Trade your clubs for discs in this growing Kelowna sport

• Local club doubled during pandemic
• Hoping to make more courses

Like the discs that players throw, there’s a sport spinning to new heights in Kelowna.

Next to Knox Mountain is Kelowna’s own disc golf course with several more scattered across the Okanagan.

Disc golf is very similar to the traditional namesake.

There’s 18 holes, and drivers and putters are used. But instead of a ball and club, the sport is played with discs that resemble frisbees, which are thrown into metal nets called pole holes.

“The sport’s been going for a long time. Modern disc golf started in the late 70s,” Paul McManus, President of the Kelowna Disc Golf Association, told Kelowna10.

“It saw a steady progression up until about the early 2000s, where it started to see quite a bit of growth. And then in probably about the last 10 years there’s been the biggest explosion of disc golf everywhere.”

McManus explained how during the COVID-19 pandemic, their numbers doubled.

Several factors may have contributed to that surge. Disc golf is easily played socially distanced, during a time when many other forms of recreation were inhibited by public health measures.

Plus, it’s an affordable activity. Most courses are on public property and don’t require admission costs. The equipment is inexpensive as an initial investment and many clubs offer free introductory discs to borrow. The Kelowna Disc Golf Association offers this perk.

Disc golf is an accessible game that’s not physically demanding. McManus explained how even individuals with limited mobility enjoy participating in the sport.

“Anybody who enjoys a nice walk outdoors [would enjoy disc golf],” Justin Zimmer said.

“It’s quite beautiful here by the lake, most courses are quite beautiful. And it makes a hike in the woods a lot more fun because you’re chasing after something.”

He’s thrown discs for eight years and has competed in everything from local tournaments to world championships. He started out playing in Rossland, a small town in the Kootenays, through trial and error.

“Once you started getting some shots going the right direction where you want them to, that started the addiction,” Zimmer said, who now plays for five times a week.

While the game can be played solo and for free, McManus said there are benefits to joining the club, like the social aspect, participating in local events and tournaments, and helping to grow the sport locally.

“The memberships help us just by going to the city, being able to show them the user numbers and show that disc golf is a worthy sport in the community,” McManus said.

“Hopefully, by being able to show them some of those numbers, we will be able to find more land in Kelowna to build more courses.”