Nearly 150 players of all ages from around Canada hit the Eastview and Victoria Park disc golf courses this weekend to compete in the Diameter Open.
It’s the first time a Professional Disc Golf Association event has happened in Guelph, and the most prestigious Guelph has ever hosted, an indication of the sport’s growing popularity.
“It’s a very inclusive sport. You can play at any age,” said Ryan Bevilacqua, the assistant tournament director. “Anybody can play. It’s a great, accessible sport.”
It’s also becoming more on par with other professional sports.
“Pro tour disc golfers make over a million dollars a year now in sponsorship, let alone their earnings from what they win too,” he said.
Most players were from Ontario, though there was one from the U.S. Many Guelph players, both pro and amateur, were among the ranks as well.
One such player was Ryan McFarlane, an amateur player from Guelph who has been playing disc golf for the last four years.
He’s been in 18 tournaments so far, and said this one was especially challenging.
“That can be kind of demoralizing, but it’s still been fun. The challenge is good,” he said.
McFarlane started playing the sport after some coaxing from a friend.
“I thought he was crazy,” he said, since he’d never heard of disc golf.
“But I went out, threw my first disc, and never looked back since.”
He bought his starter kit right after, and has been playing as much as he can ever since.
McFarlane, like Bevilacqua, said the sport is growing in popularity because it’s so accessible.
“A lot of courses in the area are free to play, so you just have to own discs and you can go out and play whenever you want. You don’t have to book a time, you don’t get charged for tee times or anything.”
He said the pandemic is responsible for some of that growing interest, since it was something people could do outside within their own isolation bubbles.
“A lot of people got hooked. It’s something that you just do the first time and it really draws people in,” he said.
