A different kind of drive

One of disc golf’s defining features is how closely it interacts with its surroundings. Courses are carved into existing parks, winding through desert terrain, wooded areas or rolling hills. The obstacles aren’t manufactured, they’re natural: trees, slopes, wind gusts, even the occasional arroyo.

That same relationship with the elements carries into the Senior Olympics frisbee competitions, where distance and accuracy are dictated not by design, but by conditions. Wind matters. Touch matters. Adaptability matters.

At its core, disc golf mirrors traditional golf. Players start at a tee area, aim for a target and try to get there in as few throws as possible. Instead of clubs and balls, they use specially designed flying discs. Instead of a hole, the target is a metal basket fitted with hanging chains that catch the disc.

Each hole begins with a drive from a tee pad. Players throw from where their disc lands until it comes to rest in the basket. Courses are marked with par values, and the lowest total score wins.

The Senior Olympics version strips that structure down to its essentials. No baskets. No fairways. Just the throw itself, either for distance or accuracy, and the ability to execute it cleanly.

But there’s nuance beneath disc golf’s simplicity. Different discs serve different purposes — drivers for distance, midranges for control and putters for precision. Players learn to shape shots, working around natural obstacles rather than through them.

That kind of shot-making isn’t as central in the Senior Olympics events, but the feel of the throw, the satisfaction of a clean release and a steady flight, is the same.

Those similarities, along with the lower cost and reasonable time commitment, are what drew Dean Palma to set aside his bag of clubs and pick up a disc.

His interest in disc golf eventually led him to the Senior Olympics frisbee competitions, where the focus shifts to distance and accuracy using a more traditional flying disc.

“You use a traditional frisbee of a specific size and weight,” Palma said. “You get maybe four or five tries to throw it as far as you can in one of the events and then, in the other one, you throw it through a hoop from a measured distance.”

Palma grew up in Roswell, where he played ball golf in high school. After his military service, his competitive sports days had largely passed, aside from the occasional round of golf — until he discovered disc golf.

“I guess I threw frisbees a little bit as a kid, but I just picked up frisbee golf probably 15–18 years ago, and I just kind of fell in love with it,” Palma said. “Then, a few years ago as I was driving past where they had the Senior Olympics frisbee accuracy competition, I just happened to see the signs, so I went in to inquire about it. I just volunteered that first year and then I participated in the years since.”

What kept him coming back to disc golf carries over to the Senior Olympics events.

“It’s fun watching the frisbee fly and it's like regular golf in almost every other aspect,” Palma said. “You’re competing against yourself or we have a group that gets together and so you get to compete with the other people that come out. It's just a fun get-together in a relaxed atmosphere. It's not stuffy at all as real ball golf can be sometimes and quite expensive. It’s a very relaxed bunch of guys out there just having fun, cheering each other on for good shots. It's just a lot of good camaraderie.”

That accessibility is part of the appeal. In disc golf, a beginner can show up with a single disc and start playing immediately. There are no tee times, no greens fees at most public courses and very little equipment required.

The Senior Olympics frisbee competitions offer a similar entry point — simple rules, minimal equipment and a focus on participation as much as performance.

Still, disc golf offers a deeper learning curve. As players improve, shot making becomes increasingly important, with each throw shaped by terrain and conditions. The Senior Olympics events, by contrast, isolate the fundamentals: distance, accuracy and control.

Both, however, share a slower pace. They invite players to settle in, focus on the next throw and let everything else fall away. In that way, they mirror each other — competitive without being cutthroat, social without losing their edge, easy to try but hard to master.

Disc golf has grown from a niche pastime into an organized sport with leagues, tournaments and professional tours. But at the local level, its charm remains unchanged: a handful of discs, a stretch of open land and the simple goal of making the next throw just a little better than the last.

That same spirit carries into the Senior Olympics field events — a handful of throws, a shared space and the quiet satisfaction of getting one just right.

In Las Cruces, that accessibility is part of what has allowed both to take hold. Palma has played a role in that growth, helping bring a disc golf course to a park near his home.

“There was a disc golf course in the desert behind NMSU at one point years ago,” he said. “It was just very desert-y. My late wife and I used to take the dogs to the park near our home, and she said I should ask the city about putting a disc golf course in there. It was nice and lightly used. It worked out really nicely.”

Today, courses in communities like Las Cruces are free and open to the public, lowering the barrier to entry and welcoming players of all ages and backgrounds.

The same can be said for the Senior Olympics frisbee competitions — step up, take your throws and see how close you can get.

For newcomers, that’s enough. For regulars, it’s everything.