This ‘uniquely challenging’ disc golf course in Centre County is soaring in popularity

While the sport of disc golf continues its growth across the United States, Centre County’s disc golf scene also continues to expand, with the area’s newest course skyrocketing up the popularity rankings.

The Wilderness City Disc Golf Course, located at 1934 Black Moshannon Road in Rush Township behind the Philipsburg Elks County Club, is a nine-hole course that opened to the public in 2023 with the intention of providing outdoor recreation to people of any age.

In just two years, Wilderness City has experienced a massive boom in visitation, making it the 77th most-played course out of Pennsylvania’s 362 courses, according to UDisc, a popular app that disc golfers use to keep score of their rounds, seek out new courses and more.

The course also currently ranks as the 1,933rd most-played course out of the United States’ 10,910 courses, and 3,078th out of the world’s 16,267 courses.

“We just wanted to build something here that people could come visit and enjoy, whether you’ve played disc golf before or not,” said Ted Seibert, the course’s creator and the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Philipsburg. “I never could’ve guessed that it would become this popular, but that just goes to show you how much the community cares about and uses this course.”

It isn’t just Moshannon Valley locals who are using the course though — people from 12 different states visited the course in 2024, Seibert told the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau in March. Since then, he said an Alaskan disc golfer visited the course this year too.

Seibert prides his course in being suitable for people of any skill level, with two different layouts available to play on every hole. Disc golf is similar to traditional golf, but players use a flying disc that they try to get into an elevated metal basket. Like traditional golf, the goal is to complete each hole with the fewest tries.

At Wilderness City, the “A” layouts offer an easier experience, while the “B” layouts are harder. Each layout has its own unique pin placement and basket.

“I think Wilderness City offers a really nice variety of really technical and uniquely challenging shots that anyone who’s a disc golf enthusiast can appreciate,” Seibert said. “If you want to do a full 18-hole round with different shots, you can do that too. Just play the ‘A’ layouts on the first nine, and the ‘B’ layouts on the second.”

Don’t just take it from him though — Erika Stinchcomb, currently the Professional Disc Golf Association’s 42nd-ranked women’s disc golfer, was visiting her parents in Grassflat shortly after the course opened and gave it a glowing review on UDisc, calling it a “great little course” that “exceeded expectations.”

“The fairway maintenance is fantastic, it was easy to navigate the course my first time there and the variety of pin placements kept it interesting,” Stinchcomb wrote on the app.

Being located on the grounds of a former coal tipple, Wilderness City offers up a scenic-yet-challenging combination of shots involving nature and some pre-existing structures.

Despite every hole on the course being a par three, those visiting the course will have to navigate through a fair share of tough, technical holes that contain tests like throws through narrow, wooded gaps and around tight, dog-leg turns.

Some of the course’s holes are longer and more open though, providing disc golfers with the opportunity to swap their technical abilities for power and distance.

“[Wilderness City] is such a cool course and they’re doing some really awesome stuff up there,” Centre County Disc Golf Association President Derek Aggleton said Monday. “It offers a nice blend of pretty much every shot you could want to throw, which sometimes you don’t really see in a nine-hole course.”

Seibert said that he hopes in the future to expand the course to 18 holes, although that decision isn’t entirely up to him — a solar farm is going to be built on part of the same land that the course is located on, which will inhibit its growth.

For now, Seibert would like to continue making the course’s current nine holes even better by adding new tee pads, hosting more events and continuing regular course maintenance. In an effort to keep the course from getting stale, he also plans on changing up some hole locations from time to time.

“Will Wilderness ever be an 18-hole course? ... I can’t give you an answer with certainty on that right now, but I can promise you that we’ll continue to do our best to keep things fresh, and to make it as fun as we can for everyone,” Seibert said.

Other places to play disc golf in Centre County

While Wilderness City is growing in popularity, there are four other disc golf courses across the county, including one that ranks inside UDisc’s top 10 Pennsylvanian courses.

Harvest Fields Disc Golf Course, ranked seventh statewide, is an challenging 18-hole golf course located in Boalsburg near the Calvary Harvest Fields church. Also located around State College are two more courses, both in Patton Township — the 18-hole Bernel Road Park and nine-hole Circleville Park disc golf courses.

Tri-Municipal Park in Centre Hall is also home to the 18-hole Penn’s Prairie Disc Golf Course.

According to Aggleton, the nine-hole course at Circleville park is recommended for beginners, the Bernel and Tri-Municipal parks’ courses are recommended for intermediate-level players and the Harvest Fields course is meant for more advanced players, or those looking for a challenge.

“We’re really, really fortunate to have such a wide variety of disc golf courses in the area, and ones for just about every level of player too,” Aggleton said.

He recommends those looking to get into disc golf in the county join a weekly CCDGA league.

“Getting out there with other players during league helps build a community, and I mean it’s only going to make you a better player too,” Aggleton said.

As disc golf continues to grow in the county, Aggleton hopes to build an “even harder than Harvest” course here that would draw amateur professionals to the area for tournaments, but that idea is still in its infancy.

Each of the county’s five courses are open from dawn until dusk, and locally, disc golf materials are available at Dick’s Sporting Goods, Dunham’s Sports, Appalachian Outdoors and online at county-based High Line Disc Golf.