INNISFAIL – The motto for disc golf is “grow the sport” and it has big time in Innisfail.
On June 14 the back nine of the Innisfail Kinsmen Disc Golf Park at Centennial Park was officially open for the town’s growing community of disc golfers, or discgolfistas, as they are sometimes known.
The planning for the local park’s new back nine began about two years ago to supplement the front nine that was created in 2021.
But there were issues with the preliminary design that had to be sorted out.
“Some of the disc golf people wanted the holes closer to the water. The town wanted them further away,” said Tim Ainscough, local Kinsmen treasurer and one of the chairpersons for the disc golf project that is close to Napoleon Lake.
“We needed to move away from the environmental reserve, so that we could find a nice balance between disc golf and trail users and other users of that space.
“So, it took some time to get a nice set up.”
And what about potential conflicts with other users of Centennial Park, like recreational walkers, folks taking their pets for a stroll and cyclists?
“Since its (disc golf) inception there has been zero registered complaints,” said Ainscough, adding there has been minimal vandalism.
In the meantime, Innisfail has one of the most scenic and most competitive 18 holes of disc golf players can find anywhere in the province.
Both the front and back nine layouts present treed and rolling terrain challenges to satisfy both skilled and casual players, while the environmental integrity of Napoleon Lake remains intact.
Ainscough said the sizes of the front and back nine are comparable.
“There's some long holes, some shorter holes, and we've worked with some of the disc golf people to get a good fit for some of the ones that want it a little bit more competitive,” said Ainscough. “But we also wanted to make a course that grandma and the grandkids can go and walk and throw some discs around and have fun as well.
“The intent was that we didn’t build it to be a tournament course. We built it to be used by all of the community,” added Ainscough, noting the original front nine course has received excellent reviews from tournament-level players. “It sounds like they are going to be running a tournament later this summer. It’s great that we can hit both aspects.”
The Kinsmen and the Town of Innisfail have been full partners on the disc golf project since 2021.
The town handles course maintenance while the service club has raised $23,000 for the front nine and will do the same for the back nine.
What’s left to do on the back nine is completing tee boxes, the designated area with cement pads where golfers begin each hole.
To help offset costs the Kinsmen has been securing sponsorships at $2,500 a hole.
All holes for the front nine have sponsorships, and two of the back nine holes have been sold.
“We have seven more to sell. We have interest in four or five of them,” said Ainscough.
As for signage, he said all holes on the front nine have it, and the same will be made for each back nine hole, which we will be completed by the fall.
As well, there will be one big sign in the Centennial Park parking lot that will show the entire course and list all sponsors.
And by the end of this disc golf season the Kinsmen’s involvement will end. It will be time for a new community project.
“We turn it over. The town is going to do the mowing and whatnot, and as long as there's no major damage or anything we're pretty well done with this project, and we'll work on our next one.”
Visit the Innisfail Disc Golf page on Facebook for more information on the expanded Innisfail disc golf course.
