DeLaveaga Disc Golf Course

DeLaveaga is one of the holy grails of disc golf. Built by Tom Schot in 1984 in the wooded hills of DeLaveaga Park above Santa Cruz, it debuted alongside the 1984 World Championships and has been a bucket-list destination ever since. The full course runs 29 holes to a par of 57 over roughly 9,100 feet — most holes are technical par 3s threaded through oak and redwood on steep, unforgiving terrain.

Its most famous moment is hole 27, 'Top of the World,' a roughly 600-foot downhill drive that plunges more than 100 feet to a basket ringed by spectators during tournaments. The course carries a ~4.7-star UDisc rating from around 6,000 rounds and hosts the annual Masters Cup — now a DGPT Qualifying Series event — that dates back to the mid-1980s, along with the long-running Faultline Classic. It's free and public, but make no mistake: this is a challenging, elevation-heavy course best suited to intermediate and advanced players who don't mind a climb.