Aced it: Montanans Search This Sport More Than Anyone Else

A cool, rainy weekend gave Montanans a reminder of what fall feels like. By this time of the summer, you might be sick of floating Missoula’s rivers and on the hunt for a new hobby to ring out the rest of summer with.

Have you searched up folf recently?

If so, you’re not alone. It turns out that over the past year, Montanans have Google searched “folf” at least four times as much as any other state, according to Google Trends.

On the surface, this isn’t too surprising. After all, Missoula is home to several disc golf courses like Blue Mountain, Pattee Canyon, and even Snow Bowl. Missoula hosted the Zoo Town Open, part of the official Disc Golf Pro Tour, just earlier this summer in June.

I spoke to a local disc golfer, Jami Spurlock, to learn more about the sport and see what it is that might put Montanans at the front of the line for looking up folf.

Across the board, it’s called disc golf.

When it comes to talking folf, “it’s kind of the muggle version,” Spurlock said. That would be the folks like me who are carrying around one or two discs, drinking a beer, and chucking those discs at a basket through the woods. We can’t tell a backhand throw from an anhyzer.

Disc golf is a bit more intense. Participating in pro events like the Zoo Town Open requires a rating from previous tournaments.

So why do Montanans look for folf more than other states?

With a sigh and an eye roll, Spurlock said, “I’ve heard it called frolf…” but that version of the word, which combines more of the word “Frisbee” with “golf” than our most-searched word does, might not have stuck in the Missoula area.

The disc golfer who has been at the sport since 2004 says he’s noticed areas with mid-sized populations, like Missoula, tend to have the “highest quality disc golf.”

Folf is simply in abundance.

There are several options for tossing a disc right in town, but you can take a little trip up to Pablo to play at the Salish Kootenai College, or head south down towards the Bitterroot to play at Spiritwood in Victor.

To explore more of the state, you could head over to Libby to play at the Kooky Noosa at the Libby Dam, which is Spurlock’s favorite course to play in the state.

No matter where you go in Montana, you’re not far from folf, or frolf, or dolf, or disc golf, and you’re even closer to people who might want to play it. Go grab a disc and folf with your friends!