How do we maintain a disc golf course on our HOA common area?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 24, 2026

How an HOA board keeps a disc golf course safe and playable: tee pads, basket height, buffers from homes and paths, worn ground, signs, liability and a budget.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

A disc golf course needs less upkeep than a pool or a tennis court, but it fails in predictable places. Discs fly toward backyards, the ground around tees and baskets wears to bare dirt, tree roots get exposed, signs fade, and a basket works loose. Give one director or a small committee the course, walk it monthly from April through October and quarterly in winter, keep a written log, and budget for pads, baskets and signs in the reserve study like any other amenity. The Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA), the sport's governing body, publishes course design guidance that answers most layout questions, and this guide leans on it. Liability rules vary by state and by your governing documents, so treat what follows as education, not legal advice, and read your declaration's common area and rules articles before the board changes the course.

Start with where the discs land

The biggest risk on an HOA course is not the tee or the basket. It is a disc that sails into a patio, a parked car or a walker on the path. The PDGA's design guidance says fairways should not cross or be too close to public streets, sidewalks, paths and bike trails, pavilions, playgrounds, private property, or any other area where non-players gather. It also says fairways should not cross each other, players should never throw into blind areas, and designers should not rely on posted rules to keep people out of a flight path. A 2021 PDGA article on shared parks adds that a design has to allow for very offline throws by big arms, not the average shot. The PDGA gives no fixed distance in feet, so do the next best thing. Stand on each tee with two or three strong players and watch where the bad throws go. Ask the owners whose lots back up to the course where discs end up. Then mark every hole where a slice or hook reaches a fence line, a home, a road or a trail. For each one, the fix is usually to move the tee, rotate the tee angle away from the homes, shorten the hole, or plant a screen of shrubs. Moving a basket 40 feet is cheaper than a broken window and a neighbor who comes to every board meeting.

Tee pads and baskets

Bare dirt tees turn to mud, then to ruts, then to a trip hazard. The PDGA prefers tee pads of textured concrete, artificial turf, or pavers on a well prepared base. Its typical size for a long tee is 6 feet wide by 13 feet long, and its minimum is 4 feet by 10 feet. Tees should be level from side to side, and an earthen tee should have no protruding rocks or roots. When you replace pads, pour or lay them to that size and slope the ground around the edges so a player's front foot does not land in a hole. For baskets, the PDGA standard puts the rim 82 centimeters above the playing surface, give or take 6 centimeters, and says targets should be installed level with the ground. Check each basket on the monthly walk: push on it, look for lean, and measure the rim if the ground around it has washed out or been built up with mulch. Buy replacements from the PDGA's list of approved targets, which rates baskets at basic, standard or championship level, and install them per the manufacturer's instructions, since the PDGA does not specify footings. Setting a new sleeve in concrete counts as digging. Colorado's one-call law (C.R.S. 9-1.5-103) names augering and postholing as excavation and requires notice at least two business days ahead. Florida section 556.105 requires two full business days. In Texas, Utilities Code 251.151 requires notice at least 48 hours ahead, not counting weekends and holidays, for mechanized digging 16 inches or deeper. Call 811 anyway.

Fix worn ground before it becomes erosion

A University of Tennessee study of three disc golf courses in Austin parks found that play significantly increased soil compaction, which led to more erosion and less ground cover, and that erosion was much worse near the baskets than away from them. The authors recommended six inches of wood chip mulch and mulched walking paths to protect tree roots. Colorado State University Extension says traffic is the main cause of soil compaction and that 3 to 4 inches of wood or bark chips reduces the effect of foot traffic. In practice that means three jobs. Spread wood chips around each basket and along the worn line between tee and fairway, and top them up each spring. Where a path is cutting into a slope, add a water bar or a short stretch of steps before the gully forms. Protect trees in the flight line: Chico, California's park plan for its disc golf course keeps tees and baskets out of the canopy drip line of native oaks plus a 5-foot buffer. If a basket sits on the roots of a tree you want to keep, move the basket. If the course has a second pin position on a hole, switching to it gives the worn area a season to recover, but mark the change on the tee sign so players are not hunting for a basket.

Signs and course rules

The PDGA recommends a course rules sign before the first tee, or the rules on an information board, and a permanent sign at each primary tee showing the hole number, the length, the par and the teeing direction if it is not obvious. It also suggests arrows pointing to the next tee, marking the current pin position where a hole has more than one, and marking out-of-bounds areas and any places players should stay out of. Put signs where players can read them but outside the run-up and follow-through. Wording the board can adapt for the rules sign: 'Course open dawn to dusk. Residents and their guests only. Players yield to walkers on the trail. Do not throw when anyone is in range, on the fairway or on the path. Do not enter private yards to retrieve discs; contact the association. No glass. Report damage to [email or phone].' Adopt the rules by board vote at a noticed meeting, the same way you would adopt any other amenity rule, before they go on a sign.

Liability and the recreational use statutes

Most states have a recreational use statute that limits a landowner's duty to people who use the land for recreation without paying. Texas names disc golf in Civil Practice and Remedies Code 75.001(3), and section 75.002 says an owner who lets people on for recreation owes them no greater duty than a trespasser, except for gross negligence or bad faith. But section 75.003(c) covers a private owner only if it does not charge for entry, keeps recreational charges under 20 times the property tax on the premises, or carries the liability insurance listed in section 75.004. Florida section 375.251 protects an owner who provides an area to the public only if no charge is made for entry or use. Colorado's statute, C.R.S. 33-41-103 and 104, covers owners who allow use without charge and keeps liability for willful failure to guard or warn. None of the three statutes mentions associations, and none says whether owners' assessments count as a charge. Do not assume they protect you. Ask your insurance agent whether the general liability policy covers the course and whether any exclusion applies, and ask the association's attorney how these statutes would treat your community. Our guide on who is liable if someone is injured in an HOA common area covers the general rules.

Budget, inspection log and a motion

Public budgets give a sense of scale. The Town of Charlestown, Rhode Island, put $500 per basket in its 2023 budget request for replacements and $4,295 for concrete for 25 tee pads poured by volunteers. Roosevelt City, Utah, priced baskets at $480 to $530 each in a 2023 proposal. Your prices will differ, so get two quotes before the board votes, and add baskets, pads and signs to the reserve study with a realistic life for each. The monthly log needs one line per hole: tee pad condition, basket lean and rim height, sign condition, bare or eroded ground, exposed roots, hazards such as wasp nests or fallen limbs, and any owner complaint about stray discs. Note the date, the inspector and the fix. Photos of the worst spots each spring make the reserve study visit easier. A motion the board can adapt: 'I move that the board adopt the disc golf course rules dated [date], appoint [name] as course coordinator to inspect the course monthly and report quarterly, and approve up to $[amount] from the [operating or reserve] budget to relocate the tees on holes [numbers] away from adjoining lots.'

Mistakes boards make

Ignoring the first complaint about discs in a backyard, then facing a petition to remove the course. Assuming a recreational use statute covers an association without asking counsel. Mulching baskets so deep the rim drops below the standard height. Leaving tee signs pointing at a basket that moved two seasons ago. Letting a volunteer pour new pads or set sleeves without an 811 ticket. Leaving the course out of the reserve study, so a full set of replacement baskets shows up as a surprise special assessment. And writing rules that nobody posts. If your course shares a corridor with walking paths, our guide on wayfinding signs and 911 location markers for HOA trails covers how to make the whole area easier to find in an emergency.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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