The PADG has had a very busy spring, actually going back to well before the snow departed.
Part of the Association’s role, a key element actually, is to promote disc golf throughout the region.
Just to provide an idea about what that means, the PADG encompasses all courses/communities within a 125 km radius of Yorkton. Thanks to an online calculator that means an area just shy of 50,000 square kilometres.
As mentioned last week the number of courses within the circle is growing dramatically. This year we anticipated 20-plus to be in place by summer’s end.
But courses rarely spring up without behind the scenes preparation.
That includes spreading the word to area Councils, Regional Park Boards and similar groups.
That is what PADG interim chair Calvin Daniels, and others in the Association have been up too, and with generally very positive effect.
Since the snow arrived in 2015, presentations on the benefits a disc golf course can provide a community or park have been made to the Mayor of Kelvington, the Whitesand Regional Park Board, York Lake Golf Course Board, Asessippi Beach and Campground, Katepwa Lions Club, Neudorf Town Council, Bredenbury Town Council and May 19, they will appear before Council in Sturgis.
The attributes of disc golf are of course many.
The ongoing fitness boom finds more and more people taking up recreational activities in an effort to improve health and quality of life.
Disc golf provides upper and lower body conditioning, aerobic exercise, and promotes a combination of physical and mental abilities that allow very little risk of physical injury.
Concentration skills increase by mastering shots and negotiating obstacles.
Players of limited fitness levels can start slowly and gradually increase their level of play as fitness improves.
Disc golf offers year-round fitness, even in rain or snow.
Then there is perhaps the greatest attribute of the sport is the expense - or rather, the lack of it. A professional quality disc costs less than $30, and it only takes one, or two for the most basic play. A starter set of a driver, midrange and putter are an ideal starting point.
While a course is primarily created as an outdoor activity for local residents, it is great to get away from the TV and video games as often as possible, there is a tourism element as well.
Disc golfers will travel to play. As an example last spring a rock band from Nashville was playing the Yorkton course. They had found the course via Google and had stopped as they passed through between shows.
That sort of player draw can be enhanced as well.
By developing clusters and corridors of courses there is a chance to create cooperative interest. With several courses now in the Parkland area the opportunity for a localized tournament series, and other benefits can be developed, which would benefit players in each community.
The positives have resonated with those at the presentations.
Courses were approved, and are in the process of installation at Asessippi Beach and Campground, Kelvington, Bredenbury and Whitesand Regional Park, and are still under consideration at Katepwa and Neudorf, so if you are keeping score, only one presentation has out right failed to have a disc golf course move forward, at least so far.
That is great news for the sport in the PADG region, as we near the 20-course plateau.
Asessippi Beach and Campground Course
A new Par 58, 18 basket course has been installed at Asessippi Beach and Campground, and is now ready for disc golfers to explore.
“We had been looking at how we might enhance the recreation opportunities at the campground for a while when we first came across disc golf and thought it might be a good fit, but we weren’t just sure how we might go about it,” said site owner Rick Goraluk.
From there Goraluk got to work.
“I saw a homemade golf basket online made out of a plastic barrel and decided ‘hey I can do that’,” he said, adding it was a lower cost way to introduce the sport. “It took a lot more chain than I expected, I think I went back to the hardware section three times, but they weren’t really that hard to make, and the 18 baskets look pretty darned good if I may say so myself.”
Goraluk said it was an interesting experience being involved in the design.
“They had me going all over the property, and while I haven’t played a round yet, it sure looks like it will be a fun course,” he said. “I was pretty excited by the time they left to get the tees and baskets installed.”
The course covers 4,873-feet and while be accessible to golf carts for those wanting some luxury on a round.
Goraluk said he plans to host at least one ‘learn-to-play’ evening at the course for anyone in the Roblin, Inglis and Russell area.
“And we will be contacting area schools. We are really excited to get youth involved,” he said.
To further promote the course, and sport, the Asessippi Campground Course, ( www.asessippibeach.com ), will host a ‘Canada Day Tournament’.
“It seemed like an ideal day to have an event,” said Goraluk.
The tournament will be part of a new PADG Tournament Series.
Details of the Asessippi tournament will be released soon, but people can follow all PADG by searching the Association on Facebook, or for more information they can email padg.yorkton@gmail.com or the campground at goraluk@mymts.net
PADG Tournaments
May 29 - Springside - Vibram Birdie Bash
June 19 - Dawn til Dusk Iron Man Golf Day
June 26 - Rocanville Doubles Tournament
July 1 - Asessippi Campground Tournament
July 9 - Birtle Tournament (Tentative)
July 30 - Sandy Beach - Dynamic Disc 2-Disc Challenge
July 31 - Carlton Trail - Tentative
Aug 28 - Yorkton 2nd Annual Trilogy Challenge
Sep 3 - Fort Qu’appelle - MVP Circuit - Tentative
Sep 10 - Moosomin Tourney - Tentative
For details contact padg.yorkton@gmail.com
