Next up was raising the over $15,000 needed to make the course happen. The teens approached local businesses and applied for grants, and even created a disc golf themed float for the local Christmas parade! Seeing the unique opportunity not only to supportlocal youth and the local sport community, but also to get advertising into the parks and residential areas through which the course would wind, the local business community opened their wallets willingly, and soon the youth found themselves greatly exceeding their original fundraising goal, especially after a large grant from Makadiff Sports found its way to the group. In addition, when BURNCO came out to pour the tee pads, they partnered with the youth to involve them as they did the work, giving the youth the unique opportunity to learn about the trades in a hands-on manner.
With the extra money they had raised, the group was able to host several events for free, including their first tournament which kicked off the grand opening of the course in July 2015. Over the next year, they also ran disc golf lessons for the local community, bringing in Calgary’s “Frisbee Rob” Rob McLeod to teach the sport to hundreds of local students. They also organized the first disc golf league before handing it over to the newly formed Strathmore Disc Golf Club in 2016. Meanwhile, within the community, the youth movement grew even bigger, with local disc golf retailer JK Discs being founded in 2016 by 12 year-old junior high school entrepreneur Josh Kennedy. The business has come a long way from its origins selling discs weekly at a local farmers market and has expanded to become one of Alberta’s largest online disc golf retail operations, now making appearances at tournaments and events all across the province. Of course, nothing stays the same forever, and the course has definitely seen its share of changes over time. The original layout can be seen at the bottom of this 2015 local news article celebrating the youth group’s success. The original holes 12 & 13 formed an X in a field, which of course caused some issues. In addition, the course stewards have worked very closely with the homeowners whose properties back onto the course to address any concerns they may have. This resulted in quite a few minor adjustments, including new tee pad locations, and some major adjustments, such as the relocation of hole 9 from its original location in a narrow strip of land along a walking path to a more open area in the park which also houses holes 6, 7 & 8.
However, not all of the changes were motivated by community concerns! Many improvements have also been made over time, such as new tee pads and pin placements, allowing for a huge amount of variety with the course layout. This variety permits the course to be adjusted to shorten it for beginner-friendly events such as 2024’s BirdieFest, or lengthened for more challenging tournaments, particularly along the long par 4s & 5s alongside the canal, where poor wind reads can sometimes result in impromptu swimming trips in the summer months!
The local community also steps up in a big way to retrieve discs. When the canal is drained once a year, volunteers will often go out to recover lost discs from the canal. In one year, over 100 discs were retrieved, dried off and calls were made to reunite the lost discs with their owners! There are also two locked “Lost & Found” disc containers along the course, where players can safely drop found discs, and which are regularly opened and emptied to ensure that these rogue discs make their way home.
The course continues to host several events each year, including the incredibly unique Ice Cream Classic, where players alternate between an ice cream pail lid, a mini and a putter as they make their way around the course. Playing for fun and not for rating, this event draws out players and newbies alike, and is a family favourite. Free ice cream and (literally) sweet prizes definitely don’t hurt, either (at least, until your next dental check-up after all that ice cream). It has also seen the Alberta Provincials pass through, along with a Canadian Nationals satellite event and the EmBee Open, which alone attracted over 200 disc golfers to the small town course!
The community support continues to this day. When signage was replaced, many of the original sponsors re-upped their contributions along new donors, ensuring that the course remains a huge point of pride for the community, and especially its young progenitors. Today, the course still winds its way though several parks and demands an incredible variety of shot shapes, from ace runs on some of the shorter early holes to the elevation changes near the course’s midpoint and eventually the wide-open bomber holes along the canal, ending with a tightly wooded final hole as a final challenge. A full round will definitely help you make your steps goal for the day, clocking in at about 10,000 steps per round! Groups including players with mobility issues may want to note that there is a walk of approximately 400 m from hole 18 back to hole 1 at the end of the round.
