For two rounds and one day only, the Little Mountain Disc Golf Course at Queen Elizabeth Park will burst its seams.
Seventy-two professional disc golfers from across Canada will play one of the oldest courses in the province this weekend for the B.C. Championship on 18 holes that will spill from the existing fairways to the further corners of Queen Elizabeth Park, including the arboretum which is home to exotic and native trees.
“It's a new layout that no one has ever played before,” said tournament director Leanne Fulton.
“The existing course is small. It’s lovely because it is so contained but it’s too easy for the top pros. We have to stretch it out, all the way up Midlothian [Avenue].”
The extended, championship course was designed by Craig Sheather and will change the existing, par-56 course into a longer, more diffuclt par-60 course. The B.C. Disc Sports Society will install temporary baskets for two rounds on Saturday, Sept. 20. A doubles tournament will run Friday evening. The fairways and targets are being kept under wraps until this week because of the unique environment and gardens.
“It’s an incredible privilege to be able to use it,” said Fulton, noting the Little Mountain course was the first in B.C. to have a supportive city install permanent metal baskets, which disc golfers use as both flag and hole. The course was built in 1983 and is free to use.
Leanne Fulton at the Little Mountain Disc Golf Course. Photo Dan Toulgoet
The championship round on Sunday is held at Grouse Mountain. Saturday’s tee times at Queen Elizabeth Park are 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Spectator access is free.
Coquitlam’s Doug Ross, who made the cut on the final day of the World Championship masters flight earlier this summer in Portland, Ore., will vie for a B.C. title.
So will Stephen Crichton, a Mount Pleasant disc golfer who frequents QuilchenaPark and occasionally the shorter Queen Elizabeth course.
Crichton finished in the top 100 the first time he competed as a pro in the open division at the World Championships. “My goal is to win the tournament,” he said. “Nothing less than a win will satisfy. We’ve got some really tough competition and I think on any given day, there is a handful of guys who if they bring their A game, they can win this tournament. Were lucky to have a really strong group of open players.”
Excited to play new terrain so close to home for the provincial tournament, Crichton said disc golf is at an all-time highpoint and promising to go higher still.
“We’re at a bit of a pinnacle in the sport because growth is so huge all over the world. It’s a matter of how we manage it and how we use the resources at hand to move forward and generate new sponsorship,” he said, noting few players can live off the proceeds of their disc golf winnings but some elite players do. Technology and design have changed the distance discs can travel, and eventually prize money will grow once sponsors donate more than products.
In Vancouver, the sport will expand with the creation or expansion of new courses.
“I’m really glad the city is on board right now [for the B.C. Championship.] If the city and parks board are ready to give us access to new space, we could really do some great things,” said Crichton.
“It’s nice to have options so things don’t get stagnate. In my opinion, Q.E. is a great park, it’s one of the originals and disc golf wouldn’t be what it is in Vancouver without it, but I do think it needs to be updated. The technology now has pushed the sport and people are throwing farther. For a player like myself, it’s a little outdated. It’s good for recreational play or beginners who want to have fun and play casual golf.”
For a weekend, the expanded course will test veteran golfers said Crichton.
“There’s potential,” he said. “If we can do a good job with this, then […] hopefully we can build some new holes. I’ve been playing for several years and I think that’s one of the greatest joys of disc golf: finding new courses and playing something you’ve never played before.”
