CORNER BROOK — The first time Johnston Miller tried out disc golf things didn’t go quite as he’d thought they would.

An ultimate frisbee player, the Corner Brook man and his family had been in Texas when the COVID-19 pandemic started in March 2020 and returned to Canada to live with his in-laws in Ontario.

He thought they’d be there for a few weeks, but a few weeks turned into a few months.

Ultimate frisbee is not a very pandemic-friendly sport and Miller came across disc golf while looking for things to do. He said there are a number of courses in Ontario and the popularity of the sport, based on the rules of golf where players throw a disc at a target, increased during the pandemic.

Miller bought a couple of discs thinking he would go to a course, throw them as hard as he could, and they’d go right where he expected them to go.

“And it went straight to the left and right into a field,” he said.

He spent 15 minutes looking for the disc, threw it again the same thing happened.

“In some ways it was kind of frustrating,” he said with a laugh.

Over the course of the round Miller started to figure things out and became hooked on the sport.

So much so, that he thought it would be a perfect fit for this province and he’s pretty happy that others agree, and Corner Brook will be getting a course this summer.

During a public meeting on April 25 city council approved partnering with Disc Golf NL on the construction of an 18-hole course in the area of Atlantic Soccer Field on Mayfair Avenue. The city had allocated $25,000 for the project in its 2022 budget and has also received a $10,000 grant from the provincial government.

Since returning to the province in August 2020, Miller has played in Stephenville, which has two courses build by the town.

It was at a tournament there that he connected with people from Disc Golf NL.

When he expressed his enthusiasm to see more courses, especially in this area, he was invited to get involved. He was elected as events director for Disc Golf NL this past fall but has been part of the Corner Brook project since last summer.

“And it’s been really exciting the last little while to be seeing the results of that,” said Miller.

“It will be a really special course when it gets put in.”

Miller said disc golf is a sport that can fit in with a lot of environments and he worked with the city on finding the location.

“It’s perfect with trees because trees provide the perfect obstacle. They kind of make it challenging,” he said.

As an outdoor active sport, Miller said disc golf pects the land.

“It integrates with the environment in a really great way,” he said.

And the location offers a lot of great views of the city and the bay and synergizes with the athletic resources already there with the soccer field and a softball field.

With the interest in the sport growing, Miller said the course will bring a lot the area for residents and will be a tourism generator for the city.

Nick House is a founding member and president of Disc Golf NL. He said the organization is structured to become the provincial sports organization for disc golf and is recognized by the world and national governing bodies for the sport.

The group opened its first course on Confederation Hill in St. John’s a year ago on May 16 and Corner Brook will be its second project.

“Right now, we’re focusing on outreach in the form of infrastructure to help grow the activity here in Newfoundland,” he said.

House thinks the sport’s popularity comes from the fact that it is easily accessible, can be played by any age or ability and varying abilities can play together.

“It’s always there and you don’t need to book, you don’t need to pay for it, and it can be used 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.”

The financial barrier to entering the sport is low because basic discs are inexpensive and last a long time.

“Kids don’t grow out of the sport’s equipment like you would a tennis racket or a pair of skates or even a basketball which is too small or a net that’s too short.”

A design/build request for proposals (RFP) will be used to find a builder for the course in Corner Brook.

“We’ll let the experts tell us what the best way is to use that space,” said House.

The goal is to have it ready by July.