Thanks to the tireless efforts of the East Kootenay Disc Golf Club (EKDGC), a grant they attained from Columbia Basin Trust and the help of some dedicated volunteers, the Wycliffe Disc Golf Course is now equipped with amateur tee pads on several of its holes.
Late in 2019, the EKDGC applied for, and were successful in attaining, $12,250 from the Columbia Basin Trust’s Basin PLAYS Capital Improvement Grants.
The purpose of this wave of CBT’s funding was to improve youth access to sports in the East Kootenay.
READ MORE: CBT grant helps local disc golf club improve youth access to sport
The EKDGC has so far put this money to use by installing nine new baskets at the Idlewild Disc Golf Course in Cranbrook.
This beginner friendly course now boasts a full 18 holes, providing a perfect place to start for newbies to the sport, young kids looking for their first ace, or seasoned pros looking to work on their short game.
WATCH: Cranbrook’s third disc golf course is ready to play
On Wednesday, July 1, the club went to work with the help of a handful of volunteers, installing amateur teepads on holes 1, 5, 11, 8, 16 and 17, at Wycliffe with plans for two more to come.
This makes this very difficult course easier to attack for young or beginner players.
They also installed a driving range tee pad near hole one, facing out into the soccer field to warm up your arm or practise your long bombs.
Next the club seeks to install a bathroom at the College of the Rockies Disc Golf Course.
Further abroad, the sport continues to grow with the installation of a beautiful new course at the Nipika Mountain Resort, located just over 30 minutes east of Radium.
One of the staff members at the Nipika resort came by Invermere resident Jesse Tomalty’s house and noticed he had disc golf baskets in his yard. They told him they were interested in putting in a course and talks began between them.
“When Brad, Nipika’s river guide, saw the baskets in my yard and stopped to ask if I would be interested in putting in a course I thought it was too good to be true,” Tomalty said. “It turns out that it was even better than that.”
Tomalty contacted Cranbrook-based professional disc golfer Casey Hanemayer and together they went up to the land to walk it and plan it out.
Hanemayer designed the course on a map and then he, Tomalty and Canmore disc golfer Matt Riordan got to work fitting the layout to the land.
“Nipika staff have been awesome,” Tomalty said. “They paid for the baskets and have put in hundreds of hours of machine time — bobcat, backhoe, chainsaws.”
The result of all this hard work is an extremely high-quality course, that also fills a void that was lacking in that region. There are now courses in Sparwood, Fernie, Elkford, Nelson, Cranbrook, Rossland and more.
“This course is spectacular and a must play for anyone who can get here,” Tomalty said. “Nipika is a special place run by even more special people.”
paul.rodgers@kimberleybulletin
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