Marcus turns disc golf enthusiasm into business in Newport

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Things didn’t start well when Tom Marcus took up the sport of disc golf again in 2006 after nearly a decade of not playing the sport.

“I couldn’t have done worse,” Marcus said of that first round played in roughly nine years. “But at the same time, I kind of got hooked.”

Six years later, Marcus has made a career of it.

The 36-year-old Inver Grove Heights man quietly opened Everyday Disc Golf in November, located at 303 21st St. in Newport, and after months of focus on tournament planning and online sales, Marcus says he’s ready to focus on growing the southeast metro’s only retail store that caters solely to players of the increasingly popular sport.

With hundreds of new and used discs that range in price from less than $10 to around $20, bags, T-shirts and other supplies, Marcus said he hopes to be the go-to place for east metro disc golfers new and old.

A frequent competitor in Professional Disc Golf Association events and a veteran tournament organizer who runs around 30 events a year, Marcus brings a wealth of experience to the store and said he hopes to spark more interest in the golf-like sport where participants throw specialized Frisbees at baskets on challenging courses of nine or 18 holes.

“I’m definitely trying to promote and connect people to the sport,” he said on a recent afternoon inside the small shop that sits just off Seventh Avenue near Tinucci’s restaurant.

The Twin Cities, Marcus said, “is a hotbed for disc golf.” Key to its popularity is the sport’s accessibility, he said. For the weekend athlete, it is often a less expensive sport to take up than activities like golf — the one with clubs — or team sports like softball. And, he said, it’s an easy sport to learn.

“It’s a sport for all ages and abilities; I didn’t start playing until I was 30,” Marcus said. “Disc golf can be very accessible. For the cost of one disc you can go to a free course and play.”

Many disc golf courses are indeed free to play, including Cottage Grove’s municipal course at Oakwood Park. That’s where Marcus has started a weekly amateur league that launched last week and is open to all skill levels.

Play begins at 6 p.m. every Monday night; $1 of each $10 league entry fee will be go toward course improvements at Oakwood, he said.

“The sport has been good to me; I’ve decided to do this as a career,” Marcus said. “This is my way of giving back.”

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