MeepMeep co-founder Eve Olynyk tosses a disc during a round of disc golf. (Courtesy of MeepMeep)

The MeepMeep team at the UVic KWENCH workspace. (Courtesy of MeepMeep)

MeepMeep’s disc golf tracker that’s easily removable and uses sound to alert players of where their disc is. (Jake Romphf/ News Staff)

Experiencing the common disdain of fellow disc golfers, Simon Park had just tossed his bright-orange disc and saw exactly where it landed, but after a frustrating and unsuccessful search in the grass later, it was a goner.

As Eve Olynyk took Park through his first round on Vancouver Island, the lost saucer could’ve served as a symbol of their entrepreneurial plight. The pair are co-founders of the Victoria start-up MeepMeep, which has received plenty of interest in its stick-on disc golf tracker.

Olynyk grew up playing with her family on Salt Spring Island and loved how approachable and low-cost the activity is. But like Park’s experience, she had her share of mid-round rage quits over her discs vanishing in the grass. Assuming some sort of tracker existed but not finding any, she pitched the idea to the University of Victoria’s innovation centre. That’s where she was introduced to Park, another Vikes alum and a mechanical engineer. Two-and-a-half years later, they’re a long way from duct-taping a prototype to the discs and have seen their product take flight with players across North America.

MeepMeep’s locators stick to the frisbees with an adhesive ring that allows users to easily remove and transfer them onto another disc in their arsenal. When the disc disappears after settling in the grass or takes a wayward bounce off a tree, players open their Camosun College-developed MeepMeep app and, with a press of a button, their tracker starts chirping to give off its location.

“It’s pretty wild how hidden (discs) can be sometimes,” Olynyk said, noting the long grass, bushes and trees players have to snake their way around en route to the target. “The disc golfers immediately get it, I don’t want to spend any more time looking for my disc, I want to have fun, I want to actually improve my game.”

The design was driven by the feedback of golfers to ensure it was player-friendly. The co-founders heard anything they made would have to be lightweight, not affect flight and be durable enough to withstand the trees that make up many disc golf courses. Hundreds of design concepts led to their current product, which…