Haslett High School senior Ben Kastner stands on a windswept, concrete tee on a sunny, 70-degree Friday afternoon. With a backpack of discs, Kastner shields his eyes from the sun and struggles to locate the first green, which is just visible through a heavily wooded path at Lansing's Grand Woods Park.

His friends, fellow high school seniors Kevin Tahvonen and Lucas Drayer and junior Brad Robinson, survey the course and suggest a straight flight through a small clearing to avoid hitting a few pine trees or a deep, ivy-covered ditch.

Kastner, who has been playing disc golf for the last two years, nods, brings his arm back and lets the disc sail.

The small orange disc is carried away by the wind and whirls out across the narrow field for about 100 feet, bounces off of a tree and dives abruptly to the ground about 40 feet from its target.

Kastner looks at where his disc landed and slowly shakes his head. It wasn't his best throw, but at least it didn't become lodged in a tree.

Mother Nature plays this game, too.

"The winds are pretty strong over here today," Drayer said.

Welcome to disc golf.

There are no tee times, plaid pants or golf carts. It's just a few friends in T-shirts and jeans who show up with a couple of discs, ready to take on nature's obstacles.

The object of disc golf is to land a Frisbee-like plastic disc in a series of large, suspended, chain-metal baskets called "holes," using the fewest throws. Most courses consist of nine or 18 holes, and the scoring system uses the terms "par," "birdie" and "bogie."

It seems a lot like regular golf, but the similarities end there.

Instead of freshly cut lawns, most courses are covered in weeds, driftwood and mud, giving players the added obstacles of running around with sticks in hand, hunting their discs down from trees or fishing them out of ponds and creeks after each throw. Disc-golf players use thicker discs called putters for short throws and thinner discs called drivers for longer shots.

Tahvonen, like many disc golfers, said he has tried both games and enjoys regular golf by far but enjoys playing disc golf with his friends during the regular golf off-season.

"Regular golf is a lot more classy," Tahvonen said. "(Disc golf) is a bunch of hippies who can't afford golf clubs."

Others disc-golf players, like Hubbardston resident Jack Tyler, believe the game should have just as much credibility as any professional sport.

"It should be a sport in the X games because it's just like golf," Tyler said.

Many people don't see disc golfing as a serious sport, just an excuse for people to come to the park and smoke pot, Tyler said.

"People are pretty sneaky about it, but you know what they are doing," Tyler said.

Disc golf tends to draw in a very diverse crowds of players, Kastner said.

"There are a lot of high school dropouts (who play disc golf)," Kastner said. "There are all types of people, from college students to bums."

Although techniques vary from player to player, most attack each hole with a similar approach, which includes taking a running start on the cement "tee" and throwing a disc as fast and as straight as they can.

The discs are heavier than ordinary Frisbees and have to be thrown a lot harder and faster, Drayer said.

"The technique is a lot different from regular Frisbee, but once you get it down, you learn quickly," he said.

While disc golf still flies under the radar of mainstream sports, the all-terrain sport is on the rise. The Professional Disc Golf Association Web site estimates there are currently 1,542 courses in the United States. Three courses are set up in the Mid-Michigan area: Grand Woods Park in Lansing, Fitzgerald Park in Grand Ledge and a 9-hole course at Ruth's Ridge in DeWitt.

This weekend, the Capitol City Renegades, or CCR, a disc-golf club, will hold the J-Bird Discs CCR Open tournament at Lansing's Grand Woods Park and Grand Ledge's Fitzgerald Park.

The CCR also hosts a weekly doubles league night on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. at Grand Woods Park. New players are paired up with experienced players and team up against others.

"Pretty much anybody can play, whether they are young or old," Kippen said. "You don't have to be super athletic to play, and a lot of people just like the fact that it is outside."

Mark Lamke, a manager at East Lansing's In Flight Sports, 507 E. Grand River Ave., said many people are drawn to the sport because it is affordable, with a new disc usually costing less than $20.

Much like regular golf, a great deal of waiting is involved in disc golf.

Depending on how busy the park gets, Kastner said an 18-hole game could last anywhere between one to two and a half hours. His group spends a lot of the lag time sitting on park benches waiting for other groups of disc golfers ahead of them to finish playing a hole.

On the eighth hole, Kastner steps up to the concrete platform with a white disc in hand, but the disc lands short in an open field.

One of the most challenging aspects of the all-terrain game is retrieving the discs that get caught in trees or land in creeks or ponds.

"One bad throw can whip (the disc) into the woods and you'll never find it again," Kastner said, who already has lost five discs to fierce winds and tall trees.

Each of the four high school "disc jockeys" have their own disc-retrieval tactics.

Kastner climbs over logs, across creeks and up ditches to retrieve a disc that got away from him. On the next hole, Drayer will have to use a log to retrieve a disc.

Tahvonen waded into water to retrieve his white disc from a pond.

"That sucked," Tahvonen said as he wiped his muddy feet off with a blue T-shirt.

What is disc golf?

Disc golf is played much like traditional golf, however, instead of using a ball and clubs, players use a flying disc or Frisbee. The object is to complete each hole with the fewest number of throws. A golf disc is thrown from a tee area to a target hole, which usually is an elevated metal basket. The golfer must dodge obstacles, such as trees and shrubs, and deal with tough terrain, wind and sometimes even water on the fairway.

Places to buy a disc:
(The average cost of a disc ranges from $8.50 to $20)

·Dunham's Sports
3301 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing
(517) 337-3827

·Galyan's
Meridian Mall, Okemos
(517) 853-0400

·In Flight Sports
507 E. Grand River Ave.
(517) 351-8100

·MC Sports
6250 S. Cedar St. in Lansing
(517) 272-9803

Where you can play:

· Fitzgerald Park, Grand Ledge
An 18-hole course near the Grand River encompassing hills and short wooded trick shots.
Cost: $2 entrance fee per car for parking
Directions: Take Interstate 496-West to Interstate 96-West. Take the M-43 exit toward Grand Ledge.

· Grand Woods Park, Lansing
An 18-hole course that covers about 5,000 square feet. The course contains a balance of long open shots and short wooded trick shots and one difficult water hole.
Cost: Free
Directions: Take Interstate 496 to the Waverly Road exit. Go north and turn left on Willow Street. Turn right on Grand Woods Drive to enter course.

What: The Capitol City Renegades second annual disc golf tournament, the CCR Open
When: This Saturday and Sunday. Registration will take place between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Grand Woods Park
Where: Grand Ledge's Fitzgerald Park and Lansing's Grand Woods Park
Cost: Registration fees range from $3 for the ace pool to $65 for the Pro open.

League nights:

The Capitol City Renegades host a weekly league night Tuesdays at 6 p.m. at Grand Woods Park. Beginners are paired up with an experienced player and play other teams. Bring $5 and a disc.