YORKTON - Disc golf continues to grow internationally as witnessed by the sports return to the World Games for first time since a trial run in 2001, and by there being some 13,000 disc golf courses worldwide – well over 50 in Saskatchewan now.
And internationally there are now literally dozens of manufacturers creating and marketing discs for the growing player base.
That said such companies remain something of a rarity here in Canada, so it was with interest I came upon Ire Gear.
Ire Gear is a family-owned outdoor gear company out of beautiful British Columbia Canada.
The company was founded in 2021.
Michael Thomas explained in a recent Yorkton This Week interview the initial focus for the company – its first product line being tied to one of he and his partner’s major passions -- disc golf.
“We have been playing avidly for years and we love how social, cool, fun, challenging it is and we also love being outside and getting the exercise,” notes the company website iregear.com
Thomas said the company actually launched as something of a personal response to the pandemic.
“It was because of COVID,” he said, adding disc golf was something he and his wife could do rather than just “hunkering down.”
Disc golf was something people could do without “coming in contact with anybody. . . Because of COVID disc golf just kind of went nuts.”
Then the company idea percolated.
“We just felt like we were so into it (disc golf),” said Thomas, adding they had “ideas of what we liked” in terms of discs, so why not create some.
The result to-date is three discs, a PDGA approved putter, and two discs not approved, a mid range and a driver.
Thomas said the discs are largely geared toward new players.
“I wanted something a beginner could throw,” he said.
So how did Ire do?
Some friends and I tossed the trio of discs around to see what we thought.
Since the putter is PDGA approved we’ll start there. Branded as a putt and approach it tossed quite straight for yours truly, a lefty bud, and for a younger player with a much ‘bigger arm’. Straight is generally the only thing you want from a putter, so the Ire disc will do that, although it enters the most crowded field of discs so it has it’s work cut out to find bag space.
The middie and driver of course are not PDGA tourney legal, but most rounds are casual play so not a huge issue, especially for the beginner target player.
Both the discs are ‘domey’ meaning in my lingo the top protrudes up just a bit giving it a dome-like profile. That is generally not a good thing for the way I throw, or at least that was past experience.
The driver has a seven speed rating, a sort of fairway driver number that is lower than even my 65-year-old arm tosses, and with the dome-effect I expected little here. To my surprise this one was a solid flyer, under speed for the bigger arm unless needing an approach driver on longer fairways than most in Saskatchewan, but for more mortal armed players a solid disc that again hits the beginner well.
Ditto for the middie. It flies true, so be aware if you are trying to shape a shot this might not be the best choice, but again solid.
And, the good news from a Canadian perspective is that sales have been solid, especially in Canada, noted Thomas.
That encouragement has Ire working on new discs, with some 20 prototypes arriving some four months ago, for further tossing and refinement.
So expect a new Ire mid-range and driver, down the road, likely geared as the next step up from beginner offerings.
“You want people to progress in your line,” said Thomas.
Ire Discs are available through Amazon.ca
