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Easton - Matt DeAngelis is lovingly showing off his golf set.

An entire line of finely crafted equipment is on display: A custom driver, putter and a full range of mid-length Frisbees.

Yes, Frisbees.

This is disc golf, where the name of the game is exactly what makes it.

It's golf played with Frisbees, a green with a bucket instead of a hole, and a whole lot of fun that anyone can enjoy, according to players. "It's a constant challenge," said Rich Gunther, 42, a disc golf enthusiast who not only has played the game for years, but has helped develop a 36-hole course at Borderland State Park in Easton, the site of a thrice-yearly tournament that held its Fall Finale contest Oct. 11.

Disc golf, also known as Frisbee golf, according to the Professional Disc Golf Association, is a sport for which an exact origin and invention date remains unknown.

The first known instance of "anyone playing golf with a flying disc," according to the PDGA's Web Site was in Vancouver in 1926, when a group of school-aged children played a game with thin lids that they called "Tin Lid Golf." But the children gave up the sport when other activities attracted their attention.

Despite many similar stories of come and go, the sport didn't start to pick up in popularity until the Frisbee itself did, in the 1960s.

The first disc golf league started in the early 70s, when a group from Rochester, N.Y., held began holding regular tournaments and founded the annual event the American Flying Disc Open.

Disc golf courses began to spring up all over the country in the mid-70s and the sport's popularity began to thrive in a way that lead enthusiasts to deem its story a "revolution" instead of an evolution.

That "revolution" has lead to a thriving community of players and businesses that have sprouted courses across the country, forming competitive leagues and hosting tournaments.

Much like regular golf.

"You still get the competitive nature. But it's a whole lot cheaper," said DeAngelis, who directed the Easton tournament.

The 28-year-old first became interested in the game when he was growing up in South Kingstown, R.I. A friend had been playing the game at a nearby course and DeAngelis decided to join in one day.

"I got hooked," he said. "I think because it was easy to pick up and anybody can play it."

The game is played in the same manner as traditional golf.

Players aim to get their Frisbees into the basket at the end of each tee in as few flies, instead of strokes, as possible.

Using Frisbees instead of clubs and balls, each player drives their first shot and then picks up the appropriate Frisbee to throw from where the first one landed.

Players continue on until they have thrown, instead of hit, their Frisbee into the basket.

Gunther picked up the game while he was in college, first playing a course in Virginia in the early '90s.

He moved to Massachusetts in 1997 and came upon the Borderland course, which at that time was a temporary nine-hole course.

He connected with fellow player Dean Withrow, and the two began carving out what stands today as a 36-hole course geared for players of all levels whose space serves as a multi-use recreational field in a state park.

"Rich and I started this course many, many years ago," Withrow, 53, said. "It's been a long thing."

Withrow started playing seriously while attending college in Southern Maine in the late '70s. Now, he said he enjoys seeing the satisfaction of others who play the Borderland course more than he plays it himself.

"I get more enjoyment from the feedback than actually playing," he said. "People love playing the sport here and that kind of feedback I really enjoy."

To date, disc golfers have some 40,000 rounds on the course, including those who participate in the tournaments.

The Oct. 11 tournament had 82 registered players, which included men and women whose skill levels varied from amateur to master.

Pro players were awarded cash prizes, while amateur winners were awarded prize money they could use to buy equipment from the Friends of Disc Golf at Borderland.

All tournament proceeds went right back into the organization, which became an official non-profit registered with the state last year.

"Our main goal is to foster the growth of the game," said DeAngelis. "We have volunteers to install the course. We need funds to develop the course."

Watching the professional men throw their Frisbees, to demonstrate long drives and short putts to sink the basket, novice players could be intimidated.

But they really wouldn't want that.

The best thing about the game, they insist, that win or lose, and whether you're excellent or not so great at it, is that it's still a good time.

Scooter Feeley, 55, found the game, as he put it, late in life. He hasn't been playing as long as some of his friends.

"It can be enjoyed at all skill levels," he said. "You can always get better, but you don't actually have to."