If you like golfing, but don’t like waiting for the snow to melt, a sport taking off in Saskatchewan might be for you.
Disc golf has grown in popularity over the years.
Murray Gordon opened his 13-acre course in Watrous, Sask., in 1997. At the time, there were only three courses in the province.
“Now, to date, there’s well over 55 in the province, and there’s more going in,” Gordon said.
He’s been involved in the sport for decades and is the historian for Disc Golf Saskatchewan. The organization started in December 2018.
“When I started my course I had one hole and 25 hula hoops with putting cups from the golf course they gave me, and that’s how I started.”
Now, his course boasts 18 holes and professional equipment.
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The game is a lot like golf. The goal is to throw your disc — similar to a Frisbee — into one of the “holes” or wire catchers.
First throw, you aim to get as close as possible to the hole, then shoot from there. Like golf, the fewer shots, the better.
“As a kid, if you threw a Frisbee, you can come out and do this,” said Keith Vandhuyne, who’s been playing disc golf for the last six years and has noticed the game “catching on” since he started.
“Out here we have it great. It’s wide open, beautiful scenery, nice walk, good exercise … you can do it with your kids, you can do with your wife, anybody can play disc golf.”
When Alysha Defosse’s boyfriend introduced her to the sport, she admits at first she wasn’t interested. Three years later, she’s still playing.
“When you come out here, everyone is your friend,” she said.
“It’s a good competition because there’s not a lot of women out there, so I get to compete against everybody and I try to be right up with the guys to try and be better at the sport.”
Gordon said disc golf is looking to become a recognized organization through Sask Sport Inc.
“If we can go under their umbrella we can have some lottery funding, which will help grow the sport, build new courses, improve existing courses … it’ll be good for youth programs,” Gordon explained.
The Ice Bowl, an annual tournament held at disc golf courses across the province, will be held at Murray’s course on Sunday to raise money for the Watrous Kinsmen Childcare Centre, along with collecting food for the local food bank.
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