The newest addition for sports and recreation in Estevan has proven to be a popular activity with families.
Disc golf arrived at Torgeson Park a couple of months ago, thanks to a partnership between the City of Estevan and the Estevan Lions Club. Rod March, the city’s parks manager, initially brought forward the idea of disc golf late last year, after he was approached by the Lions Club.
“The Lions are always looking for something in the community to put their money to,” Lions Club member Ed Sinclair said in an interview with Lifestyles.
Disc golf has a similar format to traditional golf, but people toss discs into baskets, rather than using clubs and a putter to get a golf ball into a hole.
Participants stand in the designated area at the start of each hole, and throw the disc as close to the basket as possible, similar to a tee shot in golf.
They continue to toss the disc until it lands in the basket. The objective is to complete the task in as few of tosses as possible.
“The most important rule is to have fun,” said Sinclair.
Torgeson Park boasts a nine-basket course, with the baskets attached to yellow structures that have the hole number and the Estevan Lions Club logo. March compared the Lions course to a par-3 course, since the average hole is about 85 yards in length.
“Signage will be coming with the layout of the course, and hole layout will be coming for the tee boxes,” said Sinclair.
Until they get the signage with the course layout, it’s a bit difficult for visitors to envision the course design.
They also hope to add areas that would be similar to a tee box in golf.
A bucket is filled with discs at the entry to the course. People take their discs on the honour system, and are expected to return them at the end of the round. Additional discs are available at the Leisure Services office, in case the objects aren’t returned, but that hasn’t been a problem thus far.
“That’s what we like to see, people respecting the game, respecting what the Lions Club is trying to do for the community, and the city is here to help, as well,” said March.
When organizations like the Lions Club step forward with support for a new concept, March views it as a boost for the community.
“It’s absolutely great for us, for the city, for visitors and for citizens,” said March. “We love this kind of thing. So my role was to help them out along the stages of getting the land locates done, and making sure the layout wasn’t interfering with our trees or with our irrigation systems.”
The city has received a favourable reaction. Even though there are homes to the south and the west of Torgeson Park, they haven’t had an issue with discs inadvertently finding their way into backyards.
Sinclair echoed March’s comments about the positive feedback for the project.
“All I’ve heard is positive feedback,” said Sinclair. “Anybody who doesn’t know what it is has been finding out, and now people who did know have always been looking for a course, and they’re really starting to enjoy it.”
March noted that he spoke with the City of Yorkton about their foray into disc golf about five years ago. It has been popular in that city.
“They’ve actually expanded it to 18 holes now for little championship games,” said March. “So I’m happy that they’ve had a positive experience, and hopefully we’ll have a positive experience here as well.”
Regina has disc golf as well, but it’s not a common sport in Saskatchewan
Disc golf is popular in the southern U.S., Sinclair said, and it is slowly gaining popularity in other locations. The Lions viewed this as an opportunity to bring a growing sport to Estevan.
Sinclair had not played the sport before, but he had seen the discs on sale in the U.S. March has played it once or twice, but he didn’t know much about it until now.
“It’s more challenging than what it looks,” said March. “The wind has more of an effect on a golf disc than it does on a golf ball. For those thinking it’s just as easy as traditional golf with a pitching wedge, no, because the wind will take the disc a lot further.”
Torgeson is an ideal location, too, because it’s a large park, and they were able to add the golf disc structures while still respecting the park’s amenities, such as the gazebo and the play structures.
March said they have a five-year agreement to keep disc golf at Torgeson. If it gains popularity, then they might look at setting up an 18-hole course somewhere else in the city.
“We’ll see how it goes,” said March. “We’re just learning about the sport ourselves.”
It can even be played in the winter months, although they cautioned residents that the discs might shatter in extreme cold.
Disc golf can be enjoyed by people of all ages, Sinclair said. It gives them exercise and an opportunity to socialize in a fun setting.
