‘Because of the fact our course is mostly poplars and some younger trees that aren\u2019t fully mature, the course was basically run over by the ice storm,’ says official<\/p>\n
The Sandy Hollow Open, Barrie\u2019s disc golf tournament, is again par for the course this weekend.<\/p>\n
Taking place Aug. 23-24 at the Ferndale Drive North facility, the tourney is one more survivor of Barrie\u2019s late-March ice storm \u2014\u00a0four days of freezing rain, fallen trees and downed branches on hydro wires\u00a0that paralyzed much of the city.<\/p>\n
So the Professional Disc Golf Association Amateur C-Tier event, a qualifier for the provincials, was in jeopardy even for August.<\/p>\n
Chris Thompson, Sandy Hollow Open tournament director and with the Barrie Disc Golf Club for about eight years, said the storm damage was bad.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the fact our course is mostly poplars and some younger trees that aren\u2019t fully mature, the course was basically run over by the ice storm,\u201d he said. \u201cProbably about 25 to 30 per cent of the trees on the course came down.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the course was completely unplayable. You couldn\u2019t walk down the fairways,” Thompson added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s parks and forestry department did a survey of the property and deemed the course unsafe, like many other city trails, so it was closed to the public for a couple of weeks, Thompson said.<\/p>\n
City foresters and a private contractor were used for the cleanup.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the unsafe trees \u2026 and all the hanging trees that were ongoing to cause an actual, potential safety risk, were removed,\u201d said Thompson. \u201cThe bigger debris was wood-chipped and left in piles that we\u2019ve been spreading and using to make the course look as good as we can, spreading it under the baskets (which were not damaged in the ice storm) and in the fairways.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kevin Rankin,\u00a0the city\u2019s manager of parks and forestry operations, confirmed there was considerable tree damage at the disc-golf course from the ice storm.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took several weeks to complete cleanup across the entire course,\u201d he said. \u201cThe course was closed completely for at least a month, with half of the course open and the wooded half taking until mid-June to clear.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rankin said the\u00a0course was fully opened for the public, with all safety hazards addressed, on June 17. General\u00a0tidying up of the course and additional cleanup of fallen debris and branches took until Aug. 7, he added.<\/p>\n
There are just more than 200 players, aged 12 to 75,\u00a0\u00a0registered for the Sandy Hollow Open.<\/p>\n
Disc golf has been around in Canada since the late 1970s, Thompson said, and it\u2019s grown in popularity during the last decade, more specifically since the pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason it\u2019s so popular is it gets you outdoors, gets you active, but it\u2019s a very inexpensive sport. Most disc golf courses are free to play,\u201d he said, mentioning that a starter set of discs is $20 to $30.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very inexpensive, it\u2019s very family-friendly,\u201d said Thompson. \u201cYou can get fairly good to play casually, fairly quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Disc golf is played much like golf, but instead of a ball and clubs,\u00a0players use a flying disc which is to be thrown into an elevated basket. Players with the fewest throws win each hole, or the game.<\/p>\n
Barrie\u2019s Sandy Hollow disc golf course on Ferndale Drive North is 20 holes spread across approximately 15 acres in the buffer zone between the city\u2019s landfill and the surrounding community. It\u00a0is among the most used courses in Canada<\/p>\n
The Sandy Hollow Open takes place Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 434 Ferndale Dr. N. in Barrie.\u00a0<\/p>\n