The dream has been made a reality, and Waitaki now has its own disc golf course.

The nine-hole course has been a community effort, spearheaded by the Ōamaru Rotary Club, with hundreds if not thousands of volunteer hours going into the project.

One of the Rotarians behind the project, Sven Thelning, says the idea of the course had been around for some time, and after he had a discussion with K South director Kerry Robb over a beer, the pair decided to make it happen.

“With help from Matthew Lanyon of Waitaki District Council, the Weston Park site was identified as the best site and planning got underway for a high-quality, nine-hole course,” Sven says.

“The course utilises the back paddock of the reserve which is currently used as a paddock for grazing sheep but has pleasant amenity planting, perfect for disc golf.”

Retired Apex engineer and fellow Rotarian Mark Hay has built the nine baskets to official standards in his spare time. 

“As these things often are, it was possibly more work than anticipated but all targets are now complete and ready to install,” Sven says.

It has very much been a community project, and the majority of the work has happened during the quieter winter months, with a view to being operational by the summer. 

The course, which has been designed with professional input from an expert in Auckland, will be officially opened on Sunday (15 September) by Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher.

The layout for Weston's new 9-hole disc golf course. Photo: supplied

“K South organised a team of builders and Rotarians to install the boxing and subsurface of the tee pads early last month ready for Whitestone Contracting to lay asphalt in time for the grand opening,” Sven says.

“Assistance building tee boxes was given by Waitaki Boys' High School teacher Josh Ratcliffe who has a team of boys currently travelling to Waimate to play.”

Disc golf is a sport in which players throw a disc (similar to a frisbee) at a target basket. It is played using rules similar to golf. The sport is usually played on a course with 9 or 18 holes.

Funding for the course came primarily from Rotary's district grants, Sport Waitaki and K South, with the remainder coming from other business and individual donors who each funded a target.

Before this, there were 14 disc golf courses in Otago, but the closest to Ōamaru were in Waimate, where there is an 18-hole and a 9-hole course.

The course is now registered on the U Disc app where there is a map of the course and scores can be recorded once it is open. Designing and building the course to official standards meant it could be used for competitions.

Martyns Cycles stock a large range of discs and information on how to play, Sven says.

Official rules are on the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) website.

A close up of one of the baskets made by Mark Hay. Photo: supplied