Thunder Bay Boulevard Lake disc golf course to expand

Disc golfers in Thunder Bay, Ont. may soon have more space to play at a popular north side course.

The Birch Point Disc Golf Course on the eastern side of Boulevard Lake is slated to be reconfigured and expanded this summer. Under the plan, the course will still be 18 holes, but the fairways will be lengthened and spread out.

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The point is to give each hole more space so if a player misfires "you're not on the middle of another fairway," said Andrew Bopp, a member of the Birch Point Disc Golf Association.

The course was built in 2010. Since then, Bopp said, disc golf has become very popular in the city, meaning crowded fairways on busy days.

"Sometimes you get there, you might have to start on the back nine, because the front nine is too full, but on average I'd say there's probably every other hole is being played by at least three or four people at a time."

Safety for players, and people using the trail network at Boulevard Lake, was the main reason for pursuing an expansion and reconfiguration, said Bopp, adding that lengthening the course could also have other benefits.

"Our course, as it is set up right now, is a very short, technical course," he continued. "By expanding it, we're actually getting up into there with the bigger courses, which attract bigger players."

Hosting provincial or national tournaments could be an option in the future, he said.

Fairways will no longer cross rec trails

The group has been working with Thunder Bay's parks department on the reconfiguration. Park planning supervisor Werner Schwar said he's comfortable with how the course is slated to be redesigned.

"Right now we have some holes that actually cross the [Boulevard Lake recreation] trail," he said. "Those are going to be removed and reconfigured so that they don't cross the trail anymore."

Schwar said that some little-used park greenspace to the north and southeast of the existing course would be used to accommodate the bigger course.

A walkabout organized by the city Wednesday evening was designed to show the public how the course would look under the plan, and to answer questions. He added that a couple residents who live near Boulevard Lake have voiced concerns about the course being closer to their homes, and that some trail users want to be assured that the reconfiguration will make the area safer.

Schwar said work is expected to start in August.