A man who has played disc golf in B.C. since childhood was in Kamsack recently, and played several rounds at the Kamsack Disc golf course.
John Silvester began playing disc golf competitively in 1992. He was raised in Tsawwassen, the town where the very first disc golf course in Canada was opened in Winskill Park in 1976.
After two years of recreational play, Silvester began playing professionally, in the amateur to professional category for the next eight years, travelling to tournaments in both Canada and the US, including Las Vegas and Seattle.
“There are team formats for match play and I played the team format locally, but played solo competitively,” he said. “The prize money is in solo play and sponsorship.”
Crediting the Internet, Silvester said the players now all have ratings. His biggest win was in the amateur category, although he placed in the top five finishes in the professional category.
He has made two appearances in national playoffs, once at the Canadian National Disk Golf Championship at Lilly Lake outside of Edmonton and at Kamloops, B.C.
Silvester owns a set of 18 discs but brought a scaled down version to Kamsack. “I brought a set of drivers, mid-range and putters to use on this course,” he said. “I have confidence in how these discs will fly. As a 21-year veteran player I am quite aware of how each disc will perform on a course. For those starting out in the game, you’ll find you have to throw each disc multiple times before you learn how it will fly.
“Kamsack’s course is listed as par threes and fours and I bettered my score each successive round I played. This course allows competitors to move in a nice flow. The course can potentially accommodate a large number of players with no congestion. The driveway up the middle allows for players to finish a hole, walk a few steps, and move on to the next hole.”
Playing with Silvester was Barry Petruk of Togo. The men are cousins, and both found the Kamsack course to be, “Very impressive.”
