[photo credit: Pasadena Senior Center]
On November 18, Mark Horn, now 75 and a Professional Disc Golf Association Hall of Famer, will share the story of how that Pasadena course became ground zero for a sport now played in 91 countries.
“The beautiful thing about disc golf is that you can come play for one dollar,” Horn said. “You could go grab a frisbee from the dollar store and start playing.”
That accessibility has fueled explosive growth. Today, 16,267 disc golf courses operate worldwide, with 3.2 new courses installed daily. Remarkably, 89 percent remain free to play.
The sport’s origins trace to 1969, when the first official tournament was held at Brookside Park in Pasadena. But Oak Grove’s 1975 installation made the sport accessible to anyone who wandered into the park.
The course owes much to Ed Headrick, the “father of disc golf,” who invented the Disc Pole Hole catching device and founded the PDGA in 1976.
Horn, who holds PDGA membership number 67, won the 1977 IFA World Frisbee Championships and later established a pro shop at Oak Grove. The PDGA inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2003.
For Horn and his wife Susie, both nurses, Oak Grove provided sanctuary during the AIDS epidemic. “We could come out here in the oak trees and enjoy nature when everything at work was scary,” she recalled.
“Where It All Started: Disc Golf at Oak Grove in Pasadena” will run on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, at 2 p.m. Pasadena Senior Center, 85 E. Holly St., Pasadena. For more information, call (626) 795-4331 or visit https://www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org/lectures-classes/informational-lectures/2112-where-it-all-started-disc-golf-at-oak-grove-in-pasadena. Ticket prices: Free.
