Back in 1948 when Walter Morrison cashed in on the idea of a Frisbee, he likely didn’t expect his flying disc to become part of another very popular sport-golf.
The Central Alberta Disc Golf Association is alive and well in Red Deer with two courses to play some disc golf no matter what your age.
“There is no demographic,” said disc golfer Jerry Rosa. “Basically from kids right on up to seniors.”
The ‘hole’ is a chain link basket which hangs on a pole about 5 ft. off the ground. There is an out of bounds and you can only throw the disc from behind where it lands, using a ‘driver’, ‘mid-range’ and a ‘putter’, all different weighted discs.
There are two nine hole tracks in Red Deer — one in Kentwood and the other in Anders with the Kentwood course being a little easier for players just picking up the game, he said.
“One of the better courses in the area is one west of Sundre, it’s a beautiful course.”
Other centres like Olds, Nordegg and Wetaskiwin have courses as well.
Courses range in length from 2,400 ft. to over 7,600 ft. of grass to cover with trees to navigate around and individual holes are as short as 130 ft. to a 925 ft. monster in Wetaskwin.
Competitions are broken up into divisions like open, which is for the pros, advanced which is filled by players with a little less skill but still like to play a lot and a recreational division. There are also divisions for the more senior player.
There isn’t a formal organization as such but that may be part of the future plans, especially if more people get involved.
Rosa would like to see more people becoming aware of the pastime and give it a try on the two courses in the City, maybe organizing some tournaments as well.
The sport is free to play with the only cost being your different discs and if you are hard-core you can play even when the snow falls.
“We do play it all year round. No wimps, no whiners.”
There is an Alberta tour which has been active for the past few years and courses are located around the province from Edmonton to Calgary and places in between.
More information about disc golf can be found by going to the web page at www.cadga.ca.
sports@reddeerexpress.com
