Kim Scott-Wood darts off a paved walking path – passing a fire hall, picnic table and water fountain – before stepping into a clearing in Toronto Island Park.

“So here we are,” he says, walking into the centre of the clearing and stopping at a tired-looking sign. “As you can see, this board needs to be changed.”

The bulletin board's wood is peeling, and it's covered with sun-bleached posters. At either end of the clearing are two metal poles, each with a basket a couple of feet up, and chains. In Frisbee golf, these are the targets.

It's no Augusta, but this weekend the city park will host the Canadian Open of disc golf. It's a serious venture: Mr. Scott-Wood, one of Canada's top pro disc-golfers, plays with 18 discs – drivers, woods, irons and putters – stashed in a specialized bag. Mr. Scott-Wood can throw his driver about 150 metres.

Disc golf, or Frolfing, became a formalized sport in 1976, when the baskets were developed. The Toronto Island course was built four years later.

“Basically, the island's been the spot for disc golf in Canada,” Mr. Scott-Wood, 22, says.

You would hardly know it, judging by the curious glances of cyclists and passersby. There are only a handful of other players on the disc links. “It's kind of a fringe sport,” Mr. Scott-Wood admits. “Not many people know about it.”

But those who play tend to do it often, giving the game some strong, if sparse, roots.

This weekend's tournament will include 60 or 70 players competing in a range of divisions. And they're a passionate bunch: Tiger's brand of golf is “ball golf,” in their eyes.

The sports have the same basics. Drivers begin at a tee, and each hole varies in length – from par-three to par-five. As disc golfers edge closer to the basket, playing each Frisbee wherever it stops, they can switch up their disc (as a ball golfer would reach for a different club) for each shot.

A construction worker by day, Mr. Scott-Wood travels to tournaments across North America. He's sponsored by Discraft, a manufacturer, and is ranked second in the province. But he doesn't do it the for the money. His Ontario winnings so far this year: $539.

“When he's on his game, he's definitely the best player in Canada today,” says Brian Hoeniger, 51, president of Professional Disc Golf Association International, which oversees the sport in 15 countries in Europe and Asia. In 2003, Mr. Hoeniger, who also lives in Toronto, was inducted into the Disc Golf Hall of Fame, one of 50 members to date.

“It's low-cost. It can be viewed as a green sport,” he says of disc golf. “It provides all the challenges of that very popular game called ball golf.”

Though careful not to tread on the Frisbee brand name, some call it Frolfing. And as with Ultimate, another popular Frisbee sport, disc golfers have changed – from lazy young guys (a haze of smoke could often be seen on courses a decade ago, Mr. Scott-Wood says) to more athletic types. Call them disc jocks.

Mr. Scott-Wood fits that bill. He happily recalls being named his high school's male athlete of the year (for baseball, hockey, football and, yes, Ultimate). And in six years as a disc golfer, he's risen to the game's upper echelons. In his first year as a pro, he was named rookie of the year and remembers being ranked 24th in the world – a testament to his talent but also to the sport's accessibility.

“You still have the chance, if you get serious about this game, to play on the world stages,” Mr. Hoeniger adds. “When you are playing there, like our friend Kim Scott-Wood, I mean, you are having the same experience that (pro ball-golfer) Freddy Couples or whoever is doing as he's hanging around the leaders at the U.S. Open.”

And to drive the point home, the 16,000-member Professional Disc Golf Association has its headquarters in Appling, Ga. That's less than an hour from Augusta, the home of (ball) golf's most prestigious tournament, the Masters.

That, Mr. Hoeniger says, is “just another indicator that this sport is arriving.”