Maine tops UDisc disc golf rankings with world-leading play rate

Maine has turned disc golf into infrastructure. UDisc’s data says the state leads the world in rounds played per capita, and the numbers behind that edge are hard to miss: 118 courses, 102 leagues and 18 stores selling gear in UDisc’s Maine guide, plus a separate best-courses page that puts the state at 120 courses and says more than two-thirds charge a small fee.

That blend of access and modest pay-to-play pricing has helped create a market that keeps players in motion. Lewiston and Auburn were UDisc’s top metro area for disc golf in the United States in both 2018 and 2021, a sign that the sport’s growth in Maine has not been limited to one famous destination course or one summer surge. It has spread through city parks, suburban neighborhoods and campground layouts that keep welcoming repeat play.

The sport’s latest showcase came at Payson Park in Portland, where UDisc co-founder and CEO Josh Lichti and chief operating officer Monica Thomas worked the course while talking through the basics of throwing and the conviction required on putts. The setting fit the story Maine tells about itself: a playable public space, local energy behind it and enough activity to make the state feel like a destination rather than an outlier.

Payson Park opened last year as a JoySwich project, with the local group running leagues, popups and clinics around the course. Adam McHugh, Mae McHugh and Matt Carroll were among the people behind the build, which came together through city support, volunteer labor, donated equipment and the organizers’ own money. McHugh called it “a long game,” and that description fits more than one course in Maine.

Lichti pointed to Beaver Brook Campground in North Monmouth as the state’s first course, opened 49 years ago in 1977 and listed by UDisc as one of the original ten disc golf courses in the United States. The Professional Disc Golf Association lists Beaver Brook as a picturesque, short, challenging layout by Androscoggin Lake, open May 1 to Oct. 1 with a $6 fee, or $5 for campers. More than half of Maine’s courses have opened since 2019, a pace that explains how a novelty became a statewide network.

The bigger context helps clarify why Maine stands out. UDisc’s 2026 Growth Report said 21.2 million rounds were played in 2025, and the sport now has more than 17,000 courses worldwide. In that field, Maine’s mix of dense course inventory, tourist-friendly settings and community-built courses has made it one of disc golf’s most durable hubs.