The popularity of disc golf is growing around the world, and Central Oregon is no exception to that trend.

“It’s a national sport in Sweden,” said Ryan Lane, president of the Hyzer Desert Rebels, a Central Oregon disc golf club.

Lane scrolled down the list of participants at the World’s Biggest Disc Golf Weekend event held at the disc golf course at Central Oregon Community College on Saturday, counting more than 200 entrants. Here in Central Oregon a lot of devoted disc-tossers consider the sport a regular pastime.

Saturday marked a day of celebration for disc golfers worldwide, as more than 18,000 players in 200 cities in eight countries played on their respective courses to embrace the spirit of the game.

Disc golf, much like traditional golf, is generally played on nine- or 18-hole courses. Players toss discs of different weights and design, just as golfers would use different clubs — woods, irons, wedges and putters. The object is to get the disc in the hole (or basket) in as few throws as possible. No overall scoring was kept at the COCC course on Saturday; instead the purpose was to encourage new players to try the sport.

“The whole idea is, instead of having a competitive event, to have a fun-spirited event,” explained Lane, as more players gathered, making light conversation and chasing their dogs around the first hole. “There’s an award called the Rolf-Frei and the Rolf-Frei award goes to the disc golfer who brings the most new players out.”

Mike Garfield of Bend won the Rolf-Frei on Saturday, encouraging his family and several friends to try the temporary 18-hole course at Central Oregon Community College.

The usual COCC course consists of nine holes, but members of the Rebels expanded the course to create a new 18-hole challenge just for Saturday’s event. The Rebels wanted to set the 18-hole course as sort of a proposal for a future permanent course.

“Seven of the original holes are still in the layout, they are just renumbered, and we added — in the same space they used to have — another 11 holes to make 18. It’s temporary for today and kind of a preview for what is to come in the future — what we hope may come.”

“It’s nice to have the different course out here, I wasn’t too fond of the nine holes before, so this is lot nicer and more of a challenge,” said Mike Garfield’s wife, Carrie, a member of the Rebels who participated in Saturday’s event with her husband and two stepdaughters.

“Another really nice thing about this (18-hole course) is that there’s a lot of elevation changes — where you are throwing uphill, then throwing downhill, then throwing flat, then throwing uphill again,” noted Bend’s Tyler Davio, who played a total of 54 holes on Saturday with his girlfriend, Jerrine Peeler, also of Bend. “So that definitely is way more intriguing for an avid disc-golf player to come out and be challenged like that and to not have every shot be exactly the same.”

In Oregon, three other disc golf communities participated in the World’s Biggest Disc Golf Weekend: Portland, Estacada and Roseburg. The event originated in 1991 in Texas; since then it has become an annual event around the world, held as far away as Japan and Australia.

The number of worldwide members in the Professional Disc Golf Association has nearly tripled since 1996 according to its Web site; there were 3,904 registered PDGA members in 1996, a number that climbed to 11,943 in 2007. The Web site also claims that there are more than a million disc golfers currently involved in the sport around the world.

In Central Oregon, there are three other disc golf courses, located in Prineville, Madras and Sisters.

Now that summer is on the way, several local disc golf tournaments are planned. This Saturday, the Mr. Thunderpants Memorial Tournament held at Hyzer Pines in Sisters is on tap. Interested players can register the day of the event on site between 8 and 9 a.m., or visit www.centraloregondiscgolf.com for more information on registration. The Hyzer Shoot Out Golf Tournament — part of the PDGA 2008 Oregon Series — will be held the following weekend, May 24-25, also in Sisters. Registration is available at www.orsdiscgolf.com. And the Lava Launch at Mount Bachelor is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 24-25.

“It’s a relatively new sport in the grand scheme of things and once people try, they love it,” says Davio. “It’s a fun time. It’s good for all ages. And today’s the day from coast to coast where everyone’s getting out and trying to promote the sport. So the more the merrier.”