High student Nathan Weiss.

“It’s fun just seeing the different things, like throwing the disc into the trees and having to go find it or watching it roll the opposite way you want it to go.”

Another Ames High student, Nick Miller, enjoys another aspect of the course that works for young people.

“It’s free, so you can come out every day and play all day long if you want,” he said.

“It’s just nice to be out here and do something that is constructive.”

Disc golf is a fairly young game, only being recognized as a formal sport since the 1970’s.

Today, there are 59 courses in the state of Iowa, according to the Professional Disc Golf Association.

The amount of course gives people ample opportunities to enjoy the outdoors.

“Just walking out in the nature is probably the funnest part,” said Tyson Harris, an ISU senior in art and design.

Other than just getting outside, David Cohen sees disc golf as a source of relaxation after a long day of classes.

“It’s something to look forward to every day,” said the ISU senior in electrical engineering.

“You can get out, walk around and get a little bit of exercise. It’s gorgeous out here.”

The Carroll Marty Course is the only one inside of the Ames metro area, and while Vance has been to other courses, he enjoys this one the most.

“This seems to be the best one in the area, so we’re kind of lucky that we live here,” Vance said.

While it is uncertain whether more courses will be built in Ames in the future, there are those who are content with the current selection.

“I think it would be fun if there were more options, but this is a really great course, so it really doesn’t matter,” said Ames High student Meredith Scanes.

Still, there are others that would welcome new places to play, along with different challenges to master.

“It would just be nice to have an alternative to throw into the mix where you can have a little bit of difference in what you’re playing every day,” Miller said.

“It would also be a way to have more competition.”