Disc golf is flying in the face of all who doubted it, said Gurnee resident Steven Jacobs, an amateur junior world disc golf champion. Indeed, Carrie Comincioli thought her husband Brett Comincioli was a little crazy when he picked up the sport after they moved to Round Lake Beach, with a disc golf course nearby in Fairfield Park.



Since then, the sport has simply exploded, Brett said.



Brett now owns Windy City Disc Golf, a company which designs disc golf courses and runs clinics for players. He’s helped design the disc golf course in Bevier Park, Waukegan.



Since 2001, he’s been a member of DISContinuum Disc Golf Club, a disc golf organization for northwestern Illinois which has between 100-180 Lake County members. Some of those members, including Jacobs, are amateur world disc golf champions.



Problem is, “there aren’t really any good courses here in Lake County yet,” Comincioli said. Gurnee’s disc golf course at a Warren Township park, in the wooded area behind the softball fields, has nine baskets, while a full-size course has 18 like a golf course.



“We tried to get it expanded in the past and didn’t get a lot of support for it,” he said.



“In 2007, when this course came in, it was empty,” Comincioli said. “Now you see people here everyday.”



He said he’s seen the 50 Lake County members of DISContinuum grow to almost 200 in the last 12 years.



Despite the popularity, “people have no idea what disc golf is or that [when they walk into a wooded course] there are flying objects around,” Comincioli said. “People have thought the baskets were grills, lined them with tin foil and grilled inside them. Or they thought they were deer feeders.”



Round Lake is re-designing its disc golf course at Fairfield Park, he said.



“By the end of the year, it will be one of the nicest courses around,” he said.



Cominicioli is responsible for getting a designer connected with the park district to have the course re-designed.



Local disc golfers are competing now. In early June, Jacobs took second place at the United States Amateur Disc Golf Championship nationals in Milford, Mich. In July, he’ll compete in the Amateur World Championship in Emporia, Kansas.



Kenny Glassman, who won the Amateur Disc Golf World Championship in 2011, said, “[Jacobs’] skill is getting very good and he’s just about ready to go pro. He’s very good at putting [throwing in the basket from 30 feet or less].”



Comincioli, Jacobs and Glassman met each other in DISContinuum. Cominicioli has helped Glassman improve, and now Glassman has done the same for Jacobs.



“A lot of the more serious players like to get together, like a group of golf buddies do every week,”

Comincioli said. He believes that the reason disc golf’s popularity is exploding is because it’s inexpensive.



“It started with people playing by aiming for trees, signs,” he said. “Every one of us owns multiple baskets to set up our own course.”



Jacobs said disc golf is becoming popular because “people love the flight of the disc. I take friends out one time and they think it’s awesome.”



“When you see someone throw the disc in a really amazing way, you’re inspired to learn to do that,” Comincioli said.



Disc golf has much in common with regular golf. The discs come in different sizes and weights, just like golf clubs – drivers and hitters, for example. “You’re just throwing your ball instead of using a club to hit it,” Comincioli said.



Some people call it Frolf – Frisbee golf – but as Frisbee is a trademarked product, disc golf is a better term, Jacobs said.



A game is usually one to three hours long, Glassman said, “You don’t have to be muscular or strong to play. It’s an all-ages, lifetime sport.”



“It’s exciting to see disc golf grow,” Comincioli said. “It’s frustrating because waiting to play can get frustrating. I was at Adler Park [in Libertyville] recently and it was packed. But it’s great that more people are playing.”