Have you ever played disc golf for 9 days straight with people you love surrounded by breathtaking landscapes? Well if you were on the latest Flickline adventure you can answer that question with a resounding YES, yes I have.
Over the years we here at team Flickline have tried some things. We have hosted 5 national championships, built 43 permanent courses, and TD'ed north of 100 PDGA events but in a lot of ways this week represented our most ambitious ask yet. We took on the task of running 3 PDGA events in 9 days, with two of them taking place in Canada’s most remote province. It was a trip that required tact, planning, and a bit of a leap of faith. During the Covid years we had been working on two very special courses, the Corner Brook DGC and the Whaleback DiscGolfPark. Each of these were herculean tasks in their own right and both courses had not really got the exposure to the outside world that we believed they deserved.
However we are getting ahead of ourselves so let’s start at the beginning. First came the idea and like all good ideas this one was stolen. Team Flickline number 2, Duncan Dixon, aka the man behind the screen, has always regaled us with stories from his early days and the Florida Triple Crown competing against the legendary Kenny Climo in his prime. The idea of traveling somewhere for 10 days to play 3 events had always struck a chord. We knew we wanted to do it at some point, the question was when and where?
That idea simmered for a long time and as our player base grew it seemed more and more likely it would happen. Once we partnered with Chain Reaction and knew we had a disc vendor that was willing to travel with us we felt all the pieces were in place. Obviously PEI was a contender for such a feat, since the courses are world class and travel on the island is fairly easy, but years of hosting national championships on Canada's smallest province made us think that maybe this idea could be saved for a different venue. For those of you who have been following along in our journey you will know that we stumbled on a great event at CBU that felt like disc golf adult camp. Since Sydney is the launch point for the Newfoundland ferry it seemed like this might be our perfect starting point for the Flickline version of the triple crown. Extend the disc golf summer camp from 2 days all the way to 9 and see what happens. That idea turned out to be a good one.
CBU is one of the ‘universal courses’, 17 of the 18 holes have shared tee pads, each hole is birdie-able, almost all are ace-able. Every single person has the feeling that they could succeed on every hole. More often then not they don’t. Beyond that the course is located at the back of Cape Breton University, it offers student housing, (although this year not enough to put up everyone who wanted to stay there), food on site, bathrooms, and a bar / restaurant that can host our Saturday night players party. We play a Connect-Forenament sponsored by Tiny Changes Disc Golf and we generally encourage everyone to spend some time together in a really relaxed, festive atmosphere. This year we got even closer to what we envisioned. We had 83 people make the trip for CBU and a lot of those were first timers. We are happy to report that Darrell Chipp won his second consecutive Connect-Forenament over our youngest participant, Ben Murphy. We fed everyone, played some games, had some laughs, and were all back in bed by 10pm. That my friends is what a successful night looks like when you are in your 40’s.
As for the event itself there are a few things we would like to note. First off you can find all the results here. A three way tie for second in MPO, a 1 stroke victory over two players in MP40, and a playoff in MA2 were just some of the high drama that occurred. Several players shot career bests at this event and one of our longtime favorite people in the whole world got her first ever ace. Triple Crown stop number 1 was awesome. We also had a first time TD jump into the role of starter to help cover day 1 as Ben was not able to get there until late in the day Saturday. Chris Fudge stepped up big time to make team Flickline even more robust. Some of you may know Fudge from all his help last year at the Discmania Open. He did an amazing job at both events and he really gives us all hope that the future of event management is bright. (On a side note it also turns out he is a fantastic guitar player. It really makes us think there is a disc golf band in our group future...)
On Sunday after the official round finished a dozen or so players decided they weren’t quite done disc golfing yet, and since they had at least 6 hours to kill before the ferry grabbed a bite to eat and headed to New Waterford to play a new course. With the original members of team Flickline present we decided to make it fun and introduce some rules for a bit of light gambling and side betting that would set the standard for the next 7 days. Random draw doubles time! The rules were simple, every person put in $4 and we flipped for teams, $2 went to a rolling ace pot, and $2 went to the winning team. Over the course of the week you could not play with the same person twice, and if there were 5 or more teams the team that won second place got their $2 back. From there, the shenanigans began. The New Waterford course features 18 baskets that sprawl out over a good 40 acres. It is a mix of trees, parks, and ponds, and any player with a keen eye can see how great of a tournament course this could be. The original 9 were a co-design between Flickline and JC Penny, the amazing recreation director in Sydney. The 9 expanded holes are all JC and his team. The course is fun, challenging, long, and technical, we would have nothing but great things to say about it if the upkeep was done fully, but sadly for us only about half of the course had the grass mowed and the key brambles trimmed. This is not JC or the clubs fault and we will spend a bit of time at the end of this article talking about the entire concept of course maintenance. Still, our group had a great time. We left the park tired and happy and made our way to the ferry terminal where we would hang out and talk disc golf until our 2am ferry ride.
When we landed on the Rock on Monday morning we were greeted with fog and light rain. Typical Newfoundland. There was a general split in the traveling parties and the destinations they picked. Some chose to go straight to Corner Brook and others made a stop at Whaleback. The Whaleback crew once again played random doubles from the long tees and were rewarded with a beautiful day of birdies, toads, and laughs. The overall impression was that this course may have been Flickline's best design, and since we were all playing doubles nobody thought that hole 18 was as hard as it was made out to be…. By the end of the day everyone had landed in Corner Brook and got their first taste of the town.
For those of you who have never been to Corner Brook let us paint you a picture of Newfoundlands second biggest town. Corner Brook is strikingly beautiful. It is home to around 32,000 people and located at the mouth of the Humber River. The entire town is situated on a steep hillside that makes a bowl on three sides. It is built around a pulp mill, and although there are times where that mill seems to distract from the natural beauty of the place it is important to remember that without that mill there would probably be no town. If you live in Corner Brook you are only minutes away from a slew of outdoor adventures from what seems like endless mountain biking trails, hiking trails, world class fishing spots, and Marble mountain ski resort just to name a few things. Although Corner Brook lacks a true ‘downtown feel’ it more than makes up for it with hidden gems that you can discover by asking a few locals or striking out on your own adventures. We have been to Corner Brook almost a dozen times in the last 2 years and we feel we are only scratching the surface on what the town offers. We have proposed our biggest project ever with them and even offered to take up residence there for 6 months of the year if the town ever wanted to go forward with our proposal.
By Monday night people had settled into their places of dwelling and were blissfully happy with day 1 in Newfoundland. On day two the adventure continued and we gathered a group of over 20 players for a random doubles event at the Corner Brook course. For a lot of people this was their first look at quite possibly the most spectacular piece of property any disc golf course in Canada, or maybe even North America that you could hope to get access to. The Corner Brook course is located on 500 acres of mountainous hillsides and it cuts through an abandoned rock quarry. There is a top of the world shot which we have converted into a par 4 or 5 depending on your division. If you were following along at home you would have noticed that many of the distances are under 250 feet, with several being around 185. Don’t let the distances fool you. This course is full of shapes, shots, and sloped greens for baskets. There are must-have birdies, and hang-on pars. We will not be fielding questions or complaints about the 1 to 3 trees you are certain we should remove because this course is full of math, and the math checks out. It’s tough but fair, and each and every hole has been birdied with enough frequency to know that it is skill over luck. In our opinion the most fun part of this course is how many wild places you can end up if you don’t hit your line. Pure the shot and you will have a tap in, progress down the fairway and you will at least have a circle two putt. Miss by a significant margin and well… you could end up anywhere.
The mix of forest, rock, and hills makes this space amazing. This course also features one of the most beautiful holes you will ever play in disc golf. Pictures can’t quite do it justice, and you should really see it to (feel it and) believe it.
Event results can be found here. Desta shooting under par for the event was awesome to see in FA1, the overall course record was set by a seemingly homeless person, and Cyril shooting a career best score in round 1 were just some of the highlights. The course, weather, and city of Corner Brook all exceeded expectations and you would be hard pressed to find anyone that left the city without an overwhelming sense of gratitude and love for the place. More than one person said, " I could easily live here, and they really meant it".
On Tuesday night, between doubles rounds and directly after our long drive competition (winners were Nicole Murphy FA, Scott Guthrie 50+, Dave Jenniex 40+, and Liam Achibald, Open), we hosted a free clinic for new disc golfers in Corner Brook. It came about because of the amazing efforts of the Corner Brook Disc Golf Club and one of their most active members, Sean Dwyer, who is the physical education teacher at the high school. Almost 30 new players came out to take part in the lesson plan. They ranged in age from 16 - 70. It was almost a perfect split between men and women. They asked great questions and made huge progress in their throwing techniques. They made us all feel like Corner Brook is poised to grow and it was amazing to see. By far the biggest highlight came during the discussion portion of the lesson plan. Ben was introducing himself and said, ‘My name is Benjamin Smith, and I am the designer and builder of the Corner Brook Disc Golf Course.” and without missing a beat of women of at least 60 years old chimed in and said “Did you not have access to chainsaw when you were building it?”. You have never seen a crowd of disc golfers more pleased in your life when she said that….
On Friday morning we made our way to the best disc golf town in Canada; Stephenville. Home of 3 courses and only 6000 people, Stephenville is the right blend of space and services. (Dannys bakery alone makes it legendary) Whaleback itself is worth the trip. We played doubles at the Jet, walked some of the amazing beaches, found cool rocks, and in general got ourselves mentally ready for the final event. Whaleback is a battle. Like all amazing courses it requires your full attention. If you miss your shot on any hole you can end up being punished. If you make a mental error you will certainly be punished. The course is extremely fair. Kings Pine the first, and Whaleback are easily the two most fair courses we have ever created. Some of the holes (#1 both tees, 4 and 17 from the shorts) may be parred a little too generously but that is done for the sole purpose of making you feel a bit better about yourself when you get to hole 18. Again, if you were following along with the scores you would notice that hole 18 plays over par. How far over? There were only 10 pars on it total out of the 49 people playing 3 rounds. There was one birdie (Kyle Reid). The hole averaged 1.7 strokes over. Still it is fair. It requires 3 great shots and a good putt to make par but as we have said before one small mistake and you will be scrambling. It is a perfect finishing hole. From the Blue tees the concentration factor is even more pronounced. Holes 3, 12, 17, and especially 18 all require placement shots off the tee and power shots on your second. It is a course that needs to be seen and practiced to understand the lines. Not every line is abundantly clear on first look but the lines are there. Having Kyle birdie 18 dispelled a lot of the talk in Newfoundland that it was impossible (Thanks Kyle). If you want to be a competitive disc golfer and you live on the west coast of Newfoundland playing both tees at Whaleback is your measuring stick. The course shows you what you need to learn and how to execute. You simply cannot play under par from the long tees with bad form. It will get you eventually.
It’s not just the course that needs to be celebrated here. The Whaleback ski club took a huge leap of faith in allowing us to modify their land and cohabitate it with them. The forest around the ski trails is pristine. By our best estimation a storm rolled through there at least 80 years ago and blew over tons of softwood trees. Those trees fell to the ground and became nurse logs for yellow (or red depending on who you ask) birch trees. These trees grew huge, in some cases a full two feet in diameter. Since the trees are so big and healthy their canopies grew in together to shade the forest floor and then form a dense layer of moss and ferns. The ground here is so soft and the sounds are so dense that it feels like you are walking in some kind of tropical paradise. We are sure this is not what most people expect when they think of Newfoundland, but yet that is what you get at Whaleback. Although it is a cross country ski trail there is enough elevation to make it interesting. Several baskets are perched on steep hillsides, and many of the holes feature elevation changes that force you to adjust accordingly. On top of all of that their club house is a dream facility, with a kitchen, bathrooms, a fireplace, wifi, and lots of tables and chairs to hold large gatherings. The club president is forward thinking and welcoming of the disc golf weirdos that come with our traveling road show and every single person felt a debt of gratitude to all those people who welcomed us into their space. Event results can be found here. Hometown hero Darrell Chipp crushed his division (and all others who played the forward tees, Kyle and Chris B were the only players to finish under par from the long tees, and we had another playoff, this time in MA1. So many great things happened on this trip that it feels like everyone who took part in it came home a better person. Whatever debts we owed to the people in Cape Breton or Newfoundland for believing in Flickline, we hope we have repaid them over the last 9 days.
In the end we wanted to say a thank you to each and every person who took time out of their lives to be a part of this. It was better than we could have dreamed. Most people that stayed with us through he 9 days of disc golf played over 230 holes, had 9 official PDGA rounds, 5 random draw doubles, and more belly laughs than they could count. On the walk between hole 6 and 7 at Corner Brook one player turned to another and said, "I wish I could bottle this feeling" and that is something all of us who were there truly understood.
A couple of random notes / thoughts about the future of disc golf and Flickline. We all know that the pandemic grew the game of disc golf but we rarely think of all the ways it did it. Players and participation boomed but with that boom came higher expectations and responsibilities. Every new course that gets built is an exciting event that is full of promise and opportunity but there is also a ton of work that needs to go into it to make each course thrive and live up to its potential. All three of the courses we used for the triple crown required a lot of upkeep, especially in the weeks leading up to the events. Some courses came down to the wire when it came to cleaning and it may be time that we as disc golfers have a frank conversation about what the future of clubs and maintenance looks like. Not that long ago we here at Flickline would have donated 1-3 days of our time and labour just to make sure each of these courses was well marked, mowed, and adjusted for an event. We no longer have that kind of time and, if we are being completely honest, we aren’t really sure it is in our best interest to do all of that for free. Although we have created a model where our events run at cost neutral (and we pay some staff a nominal fee) it is still a ton of work to get the course looking like it should for each event. Burnout is creeping in. Originally we ran events to showcase our courses, and to fill the void because no one else was willing to do it. Next year Ben will no longer be running events. Flickline is willing to pay people to do it as long as they meet the standards we feel we have set but if not that phase of our business will have to go to the wayside. A few months ago there was a meeting between a handful of talented designers in North America where we discussed how much each course allots for annual general maintenance and every single designer admitted that they do not include that in their proposals. This has to change if the game is going to evolve. CDT in Riverview is the most successful volunteer run course we have ever seen but it is an anomaly, not the norm. People work full time, things cost a lot more than they used to, life can be hard. It is not in our best interest to expect that all courses will have an endless supply of volunteers to learn on. Club nights are awesome and they can achieve singular tasks and have some fun while doing it, but regular week in and week out maintenance needs to be budgeted for and executed by competent workers who are compensated for their time. It is the pathway to success. We know that people love their courses and they are trying thier best so we are not blaming anyone. Flickline fails sometimes to keep up with just the courses in our backyard (literally and figuratively).
The things that Flickline does well are building complex courses, running fair and interesting events, and creating partnerships with outside companies. We can no longer do all three of these things well if we are doing them at the same time for free. We do one community project a year (that is a course we donate all our design, labor or both for) and we will continue to do that forever, because sometimes it can change a community for generations and we feel honored to be in a position to help. We would love to partner with clubs and entities that see our value and wish to compensate us fairly. That is the future of Flickline. There are 3 events on the Flickline calendar left; The Iron Leaf, Discmania Open, and the Tour Championship. We are going to savour each and every moment of these events. Each one of them is special in a way that words alone can’t describe. The Chowder Cup will then conclude our season and if we are lucky enough to have all four Atlantic Canadian Provinces represented we will have achieved almost every goal we set for ourselves way back in 2015. There are too many people to thank individually, but if you have ever hired, promoted, shared, liked, played with, or played in a Flickline event or course let us once again say, thank you.
This is not the end of the end, just the end of the beginning. Life is always made better when we are playing disc golf. Our mission won't change. We aim to bring high quality disc golf to places that wish to have it. We look forward to wherever that might take us.
Until next time, shoot a little and have a lot of fun.
