Courses

The Moose Jaw Disc Golf Association (MJDGA) is an organization still in its infancy, but it’s being helped along by a global surge in popularity for the sport — Moose Javians looking for a group to play with now have both casual and competitive options.

“We started this group about two months ago now, we had our first meeting back in March, and it’s basically about eight of us who are regular players on the disc golf course down in Wakamow Valley, here,” explained Tripp Sevs, co-founder and enthusiastic player.

“It was Zach Renwick and myself that initially got together a few months ago over coffee, and we talked about getting other players that he plays with regularly and people I know and regularly with, getting them together as the MJDGA.”

Moose Jaw received its first 9-hole disc golf course in 2019 in Wakamow Valley, expanded to 16 holes shortly after. A group of enthusiasts calling themselves the ‘Moose Jaw Huckers’, in which Sevs is also involved, have been playing ever since.

The Huckers are so devoted to the sport that they play straight through winter, regardless of weather or temperature.

Renwick is the local expert who initiated and designed the Wakamow Valley course, and the consultant behind what will soon be Moose Jaw’s second disc golf course — 18 holes in the Sunningdale Nature Park, sponsored by the Sunningdale VLA Community Association.

“We’re hoping to make the city a top disc golf destination in the province,” Sevs said. “There are at least three ways to do this. One is to organize tournaments and leagues, another is to promote the building of new courses, along with making improvements to existing courses. And lastly, encouraging and helping anyone who wants to get into the sport, including kids and the elderly, because it’s a great low-impact form of exercise.”

The MJDGA has two player’s leagues this summer: Casual meet-ups on Mondays at 6:30 p.m., starting May 29 and running until August 28, and the Bag Tag League, a more competitive group meeting on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m., starting May 30 and running until sometime in September. The competitive league has weekly challenges and prizes, and a $40 registration fee.

The bag tag…

• Population growth over the past 10 years: 9%

• Median home sale price: $410,000

• School district demographics: 18% Black, 55% Hispanic, 11% White, 11% Asian

• T.E.A. school grade: B (88 out of 100)

Carrollton’s biggest growth spurt was in the 1980s, during which the population more than doubled and much of the city’s infrastructure was developed. Things have slowed down a bit in the last few decades, but the city is still rapidly improving itself, adding parks among its rolling hills and building on its reputation as one of Dallas’ most diverse and inclusive suburbs. According to a 2021 U.S. Census estimate, 28 percent of residents here are foreign born, a higher percentage than in Dallas, Richardson, Frisco, Addison, Farmers Branch, and Lewisville, and just a fraction shy of Plano.

The Worship Tour

If you want to understand Carrollton’s diversity and its appeal to residents from around the world, look to its houses of worship. On a single block of Old Denton Road, you’ll pass one of North Texas’ largest mosques, a Vietnamese Christian church, and a Syrian Orthodox church. Around the corner is St. Mary’s Orthodox Church of India. (Yes, India has an Orthodox community that traces its roots back to Christianity’s first century.) Just south of downtown is the Sri Guruvayurappan Hindu Temple.

The city’s new crown jewel, though, is St. Sarkis Armenian Orthodox Church, on the border with Plano. Consecrated in April 2022, the church and adjoining community center were designed by architect David Hotson and project architect Stepan Terzyan, a member of the congregation. The result is a warmly minimalist mixture of Armenian architectural tradition and geometric calm. On the exterior, 1.5 million centimeter wide icons form a dazzling tapestry. Like snowflakes, the icons are unique, as each represents a victim of the 1915-1917 Armenian genocide and provides a silent protest to the persecution that continues in the Caucasus today.

Downtown Revival

Move over pickleball. Disc golf is the latest sport emerging in popularity.

Disc golf is similar to golf, hence the name. But instead of clubs and balls, disc golf players utilize flying discs on the fairway. During a round of disc golf, the objective is to get the disc in the baskets at the end of each hole in the least amount of strokes, considered a throw.

The sport is growing. There are more than 254,700 registered Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) members across the world.

Here’s everything you need to know about disc golf, from the scoring system and rules, to what terms like albatross even mean.

What is disc golf?

Disc golf is similar to golf. But instead of clubs and balls, disc golf utilizes flying discs. During a round of disc golf, the objective is to get the disc in the baskets each round in the least amount of strokes, considered a throw.

Different variations of disc golf date back to the early 1900s, but the modern game was formalized in the 1970s by Ed “Steady” Headrick, who trademarked the Frisbee in 1966 and the Disc Golf Pole Hole in 1975.

What does a disc golf course look like?

Disc golf is normally played on a course featuring nine or 18 holes. Instead of holes in the ground, disc golf targets are wire baskets connected to hanging chains that catch discs. Course obstacles include trees, bushes, terrain changes, water hazards and out-of-bounds zone, which results in a penalty throw.

The first official disc golf course was installed by Headrick at Oak Grove Park in Pasadena, California, in 1975.

There are more than 9,000 disc golf courses in the United States, according to the PDGA.

Disc golf rules

A player starts each hole at a tee box and must toss the disc without crossing over the tee line. Players then pick up their disc where it lands on the fairway and throw again until they reach the target. Each throw counts as a stroke and the total throws for all holes represent the player’s score for the round. The player with the fewest strokes on the previous hole tees off first on the next hole, with the player whose disc is the farthest from the hole going first after all players have teed off.

How is disc golf scored?

The scoring system is also similar to golf. Each hole has a predetermined average score: par. One stoke under par is a birdie, two strokes under par is an eagle.

Three strokes under par is an albatross.

If a player hits the basket from the tee in one shot, that’s called…

The lure of some crisp singles and a spot on the national team brought trail runners from as far as Colorado, Oregon, Texas and Alaska. The half-marathon was part of the elite Golden Trail Championship Series of North America, where trail runners compete in six races across the continent vying for the top positions which also earn prize money and a ticket to Italy for the finale.

The race begins and ends in the heart of Beacon at the University Settlement Camp, an abandoned summer camp for children, which has been preserved by Scenic Hudson (and partially turned into a local disc golf course). It is put on by Ithaca-based Red Newt Racing and sponsored by Salomon, an outdoor apparel brand, as well as USATF which monitors the National Trail Running Team selection and competition process.

Hard work and determination have been the keys to success for Kolby Wasserbeck. And the Elgin High School senior encourages his younger classmates to make sure that those traits are part of their toolkit for life.

“A lot of people look at school and think you have to be smart to do well in school, but you don’t,” Wasserbeck explained. “I wouldn’t consider myself of above-average intelligence, but I work hard. And that’s really what school is, just work hard and get your stuff done and you will do well. People who do well in school aren’t necessarily the smartest ones, they just work hard.”

Wasserbeck has been a member of the marching band and the cross country and track and field teams. He plays trombone in the band. He has participated in band for six years.