“Rec Perspectives” with Tia Wayling, the recreation services coordinator with the Regional District of Central Kootenay
Having my finger on the pulse of recreation opportunities in this town, sometimes I forget that not everybody has time in the day to seek out the same information, so here’s the latest scoop.
For those of you who haven’t heard already, disc golf has come to the Creston Valley. Avid disc golfers, Rindy Stalley and Bernie van Hooft, tried for almost eight years to finally find a suitable space to accommodate a nine-hole course.
In January of this year, the Lister Community Association got on board to fully fund the development of a new disc golf course in Lister Park that is free for the whole family to come and enjoy. Stalley, one of the course creators and sponsored by Prodigy Disc, wants to see the Creston Valley embrace the same love as he has for the sport.
This course was officially finished in early September and was carefully designed to be accessible and inclusive to all ages and mobility types, including wheelchairs. By using the natural obstacles already in place, it was designed to be a bit on the challenging side so that as talents improve, one wouldn’t become bored with it.
At each tee, there is a packed gravel tee pad and signs that indicate the par, distance, map of the hole, and best route to take.
The sport has more presence in our country than one would think, with 9,202 Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) registered courses, 74 of them in BC.
To get started, it’s as easy as dusting off that old frisbee in your garage and start tossing it around. However, there is an art to the sport and, much like golf, if you want to strive for a good score, there are different types of discs used for different shots.
A three-disc set consisting of a driver, mid-range and putter is the most common to outfit yourself with, and the local Summit Cycle and Sports will have them in stock later this month.
The rules play very similarly to golf and a quick Google search will get you a set of rules to follow. Because the disc flies through the air and completion of the hole is to throw into a basket, it allows you to play all-year-round and in any type of weather, except lightning storms for obvious reasons.
Playing disc golf regularly also has great health benefits like improved hand/wrist strength and dexterity, increased circulation, and like most activities, overall cardiovascular health and stress reduction.
Kids as young as four or five can fully play the sport but that shouldn’t stop you from taking your younger toddlers to have some fun and throw around a few discs.
Because the course is in a publicly-used park, there are few pieces of etiquette one should follow: be quiet when someone is throwing, always give passerbyers the right of way to pass through before you throw, use a spotter if you’re throwing into an area you cannot see (trees in the way/curved shot), and just be an overall good citizen.
What’s the future of this newly-installed outdoor activity? Stalley states, “We want people to be able to (re)connect with our families and share a common interest.”
If you are as excited as I am about this new outdoor activity, Stalley’s goal of starting a club and hosting clinics and hosting tournaments seems very likely and could be very well subscribed. You’ll likely see Rindy and Bernie out on the course so don’t be afraid to ask questions if you see them. They are very eager to share their love of the sport.