OXBOW — A few sports seem to be gaining in popularity these days. Pickleball is one, disc golf is another.
Disc golf is somewhat similar to golf. Rather than hitting a ball with a club, disc golfers throw a frisbee-like disc. Each hole has a starting spot, a teeing area and a finishing spot, a basket that the golfers need to throw their disc into. Each hole has a par – the number of shots that it ought to take to find the basket. The score is the total number of throws that it takes to go from start to finish.
In disc golf, the holes are not as long as they are in golf, resulting in less walking. A game can be completed in a couple of hours, rather than the four that many golf courses require.
Just as there are many clubs in a golfer’s golf bag, so there are many types of discs. Discs are designed to have varying speeds, glides, turns and fades. There are thousands of combinations. Some golfers have hundreds of discs in their arsenal.
However, one doesn’t need that many to enjoy the game or to compete. A basic starting kit of three (which costs in the area of $50) will do the job nicely.
One other thing that makes disc golf so attractive; most courses are free to play.
Lane Nicholls is the recreation manager for Oxbow. One of his values in that role is to provide opportunities for people to be active and enjoyably get exercise. A few years back, he was visiting his wife’s family in Ontario. His brother-in-law, Dwayne Dowdell, is an enthusiastic disc golfer, as is his nephew. While there, Nicholls got the ‘disc golf’ bug.
Upon his return to Oxbow, Nicholls presented a plan to the Rec Board regarding the use of land to make a course. It would be another way for people to be active, plus it would bring ‘tourists’ into town to play, which would help local businesses. The Board gave him the green light to move forward with his plan.
He invited his brother-in-law to Oxbow and the two of them designed a nine-hole course to be built on the north side of Bow Valley Park. It was completed in 2023.
The first full year of disc golfing at the course was 2024. Fifteen golfers began playing it immediately and by the end of the golf season, 20 were regularly using it. Nicholls was happy with the first-year response, but it was just a sign of things to come.
Now, in 2025, 75 ‘disc-ers’ are using the course. And, with the help of the assistant recreation manager, Blair Spencer, Nicholls has added another nine holes. It is now a full-fledged 18-hole course.
Several sponsors have helped out with the cost of the course. Leeway Mechanical, JF Customs, Taylor Electric, Absolute Locating and Sandugo’s Bistro have each provided funding for the baskets, and their company names sit atop the baskets to prove it. Nicholls is looking for additional sponsors for the remaining 13 baskets. Your company can have its name placed on a basket for five years with a donation of $500.
Jeri-Ann Brownbridge, the media coordinator for Disc Golf Saskatchewan Community Outreach, was on hand for the Great Discape tournament on June 29th. In her opinion, Oxbow’s course is one of the top five in all of Saskatchewan, which is pretty impressive considering that there are currently 106 of them in our province. Oxbow’s course is the southernmost, McClean Lake holds the distinction of being the northernmost.
The tournament was a success, despite the very windy conditions. Twenty-five golfers vied for the various prizes. Scott Tessier won the Experienced Division; Caine Emms topped the Beginner Division and Brandi Morrisette went home as the best in the Female Division.
However, everyone was a winner. The number one rule of disc golfing is ‘Thou shalt have fun!’ That was certainly the case on this windy afternoon.
Currently, there are more than 16,000 disc golf courses around the world. Surprisingly, you can even play a round if you happen to be in Antarctica. But there’s no need to go that far, yet. The one in Oxbow is a great place to start.
Pick up a set of discs, and give them a whirl.
