Keremeos is getting a new nine-hole disc golf course, and it will be open to all, including people who have limited mobility.
Making sure the activity was fully accessible was one of the key things that designer Dion Eden wanted to incorporate into the new Pine Park course.
“I was in the park and I saw the Rick Hansen Access to Play plaque there some years ago, ” said Eden. “I wanted to keep that in place so the course is still accessible to everybody.”
The new course is being funded through some of the COVID-19 funds the Village of Keremeos had remaining in their budget, which has gone towards the concrete and the holes for the course.
The final step is the installation of the baskets into the concrete holders, and that’s expected to be finished early Saturday afternoon, according to Eden.
“We plan to have it installed Saturday and be playing after we finish,” said Eden.Penticton Disc Golf Club is asking for volunteers to come out on Saturday to finish the course. Everyone will meet at 10 a.m.
The Village also assisted with the support of public works staff who helped with preparing the park for the concrete bases for the disc baskets.
Eden helped with the design for the Marina Way disc golf course in Penticton, where he is a member of the local disc golf club, and worked on a course recently in Princeton as well.
He has been disc golfing since 1997, and designed a number of courses and he hopes that it gets both youth and adults in the community out to try the sport.
“We’re just trying to build the sport, and really the main thing for Keremeos is that we have something there for kids to use for P.E. and everybody, even people who are in a wheelchair,” said Eden. “It will be something for everybody.”
The course is a midrange one across the nine holes. Some holes will go up to 300 feet, and some will be challenging in a technical sense, but it will still be a course that anyone can learn to play.
The idea for the course came after a half-hour walk through the scenic park in November, and after some revising and conversations with Bob McAtamney and the village, six months later it’s almost ready to go.
Not just the community of Keremeos, but the disc golf community are looking forward to playing the course in the beautiful Pine Park.
“It’s not just open field. The ninth hole, the tee box is situated on the berm and in the backdrop behind you your view is K Mountain,” said Eden.
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