The Year in Pictures

Looking Back The Year in

1. The senior ladies are never short on showing support for their champions. The 2020 Senior Ladies Championship was held at Glendale GCC.

2. The Ladies Amateur at Lakeside GC was the site of heavy wind and rain for 2 straight days. The course was deemed unplayable on day 3, and the event was shortened to 36 holes. 3. New rules and protocols impact everyone involved at Alberta Golf Championships. Long-time referees Wendy and Peter Davies are two of our many volunteers who made 2020 a success.

4. Sanitized and ready to go at the Mens Mid Amateur Champioship at Coyote Creek in Sundre, Alberta Golf’s first Championship of 2020. 5. When social distancing meets sportsmanship.

6. The Alberta U17, U15 & U13 Championship provides a great opportunity for young golfers to learn about competition, and have fun!

7. Tate Bruggeman shows perfect form during the Alberta U19 Championship at The Links at Spruce Grove. 8. Just because it’s a provincial championship, doesn’t mean you aren’t enjoying time with your friends.

9. Led by former Senior Ladies Champion Lynn Kuehn, Lacombe GCC enjoy the Kananaskis Country GC during the Alberta Interclub Championship.

10. Zach Haydamack enjoys his hardware from the McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour Championship.

By Jim Claggett

Disc golf is fun, challenging and great exercise for players of all ages. The mainstay of play early on was from former Ultimate Disc players looking for something new. Morstad says now they are seeing traditional golfers coming over to disc golf for a variety of reasons.

“If you’re a keen golfer, you’re a keen golfer. They already have their passion, and I would not in any way suggest one over the other.”

Both games could be viewed as having a positive impact on one’s mental health and there are a lot of commonalities between the two pursuits, said Morstad. it into a championship disc golf course,” said Morstad. A bonus is the fact the land will be used year-round.

Most of us find it easy enough to lose a golf ball or three during a round. The same can be said for losing a disc-with an asterisk. Players will write their name and phone number on their disc and if you come across one during your round, you can easily contact the owner and return the disc (they run about $20 each so it is appreciated). Most traditional golfers would not expect that to happen with their cherished Titleist.

Disc golfers also have a way of dealing with fresh snow by attaching a 30-centimetre ribbon to the bottom of the disc. When it tunnels its way under the snow, you can easily track it down. Morstad says disc golfers also make sure they all trek along the same path during play. When players come up to where they think their disc is hiding, they can head straight to the spot and keep the surface- contaminating footprints to a minimum.

The sport of disc golf is a relative infant compared to the traditional game of golf. Years ago, things were not so rosy for this newcomer to the sporting landscape according to Kelly Morstad, president of the Calgary Disc Golf Club.

There was some misunderstanding of what the sport was about and how it could work within green spaces around the city. As a result, some disc golf courses were lost to players. But over the years disc golf has seen a positive move towards acceptance and popularity, boasting an estimated 10,000 players provincially.

A lot of the growth has to do with the flexibility of where courses can be set up, like one in Calgary’s Baker Park.

“On any particular Saturday, we would have four or five groups on the tee box,” said Morstad. “We didn’t do a lot of counting, but one afternoon we sat there and there was something like 350 to 400 people passing through by five o’clock.” That is reasonable evidence of the popularity the game is experiencing across a wide demographic. “We’re seeing a lot of couples and groups of young people coming out,” Morstad said.

“You get out there, get the exercise, breathe the air. You have your own meditation on how well you are playing. The camaraderie with your group. There are moments of ‘great’ and moments of ‘what was I thinking’. You could not tell the difference between the two sports.”

There is another redeeming factor presented by disc golf. The 9-hole Richmond Greens Golf Course in Calgary was shut down in 2019 by the city as a cost-cutting measure. The disc golf community saw this as an opportunity for the course to undergo a transformation. “The city was losing money on the 9-hole course, so we’re going to be converting Another project which is percolating is cultivating relationships with golf courses to allow disc golf to be played there during the winter. Morstad says that disc golfers would not play on the fairways, greens or tee boxes, but instead use the natural treed areas to play their game.

“That’s one of our value propositions to them (the city). They have Nordic skiing so it’s not an uncommon idea to make their land accessible year-round,” said Morstad.

It seems that the two sports can co-exist and who knows what doors may open as a result of some cooperation. Just like its golf counterpart, disc golf is a sport for all ages.

“I hope to be throwing discs when I am in my 90’s,” said Morstad.