WALKER, La. — Walker DiscGolfPark has been ranked the second-best disc golf course in Louisiana for 2026, less than a year after its opening, according to course-tracking app UDisc.
The 18-hole course at Walker Park opened in May 2025 and quickly became one of the most popular new courses in the state, drawing nearly 6,400 recorded rounds by the end of its first year, according to a UDisc blog post published in March. UDisc reported it was the most popular new course to open in Louisiana in 2025 and the second most popular course in the state overall.
Mayor Jimmy Watson backed the project as part of the city's parks and recreation portfolio, with the Livingston Parish Chamber of Commerce and its 2024 Leadership Livingston class taking on the course as a community project. The 18-acre site had previously been purchased by the city to preserve green space, prevent overdevelopment, and improve drainage capacity, which factors into flood insurance premiums for residents.
The course was designed by Avery Jenkins, a 2009 professional disc golf world champion who has designed 64 courses in 28 states and eight countries, alongside Baton Rouge native Jamie Thomas, a longtime disc golf media producer who returned to the area in 2023 after 13 years on the West Coast. Thomas now serves as Walker's director of parks and recreation. Ben Birdsong handled the landscaping and oversaw the buildout.
The result is a moderately difficult, 5,500-foot layout that Jenkins said was built to serve everyday players while still challenging skilled amateurs and lower-level pros. Rounds typically take about an hour and cover roughly 1.8 miles. The course has a 4.7 rating out of 5 on UDisc, based on 399 community reviews, with players praising its shot variety and amenities, including water fill stations, restrooms, and an on-site pro shop.
The course is free to play and shares a parking lot with Walker City Hall, a design choice Thomas told UDisc was made partly to save money but has had the added effect of keeping disc golf visible to city leaders.
"I routinely hear from co-workers, 'Oh my gosh, the parking lot at City Hall is full on the weekends,'" Thomas told UDisc.
Walker City Attorney Bobby King, an avid disc golfer, said the course illustrates how a city can use existing resources to create community assets.
"This course serves as a strong example of how a municipality can strategically use its resources to create a space that brings people outdoors, encourages active lifestyles, and helps grow the sport within our community," King said in the UDisc piece. "Mayor Jimmy Watson and the City of Walker remain fully committed to supporting the dedicated employees of our Department of Public Works and our landscaping crews, whose hard work and attention to detail are what keep this course performing at such a high level."
Walker's opening has already had a measurable effect on disc golf in the region. Within a 32-mile radius of the course, total rounds played jumped 46 percent from 2024 to 2025, and the number of players logging their first round on UDisc rose 63 percent, according to UDisc data.
Thomas, who helped reboot the Baton Rouge Disc Golf Association in late 2023, told UDisc the group is now working on a five-year master plan for disc golf in the region, including pitching upgrades to BREC, the recreation and park commission for East Baton Rouge Parish. The plan emphasizes shorter courses, practice facilities, and pathways for new players to get into the sport without committing to a full 18-hole round.
"We treat Little League baseball, we treat football, we treat tennis. Every other sport, we give people the ability to engage with it without having to commit to the top floor of it," Thomas told UDisc. "Why aren't we thinking about six-hole courses, nine-hole courses?"
In a Facebook post celebrating the ranking, City of Walker Financial Director Mike Cotton thanked Watson for "having the vision to see the addition of this course as an added attraction to the city's park system," along with the Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Livingston, Jenkins, Thomas, Birdsong, and the workers who built it.
