A Foothills park has received a boost in membership thanks to the installation of a disc golf course.
The Calgary Disc Golf Club spent the last year-and-a-half building a new 18-hole course in Lloyd Park, south of Red Deer Lake School. The course is free to the public with the payment of a $35 annual park fee administered by the Red Deer Lake Community Association.
Kevin Rutt, president of the club, said the disc golf course has added about 200 members to Lloyd Park, which in turn benefits the local community.
“Before it was just dog-walkers making use of this park,” said Rutt. “We’ve added close to 200 new members, and they’re (the administration) using the money to improve their community centre and do upkeep.”
He said dog-walkers have also expressed their appreciation, because mowed fairways mean there is more access park for walking and enjoying the natural landscape of Lloyd Park.
The Calgary Disc Golf Club discovered the land in 2000, when it held a one-weekend tournament on a temporary course in the park. Afterward, the idea of building a permanent course wasn’t discussed until 2013.
It’s the ideal location to put a course, said Rutt.
“What we look for in a disc golf course is to be tree-lined, with open spaces and hills, and this has it all,” he said. “It’s a great place to put 18 holes.”
Disc golf plays similarly to “stick golf,” but rather than hitting a ball, players toss a disc down the fairway, making their next throw from wherever the disc lands. There are a variety of discs, like different golf clubs in a bag, which will fly different distances or handle windy conditions better.
Players can also use just one disc the entire course, modifying how hard they throw to accommodate closer distances, he said. Some hobby shops and sports retailers sell specialized discs and beginner packs, he said.
“The club does put on some clinics through the year for beginners, too,” said Rutt. “So people can come out and learn proper technique and how disc golf works.”
The total cost of the project was close to $20,000 for concrete tee pads, baskets and signs, he said. The labour was all done on a volunteer basis.
To help alleviate some of the cost, the club applied for the Community Facility Enhancement Program grant through the Province. They received a cheque for $6,250 on June 16, which will be used for the final step of the project – installing proper signage at the beginning of the course and on each tee box, showing players the layout of each hole.
Livingstone-Macleod MLA Pat Stier presented the grant money to the club at Red Deer Lake School. It was one of many facility enhancement grants he’s been doling out on behalf of the Province this month, he said.
“I’ve been going around all this month distributing about 25 cheques for different projects,” said Stier.
He said there were six grants in the Pincher Creek area for various projects, and one for $125,000 in Claresholm for its agriplex buildings, among many others.
“It contributes to the local community’s ability to provide different kinds of recreational things and facility improvements – new roofs on buildings and so on,” said Stier.
He said groups apply for the grants directly to the government, but if he happens to know an organization has sent in an application he’ll write a letter of support to help bolster the submission.
Hearing about community endeavours and handing out grant money to organizations is a great way to see how taxpayers’ money is being spent, he said.
“It’s wonderful, because a lot of times you’re seeing the government putting out money for a lot of big projects, like the ring-road work,” said Stier. “That has an overall benefit, there’s no question – it helps the economy and it helps traffic flow of course.
“But more important, I think, is being able to provide funds for local communities for them to enhance facilities, enhance programs, and actually provide more services and programs to their constituents.”
