HILTON HEAD, SC. (WTOC) – Disc golf is growing in popularity, but it is more than just a game to a group on Hilton Head Island.

The club takes every opportunity to make fun and support each other.

Disc golf scoring works the same as golf scoring does, the lowest score wins, but the way the game is played is completely different.

Players throw frisbees toward a standing basket, trying to get their disc caught in the chains. They can do so in a variety of ways.

Take Roby Breger for example, who was stuck behind a few trees.

“With the little bit of a weird skill set that I have, I’m thinking I’m going to lean out here and throw a roller that’s going to come down and hit there and curl that way.”

That was Monday, as we followed the club for a round. If you told Roby he would be in this story a few years ago though, there is no way he would believe you.

He recalled playing for the first time. “I was like look at these losers they can’t even carry their frisbees and there I was two weeks later putting together my own bag and now I own about 3000 discs.”

It has been quite the turnaround, but there is more to Roby than a throw angle creativity.

His energy is infectious, but he used to put it into a less healthy hobby, turning down a friend the first time he was invited out here.

“I said no, that’s not what we do around here. We go out we drink we go listen to music c’mon buddy let me show you what we do around here. And that was the end of that for about four years until COVID-19 happened and I got sober.”

Fast forward to this week, he just reached five years sober on Tuesday.

“Right about the same time after I got into disc golf, was the same time meetings and everything started to open back up and I found myself not needing to go to that because I had my new group.”

After seeing how much it helped him, Roby became the one doing the inviting.

“9/9/22 is my sober date,” said Chris Roach, a friend of Roby’s benefitting from this game the same way. He continued.

“I said any time that I think about going to a bar, I’ll go play a round of disc golf and found myself playing two rounds of disc golf a day.”

For his sobriety’s sake, he says it did not matter if the urge to drink hit at noon or at night.

“I’d go play a round if that was in my head and getting out and being active and being physical and around a group of supportive people was definitely exactly what I needed to start my sobriety.”

More than two years later, he’s the one trying to grow the sport by talking to town council about it and keeping track of the club’s rounds.

He describes the group as a family, both figuratively and literally. The latter because the club’s oldest member has known Chris just a bit longer than the rest.

His mother Sandy is 75 years young.

Sandy doesn’t just play with the group, she’s the best player in the club for her age.

“She’s a top three player in the world fringing on that number two position.”

Chris’ mom got a world championship invite last year, but still is not satisfied with her success.

“I go to a tournament and I get first place, but I didn’t think I played that well, so I wasn’t excited. He goes woah congrats you got first, but it’s like yeah but…”

Sandy laughed. She’s been an elite competitor her whole life. Her son told us she was a prima ballerina with the Boston Ballet and she added she helped synchronized swimming become an Olympic sport.

Like any other elite competitor, every time she’s out on the disc golf course, she’s trying to get better.

Her son is trying to improve too, but in more ways than just on the scorecard.

Chris is now focused on helping the sport grow, so his disc golf family can follow suit; lending a hand to anyone who needs it as he did, in the process.

“Now it’s one of those things where we can help other people come in and be like, why don’t you just come play disc golf with us?”

Chris told us he wants to dispel the misconception that people who play disc golf are not hard working folks. He says all of the people in the club are professionals with careers, and they all come together to play in time off.

He also says there are high schoolers that want to play in the area, but they will need support from the town of Hilton Head building out the course to allow that to happen.

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