| Disc Golf down under! |
Disc golf is proving to be a universally loved game, and Australia is feeling the excitement and enjoyment of the sport begin to sweep the country. Summer has hit the land down under, and with it has come the 100+ degree days that disc golfers live for. Australia is just slightly smaller than the 48 US. contiguous states, and has a population of just under 22 million people. Most of that population, along with it's disc golf courses, are centered along the coastal areas of the lower half of the country. The northern half of the country is more tropical, whereas the lower half is more temperate. Australia is considered the worlds smallest continent but the sixth largest country. |
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Australia currently has a total of fourteen"official" disc golf courses, and of those only six are considered eight-teen hole courses. Don't let the small number of courses fool you. Even though, at this time, disc golf is considered a "minor" sport in Australia, it certainly has positioned itself to be a force in the future. Disc golf in Australia is governed by two seperate disc golf organizations: the same PDGA we follow here in the states, and well as the Australian Flying Disc Association (AFDA). The AFDA was originally founded in 1976 in Victoria and was known as the Austrailan Frisbee Association. It was financially backed by a company called TolToys, which at the time had the rights to the name "Frisee" in Australia. It was created to help promote Frisbee games throughout the country. In 1987 the AFA became known as the AFD, and today oversees the daily operations of the sport much like the PDGA. It also does a great job of promoting disc sports to local communities and schools, following programs very similar to the Edge Program here in the states. |
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One of the biggest disadvantages disc golf in Australia faces is the lack of big named disc sponsorships to help promote the sport. Unlike here in the states, they dont have the tournament backing of companies like Innova, Gateway and Discraft. This makes it harder and more expensive for players and tournament directors to draw big crowds as well as having big-named tournaments annually that has been the backbone of growth here. Because of the lack of disc sponsorships and the distance players have to travel to get to disc golf courses,( it can cost players up to $1000 to get to, pay for accomidations, and play), tournaments in Australia are not as numerous yet as they are here in the US. That hasn't stopped the Aussies from establishing their own Pro Tour, the Australian Disc Golf Tour. Made up of seven majors, this tour is very similar to our own National Tour. Each of the seven tournaments is played on different courses around the country to help highlight the sport nationally. The tour is just in it's infancy, having started in 2007, but has shown amazing growth each year and has helped highlight the sport. |
| The Australian Tour runs year long and visits places such as Tasmania, Canberra, Sidney, Perth, Queensland and Victoria. The Australian Championships are the the final tournament in the tour and moves from state to state each year. All of the top Pro's can be found playing the tour and Championships, like the 2009 ADG Tour Champion David Bandy, the 2009 Championship winner Tim Marchbank, Martin Ryland-Adair (991 rated player), Luke Williams, and Leigh Bird and many more. The 2009 Australian Championships were held at two courses, the Drysdale Reserve course and the Eastern Park course, both in Geelong, Victoria. The Drysdale Reserve course is a combination of extremely tight, technical holes mixed in with a few longer holes that cater to all styles of play. The Eastern Park course is one of the newest courses, is set near the water, and is a beautifully undulating course with long challenging holes to test even the biggest arms in the game. |
| The original disc golf course in Australia is the Poimena Reserve course in Austin Ferry, Tasmania. Originally designed and installed in 1986 as a nine hole course, in 2006 it was upgraded to an eighteen hole course and now sits on twenty+ acres of grassy hillsides with lots of elevation changes and plenty of old established trees as hazards. This is still considered one of the most popular courses in the country, and helped set the standard for courses to come. As the popularity of the sport continues to grow, and more and more courses go into the ground every year, disc golf players from Australia will become well known around the world! |
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