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When Corey McKennelley joined the Van City United Disc Golf Club in 2018, it had only 50 or so members. Today, the club has over 200.
McKennelley says the rise in popularity is crowding Vancouver’s disc golf courses.
“There’s not much room to move around there. That creates all kinds of challenges.”
On Monday, the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation will vote on its disc golf plan.
The plan proposes expanding Queen Elizabeth Park’s course from nine to 18 holes, reducing Quilchena from 12 to 10 holes, and creating clearer separation between disc golf and other park uses.
The disc golf plan’s public engagement shows that 44 per cent of respondents get to Vancouver’s courses by bicycle. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)
The Park Board conducted public engagement to inform the plan in September 2025. There were 377 respondents, with roughly 87 per cent being disc golf players.
The report found that 68 per cent of respondents experienced conflict at the Quilchena or Queen Elizabeth Park disc golf courses.
McKennelley said conflicts often include people cutting through courses, dogs grabbing discs and, in rare cases, people being struck.
“Top level players are throwing those 60 to 75 miles an hour,” said McKennelley. “Average Joes like myself are probably more like 40 to 50. But you don’t want anyone getting hit with that.”
So far this year, there have been roughly 194,000 rounds of disc golf played in B.C., and a total of 337,000 in 2025, according to top disc golf tracking app, UDisc.
Vancouver opened the Little Mountain course in Queen Elizabeth Park in 1983 and the Quilchena Park course in 2002.
“Almost no work has been put into these courses since then,” said Marti Doucet, president of Van City United Disc Golf Club.
Laura Christensen brought the motion to the board in 2024 and hopes the plan is approved.
Vancouver Park Board commissioner Laura Christensen heard from friends that disc golf was gaining in popularity before putting forward the 2024 motion. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Among the plan’s priorities are adding clear signage to courses and creating clearer separation between walkways and courses.
“Signage needs to be improved. There needs to be more education and then also some changes to the courses so there’s less conflict happening,” Christensen said.
The City of North Vancouver recently redesigned Eastview Park after concerns from residents around the use of its disc golf course.
Tony Valente, a North Vancouver city councillor, said residents were concerned about discs ending up in their backyards and family members being struck while using the park.
The city reconfigured the course so throws no longer cross walking paths.
“That use has been retained, and I think we did find that balance in terms of safety versus how it’s laid out.”
McKennelley said Eastview Park is an example of what happens when the popularity of the sport is rising faster than the spaces built for it can keep up.
“Make it easy to get to the park, make it easy to play the game, make it easy to just be outside and have a good time,” he said.