Dear Editor:
Re: North Vancouver disc golf conflict lands in city council chamber
I live in East Vancouver and I dog sit for a lady that lives near Eastview Park. The random times that I’ve gone in there by myself with her dog, or with her and her dog, there have been incidents with the disc golfers.
I’ve seen a disc zing past her head less than five feet away at full speed. In my opinion, the issue is that there seems to be an entitlement by the disc golfers that everyone else needs to be out of the way for the sport now.
She has now resorted to wearing a very bright jacket in the hopes that she is seen from the long distance that these discs generally get thrown from.
I find it odd that it was a choice to mix flying projectiles with a park that is central to a large neighbourhood, including a school, where the kids run around in the woods.
I am not at all against the game, as I’ve played it myself, but other courses I’ve been at seem to not have the neighbourhood traffic that Eastview has - which was there well before the discs were flying.
Carl Desbiens
North Vancouver
Dear Editor:
I don’t know this specific course, but as a professional course designer, it sounds very much like this course was “designed” by players where safety was an afterthought.
The sport may be more noticeable now to other park users because of the popularity growth during the pandemic, which just shines a bigger light on the incompatibility in some multi-use areas.
While a course can certainly share spaces with hikers and dog walkers, it needs to be done properly — not throwing at, along, or alongside paths; maintaining proper foliage buffers, and lots of signage aimed at both groups, etc. Ideally, courses exist in their own space, but if they do have to coexist, they need to be designed for the space. Big courses don’t belong in small parks.
Kevin Farley
Huntsville, Ont.
Dear Editor:
I have played disc golf for over 30 years and have had zero conflicts with the public at Eastview and other courses all over British Columbia. It is a family sport for all ages, and is part of a healthy lifestyle.
I find it hard to read that dog owners are the ones protesting against the disc golfers when they are the true issue. Go to any playing field (grass, artificial turf, or gravel where dogs are never allowed) anywhere in North Vancouver and at some point in the day (or night) you will see a dog owner and their dog. Guaranteed. The entitlement of dog owners spreads so far and wide that owners truly believe that their life choice (their dog), is allowed to be anywhere and has to be accepted by all others. No Dogs Allowed signs don’t matter; dog owners believe they can do what they want.
Leave one small (and muddy, I might add) park for the disc golfers and take your dog to any of the hundreds of other locations you can choose from if you find Eastview Park to be too scary.
Matt Henderson
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