Golf at Coquitlam’s prestigious Westwood Plateau is going to look a lot different on Nov. 13.
Instead of swinging heavy-duty Callaway drivers or pitching gleaming Cleveland wedges, disc golfers will be winding up and hurling plastic saucers hundreds of metres through the air toward temporary chain baskets placed strategically around the club’s 72-hole, 6770-yard championship course.
The special one-day event to open the renowned club to disc golfers from all over the Lower Mainland and beyond is the brainchild of Chris Hartmann and Stewart McIsaak, avid players themselves who’ve turned their passion toward designing courses from Langley and Aldergrove to Kitimat as well as some in Washington State.
But its genesis is the enthusiasm for the sport of some of Westwood Plateau’s employees, said the club’s general manager, Jenifer Wright. And with the traditional golf season winding down, she saw opening the course to disc golfers as an opportunity to test a new way to extend the season.
“Obviously, we have enough green space that goes unused during the off-season,” Wright said, adding disc golfers are also a “heartier bunch” who likely wouldn’t be fazed by early snow or colder temperatures that often descend upon Westwood in the fall.
Hartmann, who founded the INDesign Disc Golf with McIsaak, said the sport’s players relish the opportunity to play the wide open spaces of conventional golf courses, as normally they’re confined to carving out courses in public parks, wooded areas and even a decommissioned landfill.
“When you get out on a golf course, you get a chance to throw long distances on nice manicured grasses,” he said. “It’s a different experience.”
Hartmann said the chance to play disc golf on golf courses usually only comes at big tournaments, but the Westwood event is open to anyone who registers for a tee time at a cost of $20. There will be some prizes available and the clubhouse will be open for some 19th hole action.
Hartmann said disc golf has enjoyed a bit of a pandemic boom as people seek out new outdoor recreational opportunities that can keep them active and safe.
The Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA), the sport’s highest governing body, has about 188,000 registered players across North America, and the Raptors Knoll disc golf course in Aldergrove logged about 50,000 rounds of play last year.
Hartmann said converting a golf course for the disc game takes about an hour to place temporary baskets. At Westwood they’ll be kept off the greens and tee boxes will be on paved cart paths to ensure the grounds aren’t damaged. Traditional golf hazards like sand bunkers and ponds are equally challenging for disc golfers to navigate. One basket will be placed on an old cedar stump.
As for the occasional bear that’s been known to play through at the course, Wright said they’ll likely already be hibernating so players won’t have to worry about fending them off with little more than a lightweight piece of plastic.
“I don’t encourage my golfers to fight off the bears anyhow,” she said.
Registration for the disc golf event at Westwood Plateau opens tonight (Oct. 20) at 6 p.m. at www.chronogolf.ca.
