Fort Battleford interpretation supervisor David Trimmer walked up to the tee box of the first hole of the Fort's disc golf course and emptied out his green, yellow and red satchel. More than 12 discs hit the ground as Trimmer began explaining the purpose and differences of each one.
Trimmer, who is from Kansas City, Mo., has been playing disc golf - also known as frolf or Frisbee golf - since 1989 when he picked up the game at a youth camp in Buena Vista, Colo. When he returned to Kansas City, he found games there and continued playing.
After moving to Canada in 2009, he took a job as a tour guide at Fort Battleford in 2010. As a former history student, Trimmer was able to pick up information about the Fort from the brochures in the lobby to learn about the site for the interview.
"When I came in, all that history was fresh in my mind," Trimmer says. "So, they were quite surprised an American came over and knew so much history about Saskatchewan."
This June, Trimmer's application to create a disc golf course at Fort Battleford was approved. He was instrumental in shaping the course that ventures all over the historic site. It is a nine-hole course, with each hole being a par three. There are three sets of tee blocks. One is a standard set, with the other two being for beginners and experienced players respectively.
"As we approach Canada's 150th birthday celebrations in 2017, building events and experiences will be critical for success in helping Canadians connect with national historic sites and learn about our collective history," says Trimmer of building the course. "We wanted to create a fun activity for the community and our visitors alike. What better setting then at a picturesque national historic site. It also uses a part of the site most visitors rarely see and provides some stunning views of the North Saskatchewan River."
The new course has brought players over from the course at Centennial Park, which was created almost two and a half years ago. Trimmer says the response to the disc golf course at the fort has been strong in its first season of operation. The cost of the golf is included with the paid attendance to the fort, which is less than $4. Some visitors have come to play with their own discs, while others have come to play but don't have their own discs. The fort loans discs out to players at no charge. He says it's an "extremely reasonable" sport to pick up and play, adding it's a sport for everyone.
"We have had families pull up from as far away as Calgary with discs in their car," says Trimmer. "They were elated to find out we offer disc golf at our site. It is not a difficult game like traditional golf and you don't have to spends hundreds of dollars to play or thousands on equipment."
The fort hosted a disc golf tournament as part of their Fort Fest in July. Trimmer says there was a good turnout for the tournament, with around 20 players registered to play. The sport is growing in popularity as it is played in more than 40 countries with more than 4,000 courses worldwide. Trimmer says, in his opinion, it is the fastest growing sport in North America.
Part of the game follows the motto that a player brings out more than they bring in. For example, as they're playing, golfers are expected to pick up litter or return lost discs. It's all for karma, as Trimmer explained.
Trimmer says there are duelling narratives of how the game of disc golf came to be. One has the game being founded in 1926 in Vancouver, B.C. A group of school kids played the game with tin lids, picking out trees to hit. The second story is similar, but the school kids were from Bladworth, Sask.
In 1965, popular Frisbee manufacturer Wham-O held a city-wide disc golf tournament where players aimed their discs through hula hoops. In the 1980s, Ed Headrick developed the current disc golf target, which is made of chains and a basket.
There are three main kinds of discs used in disc golf. As Trimmer explained, they mimic the clubs in a golf bag. The discs are divided into three classes: driver, mid-range and putter. Each disc has properties that have advantages in certain parts of the course, much like the loft in a golf club. While there are a variety of specialty discs a player can use, a traditional plastic Frisbee can be used on the course as well. Trimmer says it's about finding which disc each individual is comfortable throwing.
He has high hopes for the future of disc golf in Canada.
"My goal is to see disc golf in every national park and historic site across Canada. I mean, that would be ultimately perfect," says Trimmer. "As [people are] travelling and going on vacations, they bring along their disc golf discs and it's something a family can actually go out and do."
