Sports

Disc Golfers Call Tyler Park Home

The Bucks County Disc Golf Alliance designed and built the course at Tyler State Park. Now it's one of the top disc golf courses on the East Coast.

Have you ever been walking around Tyler State Park and wondered where the sound of clanging chains was coming from?  Well, back in the woods, amid the trails and paths, athletes flock to enjoy one the best disc golf courses around.

Disc golf is similar to traditional golf, but instead of a ball, you use a plastic disc to complete a hole. And instead of swinging a club, you’re throwing the disc into an elevated metal basket.

Since the mid-1990s, members of the Bucks County Disc Golf Alliance have made the 27-hole course at Tyler Park, which they designed and built, their course of choice.

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Disc golf "is just like ball golf except for the price,” said Bucks County Disc Golf Alliance member Rex Hay. "It’s played professionally around the planet."

While you can enjoy the same challenges and competition of traditional golf, disc golf is a very inexpensive hobby that requires no pricey course fees, say members of the Bucks County Disc Golf Alliance. Plus, Newtown’s Tyler Park is one of the best disc golf courses on the East Coast.

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“It’s so much fun,” Hay said, adding the sport is easy to pick up.  

The Bucks County Disc Golf Alliance has a variety of opportunities for both newcomers to the sport and experienced players. 

They have a winter league that meets Sundays, doubles on Saturdays at 10 a.m., a summer league, a women’s clinic in the spring, and a variety of tournaments throughout the year, including a toy drive tournament around the holidays.

The course at Tyler Park was originally built in 1994 and expanded in 2001. It was the second course the alliance created in Bucks County. The first was at Tinicum Park in 1991.

Before the course was built, “this was a really desolate area of the park,” alliance member Scott Murray explained.

“We cleaned it all up,” Hay said, adding that the alliance has a very good relationship with the park. “We take real good care of the park,” he said. The area around the course is “just as clean as a whistle.”

Alliance members always pick up the trash and cigarette butts that they see littered around the course. They also helped raise money to build the pavilion adjacent to the course.

Now, Tyler Park “is one of the top courses on the Eastern seaboard,” Hay said.

Not only is the course challenging, it’s also scenic with plenty of wildlife around, including fox and hawks.

Not to mention, you get a great workout playing at Tyler Park.   “You’re up and down the hills,” he said. And in the summer, the shady trees create the perfect environment for outdoor exercise. “Even when it's hot, it’s cool in the woods.”

The sport appeals to people of all ages and backgrounds, Hay said. The Bucks County Disc Golf Alliance’s 75 active members consist of men, women, twenty somethings, retirees, professional players, and even a blind player. Most players are from Bucks County or Northeast Philadelphia, but some come from New Jersey and Montgomery County, too.

“We have a lot of women players and they love it,” Hay said.

The club meets the first Tuesday of the month at Giuseppe’s in Richboro. While you don’t have to be a member to sign up to play in the alliance’s various tournaments, the club prefers you are because dues go back to the park. Membership is $15 and comes with a disc.

For more information about the Bucks County Disc Golf Alliance and their upcoming events, visit their Web site at www.bcdga.com or stop by their next meeting, which will be held Tuesday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m. at


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