Motivating yourself to get outside during long, dark winter evenings in very northern and southern regions can be hard. But for some residents of Toronto, Canada, there's an incentive that makes it feel easy for one night a week: glow disc golf league at either Beaches Disc Golf Course at Ashbridges Bay or Marilyn Bell Park.
"I never thought I'd be competing and meeting so many new, great people at this stage in my life," said Jack Coney, a regular at the Beaches glow league. "I'm 53 and it's such a great experience meeting new people and watching others connect over disc golf."
Played on beginner-friendly courses that are easy to get to by bike, bus, or car, these weekly gatherings featuring lit up baskets and glow-in-the-dark discs have become both a refuge for longtime disc golfers and a place where brand new players can experience the fun and companionship that are hallmarks of the game. A friendly competition has also sprung up between the two Toronto glow leagues, and an annual Glow Down Cup decides which leagues' regulars get a year's worth of bragging rights.
We spoke with the leagues' organizers and participants to learn the keys to the events' popularity and what glow disc golf offers that daytime disc golf doesn't.
Glow Disc Golf Is a Healthy Social Outlet When Busy People Have Time
Though engaging in play and recreation is important for adults' health, it can be hard to find activities that fit into schedules filled with work and family time, especially for parents and caretakers of young children. It gets even harder if you want to participate in something that blends outdoor exercise and socialization.
Glow disc golf, which is played at a pace that allows groups to chat and starts after 7 p.m. at both Beaches and Marilyn Bell during the winter, is the rare pursuit that checks all those boxes for a lot of people.
"It provides an opportunity for busy, working people to do stuff outside of the weekend, when they also probably have plans," said Dave Ruh of the Beaches glow league. "It takes place after the kids go to bed, which is essential for many parents."
Dan Rice, one of the organizers of the Marilyn Bell glow league, said he enjoys seeing participants expand their social networks through these events.
"As you get farther into adulthood, it's harder to make new friends," said Rice. "You get stuck in the same circles and it's hard to meet new people. Joining sports leagues like this really helps, and it's one of the things that I like most about these leagues and feel is very often overlooked."
Along with fitting schedules and creating new connections, glow disc golf can be an effective way to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which is a type of depression typically characterized by low energy levels, social withdrawal, and mood changes caused by a lack of sunlight and vitamin D. It is particularly prominent in high and low latitudes during the winter when there's little or no daylight outside of usual workday hours. Exercise, socialization, and getting outside are some of the most commonly prescribed techniques for combatting SAD, and glow disc golf offers them all.
"If I didn't have a dog, I wouldn't get outside the rest of the week during the winter," said David Lyall, one of the organizers of the Beaches league. "It's so important to have something to look forward to every week. I know we're gonna have some good laughs and we're gonna deal with any bad weather together."
Many glow leagues only run during the winter to help players get a round in when the sun sets early (and also so league rounds don't run too late), but the leagues at Beaches and Bell typically receive their largest turnout during the summer. Playing at night during the summer provides a reprieve from the heat and also helps players avoid peak after-work hours during which many urban parks and disc golf courses see their largest crowds. Players know that they can use glow disc golf to escape the heat, crowds, or the dark and see their friends every week of the year.
Beginner-Friendly Courses Make Glow Disc Golf Leagues More Broadly Appealing
Both the Marilyn Bell and Beaches courses have layouts rated as "easy" by UDisc's disc golf course difficulty rating system. They're what many experienced disc golfers would call "pitch and putts" and some designers term "pocket courses." Their relatively short holes and unpunishing fairways help grow the game by making it fun for beginners and children. They also give experienced but time-crunched players something that's easy to get in a quick round on. They happen to be perfect for glow disc golf, too.
"Our league is totally free to play and takes place at a beginner-friendly course with short par 3s, which is great for newcomers," said Rice. "We open it up and invite a lot of new players to join us. A lot of people actually start with glow because it looks like a fun thing that we're doing, and then they realize that disc golf is a really fun sport and they start playing in other events as well."
The short courses and fairly open fairways mean less time spent searching for discs and more time for what these leagues are really all about, which is catching up with old friends and making new ones while being active at the same time.
"We play with large cards of six, or sometimes even eight people," said Beaches' Lyall. "This makes it accommodating for new people. You never feel like you're in anyone's way and it's easier to find someone to have a conversation with. The course is really short, a lot of guys play with just a putter, so this helps extend the event and highlight what it really is: a social environment where you can talk and make connections. It's like going to the pub without going to the pub."
A major benefit of your "pub" being a beginner-friendly disc golf course is it's easier for parents to choose whether to use the league as a way to enjoy kid-free recreation or to bring their kids along with them.
"The league has been very welcoming to my son," said Sean Lamb, who plays the Beaches glow league. "He started as a 12-year-old. The whole league was encouraging and welcoming. The community embraced him every time that he came out."
Combine an appealing timeslot with approachable courses and flying, glowing frisbees, and you've created a perfect environment for growing the sport.
"People will stop and say, 'What's going on?'" said Andrew Kavanagh, who co-organizes Marilyn Bell's summer glow league with Rice. "Lit up discs flying around, baskets lit up, people cheering – it all draws attention to the sport. Dan and I carry business cards with a link to learn more about the course and the league. It's a really great intro to someone starting out in the sport. It's just a little bit competitive with a super friendly atmosphere."
Staying Consistent Creates Loyal Glow Disc Golfers
Organizers of both leagues told us that consistency has been key to their success. Over at Marilyn Bell, Rice says they have an ethic of being "structured but not serious," which they equate with making sure league nights start and end in a timely manner while also feeling welcoming and warm to anyone interested in participating.
The Beaches league offers a similar vibe, but some members also pride themselves on being hardcore when it comes to showing up no matter the conditions.
"We're even better than the post office," said Ruh with a laugh. "Nothing stops us. Since we started recording rounds on UDisc in 2021, there are only two days that I can't find scores for. And that probably just means it was pouring rain and people didn't want to take their phones out."
But Ruh wasn't always a stalwart glow league player. In fact, he was once known among Beaches regulars specifically for his sporadic appearances. But as Ruh's connections to people at the league deepened, his attendance increased.
"I had recently turned 60 and was going through some personal turmoil/upheaval," said Ruh. "I joined the league to broaden my community and establish a friend group. My social network has expanded tenfold because of disc golf. Disc golf has changed my perspective on my identity completely."
Wanting to give back to the league that had given him so much, Ruh purchased additional basket lights for the Beaches glow league, which he also uses to run glow events at other courses. These efforts earned him the nickname Department of Illumination.
And where did Ruh find those lights custom-built for disc golf baskets? He got a prescription for them from Dr. Glow, the nickname for Marilyn Bell's Dan Rice.
"Dan lights up the trees and signs – it's way more than just the baskets – and we're constantly asking: 'What's Dr. Glow gonna think of next?'" said Kavanagh.
One answer to that question is taking the Dr. Glow show on the road. Rice has an event planning and DJ background which he puts to use to run glow events and tournaments at courses throughout southern Ontario. He has found that glow disc golf is a really great way to add value to events and to entice new players into the sport.
A Little Friendly Rivalry, A Big Party
Having two popular glow disc golf leagues in the same city naturally generated feelings of friendly competition between the groups.
"There was a pretty serious rivalry starting to form between the two leagues, so we decided to formalize it with the Glow Down Cup," said Rice. "It gets pretty wild. Last year we had 80 players on a nine-hole course. It's turned into a really fierce rivalry, but more importantly it's a really friendly rivalry."
The fun starts with Team Beaches showing up in their Hawaiian shirt uniforms and continues well after the round is over with a big afterparty that takes place at the boathouse right across from hole 4 on Beaches.
"The Glow Down Cup is the best party of the year for me," said Lyall. "I always take the day off."
Not only does the winning team get to hold it over their cross-town rivals for the next calendar year, they also take turns bringing the cup with them on their travels – sharing photos with their glow rivals and sharing their passion for disc golf with those they meet on their journeys.
Create Your Own Disc Golf League
If you're interested in starting your own glow league or any sort of disc golf league, UDisc can make it easier. Free for organizers and players, UDisc Leagues not only enables players to register, check in, and keep score but can also be used for player communication, promoting the league to new players, and finding and publishing data about the popularity and growth of the league.
Both the Beaches and Marilyn Bell glow disc golf leagues are run with UDisc Leagues.
