'Model' NOTL disc golf course hosts Grimsby Chamber

When a municipality is considering building a disc golf course the best place to see how it’s done right is in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

That’s the opinion of Andrea Michaud, a St. Catharines woman who consulted with the NOTL Rotary Club on the layout and development of the course that winds around the grounds of the NOTL Community Centre. 

With the town of Grimsby in the early stages of considering its own disc golf course, the enthusiastic Michaud invited Rebecca Shelley of the West Niagara municipality’s Chamber of Commerce to the local course for a session with fellow disc golf player Patrick Walker. 

Executive director Shelley met a dozen chamber members at the course Thursday morning. Walker was there to greet them with a free starter kit of discs and ran a short clinic where he taught them the basics of the game. The group was then split into three foursomes for an informal, fun tournament.

“This course is a model set-up,” said Michaud via email. She wasn’t able to attend the event because of work commitments. 

“You have the cafe, the community centre, the library and washrooms on site making it truly a model of disc golf perfection,” Michaud continued.”I am thrilled Rebecca was willing to come to NOTL with all these people. This is a great opportunity to showcase the game, the course and its community-based design. Anything that puts a positive light on the town and the sport is beneficial.“

She also touted the low cost of developing the NOTL course. At around $25,000, she said it is relatively inexpensive compared to installing a tennis or pickleball court.

Michaud, who informally oversees the NOTL course and one at Richard Pierpoint Park in St. Catharines, made all the arrangements with NOTL’s parks and recreation department for the tournament, then turned things over to Walker as Thursday’s ambassador.

“Patrick is one of our members,” Shelley explained. “He’s been playing for a long time. He was chatting one day about disc golf and I asked him what he thought about doing a tournament for the chamber. We thought we would try something different to have our members make some connections in a fun way.”

Shelley invited some key members of Grimsby town staff to NOTL on Thursday to experience how much fun the game is and how easy it could be to fit a course into an existing park. 

“Unfortunately, they couldn’t make it today,” she lamented, “but they promised that they will come next year, so we plan to make this an annual thing.”

Shelley says the Grimsby business community fully supports the idea of the town laying out its own disc golf course. 

“It’s a burgeoning, fun sport that is great for all ages and abilities,” Shelley explained. “From an exclusivity standpoint, it checks all the boxes on our end. Anyone can come out and try it as well.”

The knowledge that the NOTL Rotary Club was behind the development of the course is also a bonus to Shelley. 

“I’d love to get our local Rotary Club involved to see if they can galvanize together for something like this,” she said. “They can maybe draw on some learning from the Rotary Club here. The chamber would support that.” 

Knowing that avid disc golf players such as Michaud and Walker plan their travels around other courses and tournaments, Shelley hopes the town will consider a facility for its potential to draw tourists. 

“I know Grimsby is very focused on how to build a tourism strategy,” Michaud said. “A Grimsby course can become a small piece of that drive. There are many ancillary benefits of holding tournaments. People come from all over to play.”

For now, though, she’s taking it one small step at a time. 

“The goal for today is that everyone comes out and has a good time, and wants to return next year,” said Shelley. 

Judging from the smiles and the laughter on Thursday, it was mission accomplished.