DGA - Company Overview

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DGA - The Founding Company of Disc Golf

DGA is the founding company of disc golf and the leading manufacturer of disc golf baskets for the sport. DGA focusses on providing the highest quality disc golf baskets and disc golf equipment to meet the demands of the professionals and recreational disc golf players, Park and Recreation Departments, Universities, schools and camps.

DGA continues to promote Ed Headrick’s vision for disc golf by providing the finest quality, the best performance, and the most choices in disc golf course equipment. DGA works in the forefront and behind the scenes to sow the seeds of the sport and over two-thirds of all disc golf courses have chosen DGA’s Mach Series Disc Pole Holes. DGA baskets are the player-preferred baskets and the #1 selling baskets in disc golf.

DGA History

Disc Golf Association (DGA), established in 1976 by Ed Headrick founded the sport disc golf to promote around the world.

Headrick established Disc Golf Association (DGA) and made up and trademarked the term “Disc Golf”. Headrick had originally wanted to call the sport Frisbee Golf but ran into issues over the Frisbee trademarked belonging to Wham-O, his previous employer.

Through DGA, ED created the rules of disc golf for the fledgling sport and invented and patented the very first Disc Pole Hole disc golf basket. Ed installed the first disc golf courses starting in Oak Grove California and became the Jonny Apple Seed of disc golf. DGA established the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) and the Recreational Disc Golf Association (RDGA). DGA focussed on fulfilling the Equipment needs for the sport, the PDGA became the overseeing body of the Professional side of the sport and the RDGA for managing recreational Disc Golf. As Ed’s sport grew the DGA spun off the PDGA to work independently of DGA. The RDGA is still under the umbrella of the Disc Golf Association.

Prior to DGA, a precursor to the game of disc golf thrown together by a few devoted Frisbee players throwing Frisbees at carefully chosen “golf holes”… usually drinking fountains, fire hydrants, garbage cans and light poles and the rules made up on the spot. It was during this time that competitive freestyle had reached a critical mass with frisbee tournaments composed of distinct freestyle skill events. Frisbee golf made its début at a couple of these events in 1974 and 1975 as side activities to the main events consisting of competitive freestyle, focused on trick throws and acrobatic catches. The huge potential of disc golf as a formal sport and recognized recreational activity did not become clear until after Headrick installed the first permanent Disc Pole Hole course and disc golf moved from a fringe of the Frisbee Freestyle movement and into the mainstream and the disc golf revolution.

In 1974, Headrick approached the county of Los Angeles Park and Recreation Department with the idea of a permanent Disc Golf Course. Sy Greben, Director of the Park Planning Division saw the potential and Oak Grove Park was selected and approval was given to install the world’s first Disc Golf Course. Headrick and Mary Becker from the Park Planning Division designed and constructed the course with the county. In 1976 Ed replaced his Pole Holes which were just poles cemented into the ground with the first DGA Disc Pole Hole that where the first disc golf targets to use chains to stop a disc.

Today disc golf has become incredibly popular and is one of the fastest growing games. There are over 3000 formal courses in the United States and many courses around the world.

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