It’s silly season in our neck of the woods right now. This is the time of year where there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done. Where you want to simultaneously sit and enjoy the lingering sunlight of a lazy afternoon while still knocking down the endless chores on your to-do list. It comes as a surprise every year how busy a person can be. So I have decided to take a few moments before my morning coffee to acknowledge some of what we have done so far, and look forward to the next big adventure.
Since we last chatted (you and I) Flickline has been busy. Luc and his team of Demons hit one out of the park with the Dieppe Open. A whopping 116 players took part in what is quickly becoming a can’t miss event. Together our extended team has an ambitious 3 year plan in place for the Dieppe / Moncton / Riverview area. The foundation has been laid and each year we hope to build something amazing for the future. The Dieppe course is maturing into a real beast and nothing makes us happier than seeing the seedlings we planted years ago bearing fruit.
During that same weekend we opened up a brand new course in Cambridge Narrows. We had completed 90% of the work last fall but a rough winter of wind caused some major deadfall that we took care of. Open day was a perfect mix of locals / travelers / and families. We counted 27 brand new players that ranged in age from 7 to 72. Some of these new players went for 3 full rounds that day which is the best metric for success we know of. A full week after that event we were still getting texts and calls from a few locals asking how to properly throw a forehand, or what the line is on certain holes. That means they got the bug! What more can you ask for when opening a course?
A few days later we did the ‘soft opening’ for the NRHS school course. As we have probably mentioned before this has been a dream build for us. There is a full buy-in from the school and the staff (including the custodians!) and we always feel the love when we get to spend time there. Multiple staff members have bought discs and are playing with their families on a regular basis. For the soft opening disc golf was included as a part of the schools ‘activities day’. We had 21 students take a lesson and play the course, 20 of those students got hooked. A few of them even asked us to stay late so they could get more lessons and learn the game. Before we left they were already googling Chain Reaction Disc Golf and signed up for Udisc. Let the games begin!! School projects hold a special place in our heart because we fully understand that kids are the future. Growing the sport in a sustainable way where we teach the teachers and encourage the kids offers us our best chance for sustainable growth. At the time of writing this we are 1 day away from the official opening of the course where we anticipate a healthy player base will show up and become stewards of this place. There is already a proposed Monday night league ready to start up there.
A few days ago we also made huge strides in an area of Atlantic Canada that is poised to grow. The southwest corner of Nova Scotia is home to one of eastern Canada’s best players but no permanent disc golf courses. All that is about to change. We had 2 full days of mulching on Dylan Goudey’s private course that will change the shape of both the area and this young man's future. This also may have been the first time where the client wanted crazier lines than we did but what can we say, the kids got a vision and we are just doing our best to help bring it into reality. A proper course opening is being planned for the last weekend in August. We will be sure to keep you all posted.
On June 8th we also had the great fortune to have another one of the courses we co-designed officially open. Liens DiGo Links is a project we are very proud to be a part of. It is a course that showcases how disc golf and land conservation can work together through responsible design and land management. It is a passion project from our good friend Chris Lirette and another testament to what you can get done when you really believe in something. The course is fun to play and a wonderful addition to our area. This is the type of course that was made with love and will always be improving the little details that make it so great. It is a wonderful addition to the local fabric and has already brought the community together.
Now those are the things that are behind but we also have some great things ahead. Registration is now open for some really incredible things including the Ravenwood Flex start which you can register for now. If you want to play the PDGA 36 hole layout with $300 added cash register here. If you want to play the Udisc 27 hole layout register here. There are some great prizes and extra cash for this mid week event that is part of the town bbq festival. If you are close you should certainly be there!
The ‘Double Island, Triple Crown’ events are live. You can find registration for CBU here, Corner Brook here, and Stephenville here. We are planning something special for each one of these events so if you can make it, do it, you won’t regret it.
Our signature event of the season is now open too, that’s right, the Discmania Open Registration is now live. Our team is working together behind the scenes to make this another full experience disc golf event. We will be smaller than the years that preceded us but we are going to use that to our advantage. Consider this to be a boutique event, where our team drives for quality over quantity. The folks at Kings Pine and working non-stop at making their course the best version of itself that it can be. New pin placements, tee locations, and enhanced lines will make this course challenging and fun to tackle. We have Parked Pro coming to film the action and we hope this can be a story of resilience and reward. PEI has cemented its place as a disc golf paradise and this year we are doing our best to live up to that title. We will have more goodies to tell you about this event in the coming weeks so stay tuned.
But in a few short hours of writing this we will be on our way to St John’s Newfoundland to build the city's first full 18 hole course. It will be an 18 hole, double tee pad epic adventure that will finally give their more than healthy player base a place to thrive. Like every great project we aim to make this a masterpiece. It will require our full skill set in project management, hands on building, and all of the X factors that go into big designs. As you already know, we love Newfoundland, and to be able to contribute a piece of infrastructure to the city that can change peoples lives is a dream come true. We will do our best to be a little more active sharing some photos and giving updates.
As always, thanks for being along for the ride.
