This story is derived from excerpts originally found in the 2023 and 2025 Disc Golf Growth Report.
Ekeberg Frisbeegolfbane in Oslo regularly ranks in the top 10 for busiest courses in the world, and in 2020 and 2021 was the most popular place to score a round.
In disc golf, though, winning the popularity contest isn't always ideal. More traffic on the course means longer wait times, and while it's easily accessible to Oslo's 634,000 residents, Ekeberg needed help.
Oslo disc golfers have answered.
- 10 new courses have been installed within 25 miles/40 kilometers of the capital city since 2021.
- That doesn't include a handful of shorter school courses.
The result? Ekeberg was knocked off the top of the most-played podium in 2022, coming in at number three in the world (behind Valbyparken Disc Golf in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Morley Field in San Diego, California). That's one contest Norwegians are, more than likely, quite happy to lose.
This is just a localized example of how organizers in Norway have worked to satisfy the explosive demand for disc golf. More players has meant they need more courses, and the Northern European country has been a shining example of how to grow the sport, quietly outpacing Sweden and Finland.
Leiv Aspén, a prominent Norwegian organizer and event director who is helping run this year's national championship (among several other tournaments), attributed the growth to increased interest in local disc golf clubs. He estimated there are upwards of 120 in the country, with overall membership jumping more than 200% since 2019.
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Clubs have also started to focus on youth outreach, which has helped further professionalize disc golf's image and demonstrate it is accessible to more people.
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Communication between clubs and municipalities has been enhanced, as has organized training and media outreach.
All of that has made it easier to explain and sell the sport.
- "Before, I was the weirdo for liking disc golf. Now I'm the cool guy," Aspén joked.
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When he's seeking new partners, they now know what the sport is: "I don't hear 'disco golf, what's that?' Now they know it because they are out playing with their friends and co-workers."
In 2024, Norway added more than 100 disc golf courses. Again.
That's the fourth year in a row the Nordic nation has increased its course count by triple digits, and its 106 in 2024 bested the 101 that took root in 2023.
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🚗 Its most played new course, Kippermoen Frisbeegolfbane in Mosjøen, is far from the country's population centers yet racked up more than 12,000 rounds from 1,100 unique disc golfers in 2024. It's a true testament to how disc golf has taken hold there.
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🏙️ While Ekeberg Frisbeegolfbane still reigns supreme for overall popularity and Krokhol Disc Golf Course ranks as the world's best, it isn't just a two-course show in Oslo: Holmenkollen DiscGolfPark experienced a 5,000-round jump over the previous year, while Muselunden and Stovner still managed to bring in nearly 30,000 rounds combined for the capital city.
What's made disc golf explode in Norway? If you ask Jørn Idar Kvig, who founded the company Nordisc to promote "Frisbee for all" in the country, it's because it's started to capture the attention of a wider variety of players.
"From my observation, disc golf in Norway has become more of a household sport in the last few years, an activity for the whole family," Kvig said. "People using the courses have become more diverse, and disc golf has become a sport more utilized by teachers at schools.
"It is inspiring to see how clubs, organizers and TDs are pushing the professional scene with events like Krokhol Open, European Disc Golf Championship and PCS Open, getting the world's best players to Norway and creating attention for the sport in the mainstream," he continued. "We still have a long way to go to have a professional setup for new players and youth, but disc golf in Norway is on its way from being a novelty activity to a professional sport."
