My final disc golf set review (at least from this batch of non mainstream brands) is for the only brand that can legally be called a “Frisbee Golf Set.” When you learn the history of Frisbee Golf, you find that the frisbee name is trademarked by the Wham-O Toy company.
Like Kleenex and Jello, the Frisbee terminology has been genericized so that circular flying discs are primarily known by the brand as a generic name. The sport itself is actually called “disc golf” and the discs are technically known as disc golf discs.
Back to the review of the discs found in this set…
These discs are distributed by the Wham-O Toy company and made in China. The first thing you’ll notice about the Wham-O Frisbee golf set is that the discs all have thumb top grooves around the top side of the outer rim, similar to the ones found on an Ultimate Frisbee. The plastic of the Frisbee’s is rather soft, but does not offer the best grip. It is is actually quite slippery, but because of the groove tracks on the top I never really had any grip issues throwing these discs. This plastic is substantially better than the original Wham-O Frisbee Golf Set I purchased from a local sporting goods store back when I first started playing disc golf in 2010.
I picked this set up at Amazon, and it might have been some sort of factory second set. The French writing on the packaging leads me to believe this is a set that was intended for Canada.
The inside rim of my Wham-O Frisbees has a lot of blemishes and appears as if a sharper edge was manually cut out with a knife. It does not appear to have machine precision. Even though the aesthetics of the discs rims appeared to have blemishes, the discs felt comforable in the hand and I don’t think that the imperfections significantly affected the flight. I also think this set may have been sitting around in a warehouse for a long time because the packaging on the back of the box says, “Disc golf has grown to over 1500 permanent courses worldwide.” Worldwide, there are now nearly 10,000 permanent courses. It doesn’t appear that Wham-O is actively pursuing market share in the disc golf sphere.
The plastic of these discs is better than the generic base plastic used by many manufacturers, but it easily deforms when it hits a tree. As you can see from this picture, the impact of the driver hitting a tree bent the rim down substantially. After some finger manipulation I was able to mostly restore it to its original form, but it is not perfect and this disc will never fly true again. Overall this plastic is sufficient for most beginners, but if you are going to be playing in thickly wooded courses, I would NOT recommend this set because the plastic is not durable enough.
In terms of ability level, this Wham-O set is a pretty good one for beginners as all three discs are very beginner friendly.
Driver
Wham-O didn’t give their discs any specific names but just went with the generic “Driver” term. This is a true fairway driver with a moderately thin rim and a flight pretty similar to an Innova Leopard. The driver is slightly understable and flys really straight with the most moderate end of flight fade. Beginners will find this disc to be slightly overstable, but will be able to get good distance out of it and will work for both forehand and backhand throws. I would give the driver flight ratings of 6/5/-2/1.
Midrange
The midrange is a thin disc with a minimal height and very low profile. The rim of this disc is also fairly thin for midranges which would likely give it an Innova speed rating of 4. This is a super straight shooter that hardly has any fade at all. The midrange will hold the angle you put on it and ride the line with very little variance. This mid has a great stability for beginners and is very controllable for advanced players. I would give this disc flight ratings of 4/5/-1/0.
Putter
The putter had a very understable flight. When thrown with a lot of power this disc will flip over and turn off to the right for me on my right handed back hand throw. I would prefer a disc with a bit more grip for putting, but the groove tops allow for a comfortable feel for spin putts and approach shots. The putter does a great job of holding anhyzer lines even on lower power throws. Experienced players are not going to want to try and throw this putt and approach disc very hard as it turns over very easily. I would give the putter flight ratings 3/4/-3/0.
Overall, the Wham-O set is an adequate beginner set. It’s not the best disc golf set on the market, but if you’re ready to play your first round and see this one available at a local sporting good store, go ahead and give it a shot as it provides you with the basic discs you’ll need to develop a lifelong love of disc golf. Unlike some of the other starter set brands, the Frisbee discs are PDGA approved which means that if you learn to love the discs and get attached to them you can use them in a sanctioned disc golf tournament. Perhaps most important, with the Wham-O set, you can use the natural “Frisbee Golf” terminology without getting in trouble with the disc golf purists and trademark police.
Have you thrown the Wham-O Frisbee Golf Set? Rate it below to help our readers find the best disc golf sets on the market.
