Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Josh Taft, who helped design the new disc golf course at Pulaski County's Randolph Park, holds a disc. "I really like the flow of the course. I feel like there's a lot of different type of shots," Taft said.

Longtime disc golf player Josh Taft tosses a disc from a gravel tee at the new disc golf course at Pulaski County's Randolph Park. Four volunteers helped design the course with Taft.

DUBLIN -- Some call it the sport of the future, but for New River Valley players, disc golf is the sport of the now.

Players are crowding courses in Christiansburg, Roanoke and, most recently, Mountain Lake resort in Giles County. But a new course at Pulaski County's Randolph Park could bring players from across the region when it opens next month as only the second 18-hole course in the area.

It's the brainchild of Josh Taft, a longtime disc golfer who approached park staff about installing a course after he realized how popular the 18-hole Golden Hills course at Mid County Park was.

"In the last couple years -- especially around this time of year -- the course up at Christiansburg has four or five groups lined up at the tees," Taft said. "It takes a little while to play, and you got to be willing to wait."

So Taft began scoping out possible places for a new course and came across wooded trails that wind through Randolph Park. The park's community activities director, Anthony Akers, accepted a proposal from Taft soon after and promised to match any funds Taft could raise.

The goal in disc golf is to aim for a basket rather than a hole, and players use different discs for drives and putts. The sport is far cheaper than regular golf as well, since there are no clubs to buy and courses rarely charge fees to use them.

"The average person probably carries about five discs and some people just bring one," said Brad Buchanan, Montgomery County's outdoor education supervisor. "If you buy five discs, you'll have $50 invested in the whole sport."

Building and maintaining courses are similarly inexpensive. In Montgomery County, maintenance is done using volunteers, and Buchanan said the county recently installed a donation box near the course that will help pay for improvements.

Building the Randolph Park course was done through mostly volunteer labor, Taft said. He estimated that up to 15 people put in about 250 hours clearing fairways and putting down gravel for the tees, and the county provided a Bobcat tractor and spent about $6,000 to install the metal baskets.

Four volunteers helped design the course with Taft, and he said they tried to make the course accessible for beginners but challenging enough that people would keep coming back.

"I really like the flow of the course. I feel like there's a lot of different type of shots," Taft said. "You want them to enjoy what they're playing and say, 'Wow, I want to come back.' "

Another feature he expects people to like is the flatness of the course. The Christiansburg course features steep hills that Buchanan said give people a workout as well as facilitate exciting shots.

But Taft said he's heard complaints from players in their 60s and 70s who have trouble on some of the holes.

"They really enjoy playing, but they have a hard time at Christiansburg," he said. "Pulaski's a longer walk but an easier walk."

The fact that the course intersects the busy walking trails at Randolph shouldn't worry people who are out for a stroll, Taft said. A sign near the start of the course reminds players to share the area with people on the trail, and Taft added that many people have shown great curiosity about the course.

A woman walking on the course with five children recently inquired about the discs sailing through the woods, and Taft said he showed some of the kids how to play. Afterward, they said, "Mom, we want to do this next time we walk," according to Taft.

Although the course is ready for play now, the tees and the trail won't get permanent markers until next month, and Taft has set an official opening date of Sept. 27. But players looking to avoid the crowds at Christiansburg should be able to figure out the course with a little exploration.

That suits Buchanan just fine.

"Our course gets hammered with people. It's kind of overwhelming," he said. "It'll be taking some of the traffic off our course."