Disc golf has arrived in Sarnia.
Patrick McCauley, with Toronto-based Peace Bridge Disc Golf, and volunteers installed signs and baskets Friday and Saturday for a nine-hole course in Centennial Park.
The $25,000 project was approved by city council earlier this year and Peace Bridge worked with the parks and recreation department on the layout for what will be known as the Sarnia Bay Disc Golf Course.
There are a few hundred courses around Ontario where the golf-like game is played with handheld plastic throwing discs and baskets instead of holes but only a handful are in southwestern Ontario, McCauley said.
Until now, the nearest were a private course at a golf course in Forest, as well as courses in Strathroy and St. Thomas.
“We’re kind of one of the last ones to get onboard with it,” said Shelley Kern, superintendent of recreation with the city.
Disc golf has been growing in recent years and is particularly popular in the US, including nearby Michigan where there are a large number of courses, McCauley said.
There is also a Professional Disc Golf Association and tournaments are scheduled to be televised in the coming year, McCauley said.
“We have a pro that’s touring in the US now from Midland (Ontario), Thomas Gilbert,” he said.
McCauley credited Sarnia disc golf players, including Ian Wright, for successfully lobbying the city for a course.
Kern said that after city council approved the idea of a local course in 2020 the department considered several locations that had the right amenities, include parking and washrooms, before Centennial Park was selected.
“We had some very enthusiastic players living in Sarnia but would go out of town to play,” she said. “They offered their expertise and helped us with whole process of what we would be looking for.”
The course fits easily in the park and lines up with the city’s waterfront master plan, Kern said.
“It’s another activity that can be done by families, adults, youth. It’s really inclusive.”
There are plans to hold clinics and events locally, she said. “It’s got a lot of potential.”
The public will be able to use the course at no charge but the city may look at charging a fee to book the course for tournaments or events, Kern said.
The baskets can be removed and the layout was designed to not interfere with other events held in the park’s open field, she said.
McCauley said Peace Bridge gives back to communities it’s involved with by holding clinics and donating equipment to schools.
Sarnia’s is the company’s first course, he said. It also organizes tournaments as well as disc golf outings and team-building events for organizations.
Some local retailers are expected to sell starter kits with specialized disks known as “putters” and “drivers,” McCauley said.
“They’re smaller than a catch Frisbee, but it’s the same kind of shape,” he said.
Locally, players have set up a Facebook group, Sarnia Bay Disc Golfto share information, McCauley said.
“Disc golfers are very tight-knit and community based,” he said.