JUNE 2022 SPORT ORGANIZATION HIGHLIGHT
on the Wood Buffalo Disc Golf Association
Who – Who do you contact about this organization? Who can play?
Kyle Warren - President
1(780)885-1766
WBDGAclub@gmail.com
or they can visit our website at www.WBGDA.ca
Club FB group for meeting people to play, posting found discs, highlights, bragging etc. https://www.facebook.com/groups/WBDGA
Our FB club page has updates on events and stuff posted only by club directors https://www.facebook.com/WBDGA
Youth League updates are found here www.facebook.com/groups/wbdgajuniors/
Anyone can play and we encourage anyone to join us through the website so we have contact info for future events.
What – What is the WBDGA all about?
Our club was established originally with the objective to create more courses around Fort McMurray. We have achieved that goal by getting the community involved in the 3 courses that currently exist and getting the municipality on board to budget for a 4th course which is being built in Stone Creek this year.
Our current focus is more on getting the youth to participate in the sport we love. Many of us have kids that are interested and they are telling their friends about disc golf as well, leading to an increasing number of junior competitors in Ft Mac over the last couple of years.
When – When can you play/train? When can people sign up?
People can sign up anytime. We encourage participation at any time of the year, even during winter (yes, some of us do play in the snow, but we also do an indoor winter putting league at Syncrude Sport and Wellness on campus at Keyano). Our current summer adult league runs until the end of September for prizes from Gander Disc Golf this year, which has currently closed for official registration through Gander, but we still allow new members to drop in ($5 drop in and an optional $5 for the nightly ace pot/CTP) and win things through the club locally.
Adult league is at Lions Park downtown at 7 pm on Wednesdays and WBDGA Youth League is on Thursdays at the same time/place. We just started our first Youth night this week on the 15th and will run until Aug 18th. Kids between 6-18 years old are encouraged to join with a parent/guardian at any time throughout the league. Youth league is free and we are happy to supply discs as well. New youth members will get a free disc for joining, to help get them started.
Our annual Oilsands Open III will take place here this year on August 27/28, one afternoon round on the Saturday with tee times starting at 2 pm and the morning round on the Sunday with tee times starting at 9 am. We have divisions all the way from Juniors of age 12 all the way up to Pros of any age category, so all skill levels are welcome to join. More information and registration can be found through the following link https://www.discgolfscene.com/tournaments/Oilsands_Open_III_2022
Where – Where is the WBDGA location and where can you play disc golf in town?
Our 3 existing courses are:
1. Lions Park (Lions Rotary Disc Golf Course) - Our most popular course due to ease of access and it being free to play, as well as hosting our local league nights. There are thousands of rounds logged here per year and many different layouts available depending on skill level. We use an app called UDisc to locate courses, log rounds and GPS your location around the map to see where tee pads/baskets are. There are only 6 baskets and tee signs on the course, so we encourage new players to find a local to show them the alternate tee pads if they would like more of a challenge. For the adult league, we do 3 laps around the park with 3 different tee pads for each basket and the youth league does 2 laps of shorter holes for a total of 13 holes per night. This course was made possible by donations from both the Lions Club of Fort McMurray Tarsands and the Rotary Club of Fort McMurray Oilsands of which I have been a member for around 7 years. I was the course designer/installer with the help of my Rotarian sponsor and Treasurer, Gary Harris, and working with the RMWB in 2017.
2. Vista Ridge - Our kid-friendly disc golf course, seasonally supports a 9-basket layout with shorter distances for people that are just getting introduced to disc golf or for a fun "pump your tires" round for more experienced players. This course was the first one in Ft Mac through a donation made through my Rotary Club of Fort McMurray Oilsands in 2015.
3. RotaryLinks (Disc) Golf Course - This is the nicest course in town, with a full 18-basket course on the golf course. We get to drive golf carts around for only $20 per round. This course requires WBDGA club membership to address some rules/etiquette/dress code required at this unique course. We would encourage any players to reach out to myself or sign up on our website if they have never played this course and are interested. Once again, I would like to thank the Oilsands Rotary Club for helping me get the initial 9 baskets to establish this course in 2019. Since then our club has worked with Vista Ridge, who donated (back) 3 of their unused baskets last year and then over last winter we ran a WBDGA fundraiser with a bunch of local Alberta-based businesses to fundraise for 6 more baskets which will all be branded with the sponsor logos to show our appreciation.
*COMING SOON* Stonecreek Course (Name TBD/under construction) - This will be an extremely impressive and challenging course, professionally designed by Innova Canada (biggest disc golf manufacturer in North America) designer Darrel Bankes of TinLid and commissioned by the RMWB with 818 Studio landscape designing as well as local construction companies for the build, which is planned to be finished by October 2022.
Why – Why did you start this organization? Why should readers join/play?
I started disc golf in Fort McMurray because I love the sport and wanted to share one of my favourite passions with the city I now call home. I came from Edmonton over 10 years ago, where I originally got hooked on disc golf and wanted to establish a similar club using the learnings from the Edmonton Disc Golf Association and all my friends who have built disc golf in Edmonton to the very impressive level it is at today. I have made so many close friendships over the years in this community and even had to watch some of the old legends that established the sport in Edmonton pass away. Taking the learnings and memories we have created, I am very proud to carry on the torch and spread the love of this sport that has shaped my life into a big part of who I am today. People can tell I am passionate about this sport and I encourage anyone to start falling in love with these colourful plastic circles we chase around the parks.
