Disc golf has gained popularity in the past few years, and now Ames residents and Iowa State students have the opportunity to play the sport closer to home.

The Carroll Marty Disc Golf Course, located behind the Gateway Center offices near the Ames/ISU Ice Arena, has been open and free of charge to the public since last spring, but was just recently completed.

The course has 18 holes, 13 of which were completed last spring and the final five completed this year. It is open daily from sunrise until 10:30 p.m.

Prior to the opening of the Carroll Marty Disc Golf Course, the closest disc golf courses were in Des Moines and Ankeny.

Carroll Marty spent many volunteer hours developing the course. He built the two bridges on the course and a series of steps down an incline in the course. He also helped pour the concrete at the tees and install the baskets at each hole.

Other volunteers and disc golfers helped Marty work on the course.

“The idea for a disc golf course was brought up about seven years ago by an ISU student, but we didn’t have the funding at the time,” said Kevin Shawgo, city park superintendent.

The idea was brought up again by City Council member Judy Hoffman. A budget of $12,000 was approved by the council to fund the course.

“Without the help of all the volunteers, we wouldn’t have been able to do all 18 holes on this budget,” Shawgo said.

The course also was part of the Iowa Games this summer and will be used again next year, Shawgo said.

“The course is being well-used, even in the winter,” he said. “A lot of ISU students are taking advantage of it. We have gotten a lot of positive comments back about it.”

Zac Crane, junior in marketing, said he likes the new course because of the variety of the holes.

“Some of the holes are really challenging,” Crane said. “They have a lot of trees, and you have to be careful not to lose your disc. Then other holes are wide open and you can just chuck it as hard as you can.

“I really like the sport because it is inexpensive and it leaves you a lot of room for improvement,” he said. “You can’t just go out the first time and master it.”