The first course: Oak Grove celebrated 50 years with a Golden Jubilee in December 2025. Photos: Danny Voss / PDGA

Where It All Began

On the first cool weekend of December, as soft light filtered through the sycamores of Pasadena’s Hahamonga Watershed Park, people began drifting into a place many of them had never truly left.

Some traveled hundreds of miles. Some lived just down the street. Some had been throwing plastic here for half a century. Others had never played a PDGA event until this weekend.

But all of them came home.

For three days—December 5–7, 2025—the birthplace of disc golf became a living scrapbook. A reunion. A love letter. A promise.

Oak Grove Park, now Hahamonga, was where the world’s first permanent disc golf course took root. Fifty years ago, “Steady” Ed Headrick placed the first Disc Pole Holes here, unknowingly planting not just a course, but a culture, a community, and a future none of them could have imagined.

Today there are nearly 17,000 courses in over 90 countries. But there is only one first.

The Heartbeat of Friday Night

Friday’s opening ceremony didn’t feel like a kickoff. It felt like a homecoming—like stepping into a room filled with the people who shaped your childhood, your identity, your joy.

George Sappenfield and Mark Horn started the celebration by reminding everyone of where the Frisbee, and Oak Grove (and some of its flagship events), respectively, came from.

Scott Stokely talked of the diversity of the early scene—and how the Frisbee family embraced all who came to play.

Tita Ugalde spoke with joy and pride: “We didn’t want this to feel like a normal event. We wanted it to be a celebration.”

Gary Headrick followed, sharing stories of growing up with an inventor for a father—memories filled with prototypes, experiments, and a childhood intertwined with innovation.

Philo Brathwaite smiled out at the crowd, eyes shining: “This is our family reunion.”

Then Steve Hill of UDisc presented the Gophers with a plaque honoring over 100,000 recorded rounds—a milestone reached by only a handful of courses on Earth.

Applause rose and wrapped around the room like a hug.

Dan “Stork” Roddick (PDGA #3) took the stage last. His voice was warm but carried the weight of memory. He shared stories of the Frisbee and Oak Grove pioneers, describing the beginnings of a culture that would sweep the globe.

He told us that the Frisbee was in the inaugural class at the Toy Hall of Fame. The BALL went in 10 years later. With a wry grin on his face, Stork reminded the crowd of Dr. Stancil Johnson’s whimsical truth:

“When a ball dreams, it dreams it is a Frisbee.”

Then he asked everyone to imagine their lives without the Frisbee.

The laughter stopped. Then the room went still—almost painfully still.

Because the question was impossible.

Without the Frisbee… who would they be? What friendships wouldn’t exist? What journeys would never have been taken? What families would never have formed?

For a moment, you could feel everyone in the room tracing their own invisible thread back to the first disc in their hands.

Saturday: The Past Comes Alive

Saturday felt like time travel. The Throwback Tournament used vintage 110-gram Frisbees and original pole targets. The flight patterns were wilder, the lines more delicate, the challenge both simpler and harder at once.

But more than anything, the day felt pure.

There were veterans throwing the same shots they once threw in 1975. There were long-time players throwing a 110-gram Frisbee for the first time. Everyone was laughing as discs floated, turned, and occasionally betrayed them with a sudden nose-up stall.

You could hear joy everywhere. The kind of joy some people forget to feel, until they return to the place that taught them how.

A Half-Century of Gophers

The Oak Grove Gophers—a club as old as the course itself, and originally known as the LA Frisbee Club—also celebrated their 50th anniversary during this milestone event. Few clubs in the sport’s history can claim such longevity, such stewardship, such heart.

Club Secretary, and lead for Community Outreach for the Club, Roger Sondergaard, shared a source of his pride:

“At the end of the day, a club isn’t just about maintaining a course or growing a sport — it’s about people. You can’t convince everyone to join or participate, and that’s okay. What matters is building something sustainable, something rooted in listening, generosity, and community. If you build with care, your impact can reach far beyond your course — into people’s lives, and into moments when they need support the most.”

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The Gophers have weathered changing generations, shifting leadership, and the evolving landscape of disc golf. And yet, their core remained the same:

A belief that community grows when people care.

The Golden Basket

On Saturday morning at 11:00am, in the “amphitheater” next to hole #2, a crowd gathered for the unveiling of something special—a golden basket dedicated to “Steady” Ed Headrick.

As sunlight struck the polished metal, a murmur ran through the crowd. This wasn’t just a memorial. It was a beacon. A way of saying: Thank you. We remember. We are here because of you.

Sunday: The FUNdraiser That Lived Up to Its Name

Sunday’s four-player team challenge wasn’t about precision or perfection. It was about connections. It was about laughter. It was about not taking anything too seriously—especially yourself.

With only the second-best shot counting, strategy gave way to spontaneity. Groups erupted in laughter at every unexpected skip, shank, and miracle throw.

It was messy. It was loud. It was fun. It was perfect.

Voices That Shaped the Sport

Dan “Stork” Roddick: On the Soul of Oak Grove

He spoke of “Soak Grove,” the infamous Wintertime Open played amid rushing water and lost discs. “Almost any other outdoor event would have been canceled. But disc golfers kept going.”

Because the game wasn’t just a game.

Tita Ugalde: On Why She Stayed

When asked what kept her involved after decades, her answer was simple, and full of truth:

“Love. Love for my Frisbee family. Love for the sport. Love for the magical flight of the disc.”

And somehow, that single sentence contained everything.

Why This Weekend Mattered

Because Oak Grove is the birthplace. But every player, anywhere in the world, has their own birthplace too—their local course, the patch of grass where they learned how to throw, the community that welcomed them in.

During the weekend the, Jubilee Committee made sure there were attractions for newer players as well; clinics, vendors, disc golf history exhibits, and more encouraged all visitors to relish in the history and evolution of the sport, while providing the opportunity to pick up some gear and try it for themselves. Encouraging people to play is almost as large of a part of this culture as is the sport itself.

The Jubilee wasn’t just remembering the past. It was honoring the thousands of small communities born because one course came first.

Closing Reflections: Carrying the Legacy Forward

We’ll start with a fun fact: 50 years ago, Tita Ugalde was 16 years old, and her PDGA number is 83. Ava Meyer, a PDGA Junior World Champion that was also in attendance at the Jubilee, is 16 and her PDGA number is 83,000. Ava has graciously offered to make sure Oak Grove will be celebrated on its 100th anniversary. Carrying on a legacy is sometimes as important as the legacy itself. That’s what this Frisbee family does.

And lastly, your course—wherever it sits, whoever tends to it, however humble or grand—is the cornerstone of your community. From the oldest course in the world to the next course installed tomorrow, each one becomes a home for someone.

Steady Ed always said: “He (or she) who has the most fun, wins.”

And maybe that’s the lesson Oak Grove gave the world.

Be a winner. Help others be winners too. And never forget the joy of watching a disc rise, turn, and glide into a future you can’t yet imagine.