There aren’t many golf courses where you can tee off with a backhand or make par by tossing your putter.

But you can in Scarborough. As of Sep. 22, the former Pleasant Hill Golf Course has been transformed into a course for disc golf – a game in which the dimpled balls of traditional golf are traded for flying discs, and rather than shooting for holes in the ground, players aim for freestanding baskets.

Like the game of Frisbee, the disc can be thrown in forehand, backhand and overhead styles. Like the game of golf, different discs – driver, mid-range and putter – are used depending on the player’s distance from the target.

According to Bob Enman, manager of the course, Maine is home to the third oldest disc golf course in the world, which was built in the 1970s at Beaver Creek Campground in North Monmouth. Enman, who owns courses in Brunswick and Auburn, said he has seen the game rise rapidly in popularity since starting his first course in the 1990s.

“I’ve seen the game grow from maybe 20 people that knew what the game was to keeping track of over 5,000 players,” Enman said. He monitors his clientele and their scores by computer system. Enman’s employee, Nina Hummel, said every couple of weeks she enters about 100 new players into the system.

The game shares many of the same rules as golf. Though the length of the holes are shorter, each has an area to tee off from and is designated with a par. Players also have to avoid physical hazards like water and trees. So far, at the Pleasant Hill course, a pond at hole 3 has eaten several discs.

Though there is no specific attire required to play the game, Hummel recommends not wearing sandals.

Hummel, 21, has been playing since she was a child. She said it was tradition passed down from her mother and grandfather. She said one of the selling points of the sport is that it’s open to all ages.

Though Hummel said she used to have a hard time getting her friends to play disc golf when she was younger, they’ve recently taken to the sport. She thinks the increase in popularity of the sport can be chalked up to the fact that it’s simple, relaxed and inexpensive.

“You don’t have to wear the collared shirts. You don’t have the tee time,” she said.

At the Pleasant Hill course, games are $5 during opening week and increase to $7 this Saturday. Players can buy discs ranging in price from $7 to $17 or can rent them for a game for $1 per disc. Though all of the details have yet to be worked out, Enman said he thinks the Scarborough course will be open daily from 8 a.m. until dark, as are his other facilities.

Opening day at the Pleasant Hill course yielded 37 players, a number Enman said was low, due to cloudy weather and lack of advertising.

Still, the players that did come enjoyed the field.

“It’s the next step for disc golf,” said Jeff Conant, of Scarborough, about playing disc golf on a traditional golf course. “Most other courses are in the woods.”

Conant said he usually plays at a course in Gorham and is excited to have another course in southern Maine.

“It should be good exposure for people who haven’t played before,” he said.

Alex Dulac and Ryan Whelan decided to come out on opening day despite never having played the sport. The 16-year-olds play Frisbee in a club at Scarborough High School and thought they might enjoy the new sport just as much.

“We heard this is pretty fun, so we decided to give it a shot,” said Dulac.

South Portland father and son Scott and David Ewing are relatives of the McLaughlins, the family that owns the land that the course is on. Though David Ewing had never played the sport before, his father tried it out at the Beaver Creek course in the ’70s. A 1975 graduate of Cape Elizabeth High School, Scott Ewing said “Frisbee was real big” when he was growing up.

Though the field will be managed by Enman, the ownership of the land will remain in the hands of the McLaughlin family. According to Jim Vear, spokesman for the family and a disc golf enthusiast, many tempting offers arose to sell the 50-acre property for housing development, but the McLaughlins, who sold a portion of the land to a school for children with developmental disabilities, are glad to be able to keep it mostly open space.

“I think the decisions we have made are many times beneficial to the community,” Vear said. “The idea is to continue to be good stewards of a wonderful piece of property.”

Due to the nature of the lease, Vear said this will be a trial year for disc golf, but Enman said, considering the location, the Scarborough facility is bound for success.

“This course here is going to be huge,” he said.

Jim Souffard works on his disc golfing skills at the new course at Pleasant Hill in Scarborough. According to manager Bob Enman, Maine is home to the third oldest disc golfing course.

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