Open UDisc and move the course map to northeast Denver, and you’ll find a disc golf desert. A vortex. A black hole absent of chains, launch pads, or putting baskets. Readjust your parameters to include the city of Denver proper, and you’ll find only the much-maligned Paco Sanchez on the west side of town- though efforts are being made to improve that course- and the relatively new Park Hill Disc Golf Course on the east side of town, which offers a humble but inventive 18 holes utilizing only 8 baskets. 

This past January, Max Lundt set out to change that.

Since moving back to his native Park Hill after college, he noticed the empty space on the map. Along with Jason Zimmerman, a course ambassador for Park Hill Disc Golf Course, Lundt founded the Park Hill Disc Golf Club with the express purpose of getting a premium course installed on the east side of town. 

“Park Hill deserves a better course, and Denver deserves a better course,” Lundt said. 

In an incredible stroke of fortune, the same week Park Hill Disc Golf Club was founded the city of Denver announced it was acquiring the old Park Hill Golf Course, a 155-acre parcel of land near I-70 and Colorado Boulevard, and intends to turn it into the city’s newest park. Lundt knew then what he needed to do.

“I reached out to UDisc, got a bunch of data from them, compiled it, analyzed it, created a presentation and sent it to the city,” Lundt said. “I got positive feedback.”

The presentation drew from a variety of data points that told a compelling story: disc golfers are leaving Denver to play. Of the nearly 1.4 million UDisc rounds logged in the Denver metro area in 2024, only 6.64% of them were played in the city of Denver. 

It’s not hard to fathom why Denver may want to help change that. More local rounds mean more time and money spent at local businesses, less fuel emissions, and less road congestion. While it may be a stretch to suggest Denver disc golfers are large enough in numbers to make any kind of dent in those numbers, every little bit helps. 

“If you build it, they will come,” Lundt said. “Just like Field of Dreams. There’s three and half million people within 30 minutes. So yeah, it could be huge.”

Denver Parks and Recreation(DPR), though positive in its response to Lundt’s efforts, has sought feedback on the future park’s design since its initial announcement. The city didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but disc golf is listed only under the “interim use” section of its website, implying a temporary course may be put in before more permanent plans are enacted. Disc golf was also listed under “Other” on a poster board at a recent DPR event, behind many other proposed amenities and uses for the future park. 

The Denver disc golf community, often ranked among the most passionate in the country, continues to push. Community members organized an online petition, and Lundt reports he’s been in contact with local businesses who are in support of the effort. 

Lundt himself has continued to campaign for a course to anyone at the city who will listen, and his efforts culminated June 7th with Future Fairways Fest, an event at City of Axum Park which ran concurrently with one of DPR’s community open houses.

“There are people who want this course here,” Lundt said. “If I show up, and all these people show up like they have today, it shows the city.”

More than 30 members of the Denver disc golf community attended. Some brought temporary baskets, others used rangefinders to help plan holes. Soon, several groups played through a five-hole course set up in direct view of DPR employees. 

“The community is here, people from all walks of life, all ages, all skill levels. It’s literally a perfect example of what [this course] could do,” Lundt said. 

For now, the city is taking its time in establishing a long-term plan for Park Hill Park. For Denver disc golfers, an answer on whether the east side of town will continue to exist in disc golf exile remains elusive. So what’s the path forward?

“You have to represent the sport,” Lundt says. “Every little interaction matters. You have to be welcoming to new players and stay patient and flexible.”

You can provide your feedback and let the city know you support a disc golf course at Park Hill Park here.