The Vertical Growth of Disc Golf

Video Transcript
Note: All WP Saskatchewan video transcripts are edited for flow and readability.

(Adam) “Lot of people thought they were deer feeders in the park, so you don’t put grain in them. Those baskets are for Frisbees.”
 
(Jerri-Ann) “I call it disc golf, but a lot of people call it “Frolf” or “Frisbee golf”.”
 
(Arlen) “It’s not “Frolf”.”
 
(Sean) “I prefer disc golf, but I’ve obviously heard “Frisbee golf” or “Frolf”, and I really don’t like any of them. Disc golf works for me.”
 
(Arlen) “It’s Disc Golf because a Frisbee is not a disc.”
 
(Jerri-Ann) “Different than a disc.”
 
(Arlen) “A Frisbee is meant to be caught. A disc is meant to be thrown.”
 
(Narrator) “Disc golf is popping up all over Saskatchewan. It’s a lot like golf. But the main difference is that this outdoor game uses a simple set of inexpensive flying discs, carefully thrown into a special catching basket. Disc golf is exploding in popularity. It is almost always free to play and easy to set up, in existing parks and public spaces. Because of this, municipalities across Saskatchewan are choosing disc golf as their next outdoor recreation project. So, why disc golf and why now? Why are so many people, so addicted to this rapidly growing game?”
 
(Sean) “For me, it was watching the disc just flying through the air. That was what got me the most hooked. And I think once you get a good throw-in from a decent distance, then you’re guaranteed hooked, you’re stuck into the game forever, because it’s just so fun watching the disc fly through the air.”
 
(Ross) “You know, I used to be quite active with golf and things like that, and I’m just not physically up to that anymore, but I find that this is good, because I can get out and do it. And it’s a good little workout for me.”
 
(Sam) “I was like, ‘No, it has no contact. That’s not a real sport.’ I’m a jock at heart. So then dragged me out and I fell in love and – contact? what? You don’t need contact in sports. This is the best sport.”
 
(Jerri-Ann) “Before disc golf I was only into Muay Thai.”
 
(Arlen) “I played a lot of sports growing up. Hockey, baseball, football, stuff like that.”
 
(Roxanne) “So last year was the first year that I discovered it. And umm, I’m trying. You’ve got to work at it, but it’s not too strenuous that you’re going to hurt yourself.”
 
(Adam) “Disc Golf can be a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Myself, I look at it as basically a social, rec and leisure activity. Something I can do with my friends. And then there’s from that spectrum, right to like the competitive side.”
 
(Sean) “So you’re competing against people and that makes it a sport to me, and I like that aspect of disc golf.”
 
(Ross) “I think it would be – I’d have to say it’s an activity but you know, I still have a little bit of a competitiveness in me. I like to do the best I can.”
 
(Jerri-Ann) “It’s a sport because if you want to compete and you want to see how you fare on the field, then it becomes more competitive and then you’re using more restricted rules and you have, you know, what’s more like a sport. And then it’s an activity for those who are just casually playing. Maybe you’re not taking score, you’re just going out with your kids or your grandparents. Yeah, you shouldn’t keep score. That’s just an activity. Go throw a disc in the park. Walk.”
 
(Sam) “I love it for the competitiveness and I also love it for just going out and having fun, casual.”
 
(Narrator) “Unlike the traditional golf clubhouses with their dress codes, tee times and green fees, disc golfers pride themselves on facilitating easy pickup and play casual rounds.”

(Adam) “Yeah. So I’m Adam Holmes. I’m a coordinator here for Regina’s Senior Citizens Center on Elphinstone Street, and I am the president of the Regina Disc Golf Association.
 
I’ll take you guys for your first round, and we’ll kind of learn the steps as we go along, okay? So have you played golf before or even mini golf? So it’s the same concept as this. So each hole has what they call a par system. So that means how many throws or attempts it takes to try to get it into the basket. We’re all going to take a turn throwing from the tee box. Nice. There we go. Perfect. All right. Now we’re going to all move as a group together. And the furthest one back is where we’ll stop. And that person will throw. We’re just always wanting to make sure nobody’s ahead of us.
 
Well, we’ve been trying this year with RDGA (Regina Disc Golf Association), to create beginner based programming, getting new people started who haven’t tried the sport. Or, you know, I work with adults with disabilities who enjoy playing disc golf. We work with seniors who enjoy playing disc golf. We’re launching a junior’s program that will get kids into disc golf. It actually became part of the school curriculum over the last couple of years, too. So, some weeks I’ll come out here and there’ll be local schools out here running disc golf programming. So it’s pretty awesome.”
 
(Jerri-Ann) “It just brings everybody together. And it doesn’t matter how old you are, what your physical strengths are or what you do for a living. It’s just you meet so many people and I think my family expanded with Disc Golf, so I have friends all over the place. Couldn’t name one or I’ll be leaving someone out and I don’t like that.”
 
(Arlen) “Disc Golf is an absolute community. It is a family. Everywhere you go, it is welcoming. It is huge. You can go pick a tournament and you’re welcomed with open arms. So it’s an absolute blast.”
 
(Laurie) “It’s a very tight knit community that’s really open and helpful and fun.”
 
(Adam) “You know, getting connected to different rec and leisure and hobby pursuits in a community is a great way to meet people who have a like-minded interest and disc golfers I find are people who pick up the sport, usually become really passionate about this sport. So it’s pretty easy to find folks that want to ramble to you about throwing discs in a park all day long.”

(Sean) “I’ve met so many new people disc golfing. I’ve also found out a lot of my friends that Disc Golf too.”
 
(Laurie) “Well, it brought me out of my shell because I’m usually shy. I don’t talk to people and now it’s like this opens me up. When you get like your first birdie or your first ace, it’s just… nothing like it. And then just hanging out with your friends just talking a bout life, throwing plastic, ugh.”
 
(Sam) “The community just grabbed me and started making me get involved in different games with them. And next thing you know, I started running things. Yeah.”
 
(Narrator) “There are over 80 disc golf courses that are open to play for free in Saskatchewan. Nine basket courses are easier to manage and sometimes use multiple tee pads to extend the layout. Dedicated associations and organizers are bringing disc golf to parks and recreation spaces everywhere. Adventuring around the province, pop up courses bring the game to new communities.”
 
(Sam) “That’s the best part about this sport is you can play this sport anywhere, as long as you have a disc and something to throw at, you don’t really need even a basket. Pop up courses, well, Regina, we only have one course, so it gets very congested and it’s very nice to be able to create a course.”
 
(Laurie) “Well, you find a park like this. And then you got to go find lines, you got to bring in the baskets and stuff.”
 
(Sam) “You just do it randomly throughout the city. You pop a course, you set it up, everyone plays through, and just having a more fun environment, a more inclusive environment. So even if you weren’t the best, you would still have a great time.”
 
(Sean) “I do get excited when I go to a new place that has a disc golf course and I’m like, ‘I’m going to play that while I’m there.’ but I haven’t got to travel too much. I’ve gone to a few tournaments on the road, but I look forward to doing more of it.”
 
(Laurie) “I’ve probably played about ten in Saskatchewan, but I am getting out camping more with these tournaments, which I love because I haven’t done it in a while.”
 
(Jerri-Ann) “So, Saskatchewan, I’d say we played over 80 courses. Yeah, I think there’s about 84 courses and with that we’ve played 83.”
 
(Arlen) “There’s one course we haven’t hit.”
 
(Jerri-Ann) “Because it’s just being built right now. Oh, sorry two, one is on a military base and it’s only for those in the military to play.”
 
(Arlen) “And that’s Dundurn.”
 
(Jerri-Ann) “Yeah, so there’s two that we haven’t. We hit tournaments, so when we go play tournaments, we plan our routes around courses that we could stop and take a walk at. And instead of, you know, going and grabbing gas and food and coffee, we’re hitting a course and we’re getting some exercise, stretching our legs, moving our back, and then we get back in the car, we go out again. So, when we hit a tournament, I think we could hit up about five courses.”
 
(Arlen) “And that’s and that’s the thing. We hit them on the way up. We hit them on the way back. In the evening after the round, stuff like that. We were just up in Edmonton this last weekend for a tournament. Hit three extra courses. Sorry, four extra courses. We both crossed our 200 course mark over this last weekend. So we’ve played from Ontario to B.C. A little bit in the States.”
 
(Ross) “I find it a very enjoyable sport and I think lots of people should come out and give it a try.”
 
(Sean) “Hopefully more people keep playing this sport and we get more random courses.”
 
(Sam) “Biggest hope is the more we get people involved and inclusive and talking about pop ups and growing in general, the sooner the better. So we can grow the sport everywhere. More walks in the park. That’s what we like to say.”
 
(Jerri-Ann) “If you’re listening to this and you have not taken up Disc Golf, come to Douglas Park, and if you see us on the course, run up, let’s play a round together. Let’s grow the sport. Let’s make it not so secret anymore.”
 
(Arlen) “And if you’re shy or don’t know who to talk to, throw a post on the local disc golf page for Regina Disc golf, somebody will take you out.”
 
(Jerri-Ann) “If you see someone with a disc in their hand, they’ll probably teach you the rules and just have fun.”
 
(Sam) “Thanks for coming. This was great.”
 
(Narrator) “This game is clearly gaining a powerful influence in Saskatchewan. Young and old, competitive or casual, athletes and outdoor enthusiasts all over the province are hooked on the thrilling game and welcoming community of disc golf.”

Credits:

Regina Disc Golf Association President – Adam Holmes

RDGA Pop-up Course Coordinators- Samantha Dustyhorn & Laurie Free.

Disc Golfers- Roxanne Buchanan, Ross Buchanan, Linda Crown, Sheilo Martin, Sean MacGillivray, Jerri-Ann Brownbridge & Arlen Nickel.

Filmed at the Douglas Park disc golf course, an RDGA pop-up course at Rochdale Park, and the Neil Balkwill Civic Arts Center’s senior pop-up course, in Regina, Saskatchewan.