To kick off our ‘local legend’ series of player profiles we feature a player who left this world too early; but who’s love for the sport, spirit and generosity left lasting memories with those who knew him. 

Iain Smith was a friend to many in Tassie disc golf but also across Australia. He started playing in 2014; developing his game on the steep hills of the world-renowned Poimena Reserve. Within a year of playing seriously he won the MA1 division in the Australian Championships on his home course. He followed this up with a further four-from-four MA1 wins over 2016 and 2017 including twice in the Two Heads Open.   

He was known as a naturally talented player who practiced hard and quickly mastered the technical side of the game.  His form was smooth, and he specialised in controlling mid-ranges and fairway drivers on shots where many others would use faster discs. He also worked hard to develop an excellent putting stroke, somewhat reminiscent of his hero Paul McBeth. 

Of the man himself, one of his disc golf mates said:   

Iain was a really lovely guy who was easy to get along with. He made everyone around him feel welcome and comfortable. On the course he was certainly focused on his game, but he was also really encouraging of those around him and maintained a positive mindset. 

Steven Wright

Iain’s legacy and allegiance to disc golf is celebrated each year in a memorial event in his name held at Poimena. 

Many thanks and credit for input, quotes and images to: Ollie Mundy-Castle, Damien Williams, Steven Wright, Chris Wright, Richard Sampson, Kingsley Flett

We should all be able to answer this question – what does Disc Golf have to give? Check out our ‘why disc golf’ document if you need a few ideas because ‘disc golf’s great! It’s awesome! Everyone should play it!’ is not enough.

One way our sport can give is by developing its people. In future, given enough time and resources, we’ll have structured pathways (like coaching programs) that people can follow to acquire skills. Skills that don’t just increase their impact in Disc Golf, but that are transferrable to other aspects of their lives and careers.

The gradual building process has begun with the TD mentoring program. A way for experienced TD’s to guide new candidates into developing the confidence and skills they need to run an event. Also a way for us to formally recognize those skills so they’ll look good on anyone’s resume.

As far as developing Connor Donnelly as a person goes, there wasn’t much work required. He arrived as an impressive young man. You can see an interview of him here. After being mentored by ADG Vice President Ken Summers during the The Mundilorian at Mundaring Disc Golf Club in May, Connor, at 18, became the youngest person to graduate from our mentoring process. Connor will be directing his maiden event, solo, later this year where we believe he’ll become the youngest TD in Australia. Connor also serves on the Mundaring Disc Golf Club executive as a secretary.

Congratulations to Connor, Ken and the Mundaring Disc Golf Club for recognizing that not all the talent that needs nurturing in our sport involves throwing frisbees.

Life gave the world lemons last year, but the unbreakable Aussie Disc Golf community used them to make lemonade. We turned nation-wide shutdowns, travel bans and the forced cancellation of our national championships into an unprecedented event that brought our whole community together and introduced hundreds of new people to our game.

This year it’s on again. Why two weeks before the nationals? In a perfect world, it will give everyone across the country a chance for a local competitive hit-out before the big dance later in November. The small, local events, all connected into one scoring system will kick of a big Aussie Disc Golf Month. In an imperfect world? Well lets not talk about that just yet, but the Aussie Disc Golf day served us well in that way-less-than-perfect 2020. The format will be the same as last year. A one day event with 2 rounds of the same course in the day. Bragging rights winners will be the highest average rated rounds across all divisions.

Recent times seems to have made disc collectors of us all and this year we have a one-of-a-kind, once-off, Aussie made Fourth Circle Discs disc produced expressly for the day that your club or event TD can order. Stay tuned for details on how to register and where to hit up your local club for a location near you.

Event fees will be minimal. If your event is cancelled due to a change in Covid-19 restrictions in your area, you will be issued a partial refund but you get to keep your disc.

Want to organize an Aussie Disc Golf Day event in your area? Send an email to competitions@australiandiscgolf.com with the venue and name of your event and we’ll get you started.

Keep up to date with all the latest Aussie Disc Golf Day shenanigans on our Instagram or on the Australian Disc Golf Facebook page. And feel free to join in using #aussiediscgolfday tags on your social media of choice.