Local disc golf club proposes new course for Strathmore

By Brady Grove, Times Reporter

The Strathmore Disc Golf Club (SDGC) approached council on Jan. 24 to propose a new pitch-and-putt course geared more towards families and kids for a low financial cost.
“We have kids from six years old up to people in their 70s playing the sport,” said Matt Byma, president of the SDGC. “I think comparatively putting something like this in is really low cost for the town.”
The pitch-and-putt course would either be nine or 18 holes. It would be comparable to a par-3 golf course and would involve much shorter holes. The distance on the current Strathmore course fluctuates between 200 and 700 feet on each hole which is one of the challenges for younger players.
“Kids can only walk for so long,” said Byma. “Three and half, four kilometres for a kid to do those holes … that’s a lot of walking, even for an adult.”
The distances proposed in the pitch and putt would be between 100 and 200 feet, severely reducing the potential walking distance. Two areas being proposed for the new course is the green space east of the Kinsmen ball diamonds and the area across from Strathmore Ranch Estates.
The cost would vary depending on design, but according to Byma each hole would be about $1,000, which includes the cost of signs and tee pads. According to Byma, part of the appeal of disc golf is its low cost. The current course is free to play and people who want to become SDGC members pay $40 to join. Casual players who aren’t part of the club only have to pay for their discs, which cost about $10 to $20 per disc, and you only need one, but can buy more for specialized distances such as a putter or mid-range disc.
The parks department in town currently maintains the normal disc golf course. According to Strathmore parks supervisor Dave Rimes, the area the current course is on was going to receive maintenance anyway, such as mowing the grass, meaning the course didn’t bring any additional costs to town other than the initial setup or moving tee boxes that were having issues.
“It’s been pretty minimal for the amount of use it’s getting,” said Rimes.
Town council was supportive of the proposed pitch and putt and passed a motion unanimously to construct a report to gather more information. Councillor Lorraine Bauer asked Byma about increasing club member fees to help offset the cost of the new pitch and putt.
Byma would prefer to follow a fundraising or hole sponsor system to keep costs down for players because that’s part of the appeal of the sport.
There are 52 members in the club who played in six tournaments; most are local but include residents from other communities such as Chestermere.
The SDGC also has 14 junior league members aged 10 to 17 years of age which is part of the club’s strategy – to grow the game from the youth up.
Strathmore will host the EMBEE Open again this year from Alberta Disc Golf Tour, which is a major tournament for the local club, on June 30, featuring junior, amateur and pro divisions. This success has helped the SDGC look to the future of its competitive players.
The prospect of a championship-level course coming to the Strathmore area was also raised at the council meeting on Jan. 24. A championship-level course would bring more tournaments and a higher level of sport for competitive players.
The big difference between a championship level course and the current Strathmore course is distance. According to the Professional Disc Golf Association website, for the highest ranked players, par 5 holes can reach a distance of up to 1,300 feet which dwarfs Strathmore’s longest hole at 778 feet.
However, Byma said the club has exhausted a lot of resources trying to find land and interest to build the championship course.
“It’s hard to get people to understand the game when they’ve never played it before,” said Byma. “We’re just hoping that somebody someplace around town will open some land up for park space.”
For more information visit strathmorediscgolf.com.