Taupō’s Secret Sport is Soaring: How Taupō Made Its Mark on Global Disc Golf

If you’ve walked through Spa Park lately, you’ve probably spotted those baskets tucked between the trees, or sitting up on the hills, and wondered what they were all about. So, what is disc golf, and why is it so popular around here these days? If you haven’t tried it, disc golf is basically golf with a disc. You throw a disc from the tee, and instead of a hole, you’re aiming for a metal basket with chains to catch it. Fewest throws to get there wins, just like normal golf. I sat down with Ken Harris, president of the Taupō Disc Golf Club, to find out how a few mates messing around with “frisbees” turned into one of New Zealand’s premier sporting spots, right here on our doorstep.

How it all began

Ken’s story starts back in high school, just outside Chicago, way before he knew to call it disc golf. Back then, to him and his friends, it was just frisbee golf, and honestly, none of them had a clue what they were doing.  “There were probably four or five of my friends who’d play, and the course was just five minutes from my house,” he told me. “What kept us coming back was pretty simple really, it was free, it was outdoors, and it meant you got to beat your mates each game.”

Finding Spa Park

Ken moved to Taupō in 2019, and not long after, he was walking through Spa Park with his kids and couldn’t believe there wasn’t already a course there. “It was just so perfect for it in every way: open area, woods area, elevation change. I thought it was a crime that there wasn’t a course.”

So he got in touch with David Keene, a pro disc golfer already pushing for one. Turns out Bob Gentil, a radio DJ for Magic and the Sound, had been hosting one-off tournaments at Spa Park since the early 2000s. With a nudge from RPM Discs owner Simon Feasey, Ken helped form the Taupō Disc Golf Club, roping his own mates in as founding members. The permanent course finally went in during 2021, and Ken’s been at the helm ever since. Here’s the thing though, nobody gets paid for any of it. Everyone’s giving up their time for free, on top of a day job.

A top 100 course, right here in Taupō

Since 2021, Spa Park has climbed into the top 100 disc golf courses, out of somewhere between 17,000 and 18,000 globally. Pretty incredible when you think about it. Ken puts most of that down to the course itself just being that good.

That reputation’s pulled professional players in from all over through the Tour Down Under, first known as the Taupō Classic and more recently the Australasian Open. Top-ranked players from the US and Canada now make Taupō a stop on their off-season tour, and the last event racked up more than 600,000 YouTube views. One name that kept coming up was Nate Perkins, a well-known pro turned commentator who’s properly fallen for Taupō, and has been a big part of getting the biggest names to come.

Upcoming tournaments

If your child enjoys it and they’re keen to give it a go, there’s the Rising Stars Open, a kids’ event, on September 27th this year. It’s a one-day, 36-hole tournament for just $15 entry, sponsored by NZ Disc Golf, so every kid walks away with a free disc and marker on top of the day’s play. There’s still plenty of room, entries are open at discgolfscene.com.

Then there’s the Taupō Thermal Throwdown, held every Labour Weekend, a bigger amateur-only event spread over two days that usually draws some of the better amateur players from around the North Island.

Behind the scenes

What actually goes into putting these tournaments on varies hugely, and none of it could be done without an army of club volunteers, especially two key members, Steve Lawson and Richard Atkinson. The Rising Stars Open needs little more than a couple of gazebos and the short course, while the bigger amateur events run a shotgun start so every group tees off on a different hole at once. Setting up for the Australasian Open takes about a week, scaffolding, grandstands and a whole new course layout, all done by volunteers.

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing getting here either. When the club needed to renew its licence to keep the course in the park long term, the public consultation drew over 800 submissions, a record for the district council outside of long-term planning. When I asked if everyone’s always been on board, Ken said, “Overwhelmingly yes.” It’s hard to please everyone though, so the club just tries to be considerate of others using the park. “We’re the ones doing the thing that could endanger people if we’re not careful, so we always let everyone else go first.”

More than a sport

When I asked Ken what’s actually stuck with him most, it wasn’t the tournaments at all; it was the people. “The best thing for me is the club members who didn’t know each other before playing the game, and now they’re attached at the hip.” He also loves how, out on the course, culture, race and socioeconomic status all just fall away, because it’s free and open to absolutely everyone.

He’s proud of what it’s done for local kids too. For years he personally visited schools running taster sessions, and while he’s scaled that back, the club now brings school groups out to Spa Park instead.

One moment really stuck with him: watching a district council staff member witness a top-ranked American player’s opening throw. “You can almost feel the sound of it as the disc rips out of his hand. I just heard him say whoa with this amazed look on his face, and I was like, yes, he’s in.”

If money were no object

I ask everyone this question, and Ken’s answer paints a lovely picture: raised tee platforms with stonework, a covered shelter near hole one, more park benches to rest at after those tiring walks up the hill, maybe even toilets at the tee off. Small, practical things the club’s slowly saving toward.

And when I asked what this journey’s taught him about himself, he said: “A lot of gaining confidence that I’m capable of doing something that hasn’t been done before, not here anyway. That, and the friendships. Those are the things I’m proudest of.”

A family favourite

I’ll admit I’m a bit biased here. Both my kids have had a go at disc golf tasters and loved it. My son goes fairly regularly with his uncle, and one of his really good mates is properly into it. I headed out to Spa Park this afternoon, and I especially love the way our afternoon played out: we started all playing together before my daughter and her friend wandered off to enjoy the playground. The rest of us were a bit more dedicated to the course, but true to form, we managed to get a disc firmly wedged up a tree. That quickly turned into a whole new event as all three teen boys teamed up, enthusiastically hurling sticks and pinecones to knock it free. Once we rescued it, they spent some time practising their putting up the hill into one of the baskets. It’s simply beautiful just being outdoors, a fantastic way to connect, catch some fresh air and exercise, and enjoy a digital detox, even if I did whip out my phone to snap a few pictures along the way. 

Want to give it a go?

The club runs public open days on the third Sunday of every month, 3:30 pm to 5 pm, at the pitch and putt entrance to Spa Park. Discs are provided, it’s free to try, and someone will happily show you the ropes. As Ken puts it: “Everybody sucks when they start. It’s okay to suck.”

If you end up loving it, membership’s just $20. Come and see for yourself why a few mates messing around with “frisbees” turned into a lifelong passion for one Taupō local, and why Spa Park’s become such a genuine source of pride for this whole community.