It’s time to pack your golf discs if you are headed to Whitesand Regional Park.

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The park just northwest of Theodore, has a new amenity, and it is an 18 target disc golf course.

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“We are always looking to enhance what the park has to offer, and had heard about the going popularity of disc golf, so when we found local people who were willing to help us design a course it was an easy decision to create a course,” said Whitesand Park Board member Gordon Minken.

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The help the Board found was the Parkland Association of Disc Golf.

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“There were some initial emails and then they invited me out to make a presentation to their Board,” said PADG interim chair Calvin Daniels.

That was in early December, and by the time the snow receded this spring the Park Board had invited Daniels, and fellow disc golf supporter Trevor Lyons out to the Park to look over a possible course location.

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“We liked the idea of creating a course, but needed someone with a better understanding of what makes a good course lay out to help us with design,” said Minken. “The two fellows walked the area with me, and by the time we were done I knew a course was going to be a good addition to the park.”

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The course is unique to the local area in that the 18 tonal targets have been added to the park’s existing nine sand green ball golf course.

“It created a dual purpose course,” said Lyons. “Ball golfers hold play through rights, because they hit a ball farther, but otherwise it’s just the two courses played basically as one, with the golfer deciding to use clubs, or a disc.”

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“The idea is not new having been done in other places,” continued Daniels. “It’s a great way to make better use of an area. There are ball courses which are under utilized because of location, competition, sand greens. Adding disc golf just broadens the potential user base, and at a very low cost since the general course is already being maintained.”

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For those unfamiliar with disc golf the game plays much like ball golf.

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There are marked tees, players throw within eight-feet of the right of the tee-post, usually throwing a driver disc. As might be expected drivers, which can be thrown forehand or backhand, are designed to fly farther than other discs.

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A midrange disc is thrown from the fairway. You simply throw again from behind the position where your driver landed.

Once close to the tonal target / basket you choose a putter. Throw it so it hits the target and you have completed the ‘hole’.

Utilizing the existing ball golf course provides some great fairways to work with, although Daniels said they hugged the rough in many cases to add challenge.

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“We have made tall grass out-of-bounds on the course, so when you land it the uncut grass you take a stroke, but still play it from where it lies,” he explained.

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The trees areas remain in play, he added, noting it’s already a penalty throwing through the trees.

Another feature the course employs to good advantage are the ball golf sand greens.

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“On most of the ball greens we’ve tucked the tonal disc targets close by, and made the ball golf greens OB,” said Daniels.

 

“It puts a bit more importance on an accurate upshot to the target,” added Lyons.

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The new disc golf course measures in at near 7000-feet, and is fully accessible to golf carts. It is being initially rated a Par-62.

There are still some fairways to be mowed, but the course is now playable.

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A basic disc starter set of driver/mid-range/putter will be available for beginner at the Whitesand Park Concession during their regular hours of operation

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There are also discussions taking place about Whitesand hosting a disc tournament later this summer. It would be part of a new PADG Tournament Series.

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“A tourney series was part of the reason for creating the regional association last November,” said Lyons who it the PADG Tournament Chair.

 

The winners at series events not only earn prizes at the individual tournaments, but will be invited to participate in a PADG ‘Champions Challenge Tournament’ in October.

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“It should be a great event to wrap up the PADG series,” said Lyons.

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For more information about the Whitesand Regional Park Disc Golf Course people can contact whitesandregionalpark@sasktel.net