By Chad Klassen

Disc golf, naturalist clubs feel differently on McArthur Island decision

Jan 30, 2019 | 4:21 PM

KAMLOOPS — After city council voted 5-3 in favour of making the old McArthur Island Golf Course into mixed-use space between the Kamloops Disc Golf Club and the Kamloops Naturalist Club, the decision is getting mixed reaction.

While the naturalist club says the course will get in the way of sightseeing in the park, the disc golf club says getting another 18-hole championship course is essential to growing the sport.

“We’re pretty excited,” said President of the Kamloops Disc Golf Club Ben Laidlaw. “It’s been a long process for all sides involved. We’re just happy that we get to see what we feel is the best thing for Kamloops.”

The newly-approved plan will see an 18-hole disc golf course built at the site, which adds a second course to the city with Rose Hill the only current place for the club to play. 

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The disc golf club, which has 50 paid members and hundreds of recreational players, has secured the 2020 Canadian National Women’s Disc Golf Championship, which it hopes to hold at the new course at McArthur Island and Rose Hill.  

“We’re looking to put on more tournaments like that with an 18-hole design,” noted Laidlaw. “It also lets us develop our base a bit and grow the sport with beginners and run more clinics with school groups.”

The green space will be shared with the Kamloops Naturalist Club, which was hoping to have the old golf course all to themselves. 

“We’re feeling disappointed, I think just because there was such overwhelming support from the survey for the direction the naturalist club wanted to go, and it seems like the parks staff went in a different direction altogether than the response from the survey,” said Jesse Ritcey from the Kamloops Naturalist Club. “So I think [the decision] feeds into some of the cynicism.” 

Sensing the city was leaning towards going ahead with the disc golf course, the naturalist club tried to put forward a last-minute compromise, proposing a nine-hole course. But that plan was not accepted by council. 

“We felt if we could reduce the footprint of disc golf to more nine hole that it might just get rid of the possibility of some of the overlap and the conflicts and allow a bit better co-existence,” said Ritcey. 

The club has now conceded it is a secondary user and will wait and see what its role is moving forward. 

In the short term, the city will host a public budget meeting next Thursday when staff hope the plans are included in the supplemental budget, asking for $200,000 in the first year. 

The $200,000 is for the first phase of the revitalization, which includes the clean-up of the old golf course in order to make the area safe again, as well as the design and installation of the disc golf course, which is expected to be open by summer at the latest.