ADG want to capture all the stories and highlights of the festival that is the Australian Disc Golf Championships (ADGC) being held in November in Molong, NSW.
ADGC Div 1: Fri 22nd -Sun 24th Nov
ADGC Div 2: Fri 29th – Sun 1st Dec
ADGC Doubles: Wed 27th Nov
We are seeking proposals to provide media coverage through video, photography and/or stories. If you are interested in applying please read the PDF and provide a proposal addressing each point. Proposals will be evaluated based on the coverage provided, costs and requirements. Proposals and questions should be submitted to secretary@australiandiscgolf.com by 5pm AEST 30th August.
The biggest event on the Australian disc golf calendar each year, the Australian Disc Golf championships, is heading to Molong, NSW. RPM Discs New Zealand have generously stepped up as title sponsors to elevate what will be the largest disc golf event in Australian history to an even higher standard. Hosted by Central West Disc Golf, TDs Kevin and Sharon will be bring us 2 big weekends of disc golf, with doubles in the middle and on site camping.
Registration opens for all divisions on Sunday 26th May at 8pm AEST.
Division 1 (MPO, FPO, MP40, MA1, FA1, MA40) – Fri 22nd November to Sun 24th November 2024.
This group will compete on a championship-level 18-hole course at the Molong Golf Course and Showground. (PDGA A tier). The FPO and MPO champions will qualify to receive invitations to the PDGA Champions Cup.
Division 2 (MA2, FA2, MA3, FA4, MA50, FA40, FJ15, MJ15) – Fri 29th November to Sun 1st December 2024.
This group will compete on a competition-level 24-hole layout which runs primarily through the wooded tree lines throughout the grounds of the Molong Golf Course. (PDGA B tier).
ADG is seeking a registration coordinator for ADGC 2024. The work involved includes setting up and monitoring online registrations, replying to player enquiries and setting up player groupings during the event.
ADGC Div 1: Fri 22nd – Sun 24th Nov
ADGC Div 2: Fri 29th Nov- Sun 1st Dec
If you are interested in learning more or applying for the position please read the PDF and provide a detailed proposal addressing each point. Proposals will be evaluated based on experience, availability and costs. Proposals and any questions should be submitted to secretary@australiandiscgolf.com by 5pm AEDT Sat 30th March 2024.
I’ve always been a team sports kinda guy. Growing up in Perth in the 1980’s, my sporting endeavours followed the same well-worn path as so many boys before me: AFL football in the winter and cricket in the summer. I tried a season of little athletics once but it wasn’t for me. There’s something about the camaraderie that comes with team sports that I have generally gravitated to.
Once I got to the age where team sport opportunities meant keeping up with those much younger than me and the risk of injury became larger due to the physical nature of these sports, I started to look at other options in the sporting world. At age 40, I discovered disc golf. While it is mostly an individual sport, the amount of support and camaraderie that you receive from your card mates (and opponents) gives the sport the feeling you’re still playing in a team.
I would never have imagined that this “niche” sport would give me the opportunity to represent my country. And in the best scenario possible for me, it led to playing in the Australian Disc Golf Team.
There is something special about being a part of a team that are all working together to achieve a common goal. In local sports, players have their own agendas which don’t always align as a team. As the level of competition increases, stakes grow higher and the people involved share more common beliefs and goals.
Jason Browne and Sharon Costa compete in a doubles match against Thailand
A small team of nine players was assembled from all parts of Australia to compete at the first WFDF Asia-Oceania Teams Disc Golf Championships. Due to the last minute nature of the event organisation, the team was assembled rather quickly, from players with a range of experience and with little opportunity to familiarise ourselves with each other and hone our skills together. This presented a challenge to combine a group of people, some of whom had never met, into a cohesive unit ready to take on higher rated opposition from around the region. A small team of near-strangers in a foreign country coming together for the first time can easily feel disjointed – and for a group hastily assembled for an event, it can be easily forgotten that you are representing your country. Kudos to team captain Aaron Moreton, who took the time to instil a feeling of gravitas to the occasion and inject a sense of pride in the team and the jerseys we were wearing: this helped everyone to realise that we were part of something truly unique and special.
Aaron’s message was simple: the shirt we were wearing gave us the permission to play at the highest level possible. It was not a burden to carry, but instead it was an access key to unlocking each player’s potential.
As the tournament went on, this potential began to be unlocked in many players on the team: matching and beating higher ranked opponents through sound tactics, practised skills and steely determination. Team players realised the potential to take their individual and team play to a new level. Matches that, on paper, looked like an easy win to our opponents, became (at the very least) a tight tussle up until the last two holes, or an unexpected victory to the underdogs.
In the end, the Team came home with a hard fought bronze medal, but we came within two holes of featuring in the playoff for gold. While a little disappointed that we could not quite take that extra step up the podium, I think the near-strangers that met only two days before the start of the tournament can be well proud of their achievements.
Competing at this level with a highly motivated group of team mates is an addictive feeling. Once you experience it, you want to experience it again.
After the tournament was complete and we turned our attention to heading home, questions started being asked about how we could be a part of something like this again… when can we next get to feel that endorphin rush of elite team competition?
If anybody is on the fence about whether you want to try out to be a part of the Australian Disc Golf Team, don’t hesitate. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime that you will not regret and will leave you hungry for more.
We are pleased to announce that expressions of interest are now OPEN for passionate selectors, talented players, and a dedicated team manager for the Australian Disc Golf Team.
The 2024 campaign will see the team compete at the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) World Team Disc Golf Championships (WTDGC) in Perth from 6-9th November 2024. If you’ve got the skills, the love for the game, and the Aussie team spirit, we want YOU on board!
EOIs are due 31st Jan 2024. More information is available here.
ADG are seeking applications for the newly created ADG High Performance Committee. the committee will provide advice to the ADG Board to assist with the selection, administration and performance of the Australian disc golf team. It is going to be a big year for the team with the WFDF World Team Disc Golf Championships being held in Perth so we want to get the process and policies around the team and its selection in place.
To read more about the positions and what is involved please see the Terms of reference.
To apply for a position please complete the application form by Friday 17th Nov.
Questions can be directed to secretary@australiandiscgolf.com
The 2023 Annual General Meeting of Australian Disc Golf (inc) will be held online on
Tuesday 5th Dec, 9pm AEDT.
The AGM is a great opportunity to ask questions of the board, provide feedback and discuss what disc golf in Australia should look like in 2024.
At the meeting we will be electing the ADG board for 2024. If you are interested in nominating for a position on the ADG board, Tournament committee or State Representative Body please complete this form by 5.00pm AEDT Tuesday 7th November. If there is someone you think should apply please let them know you will support their application. We welcome applicants from diverse gender and cultural backgrounds.
Further details including the agenda, documents and description of roles can be found here
To follow up on the release of our recent Strategic Plan for 2023-2028, the ADG board will be holding a ‘Strat Chat’. This will be a Town Hall style meeting, where you get the chance to ask any questions you may have for the ADG directly to the Board.
If you have a question for the ADG in response to the Strategic Plan, you can submit that prior to the meeting here : https://forms.gle/9KUMzuR65cZdoZkK8
(In consideration of time, and in the aim to give you the best answers we possibly can, only questions submitted through this form will be addressed on the night)
Around three years ago, Chris Harris was having a bad day, and decided to take a walk through the park opposite his house in central Adelaide, and he was alarmed to find people digging holes in what he considers to be his ‘front yard’. He asked them what on earth they thought they were doing digging these holes in his front yard, and they told him they were putting in a 9 Hole Disc Golf course. Rather confusedly Chris asked what Disc Golf was, and that’s where his story with the game begins. That park was King Rodney Park, and that course was the Adelaide Parklands course, home of the 2023 SA Open.
A Financial Planner by career, Chris had to make a change for health reasons, and keeps himself busy currently by looking after a friend’s massage business, working with the Rotary Club of Kent Town (where he is a founding member) and keeping fit with regular visits to the gym. CHris fell in love with Disc Golf after stumbling over it that fateful day, and put his hand up to be a part of the SA Disc Golf committee after playing for 12 months, and says he now ‘enjoys the sport even more, helping the sport and the growth of the club’
In his role on the board, Chris has taken on the Community Engagement portfolio, previously held by SA Disc Golf stalwart Gareth Morgan. This role focuses on running community events, clinics, and Come and Try days to encourage support for new courses. These events started out slowly by all accounts, however through word of mouth they have taken off! From corporate groups, schools, groups for those with mobility or mental health challenges, and communities around new courses, Chris takes charge of it all. When a club member challenged his work colleagues to experience Disc Golf, he sent them straight to Chris, and he made it happen! “Next Friday, we have 25 of his workmates coming out for some coaching and a throw and some bonding” Chris said.
For Chris, this goes a little deeper than introducing people to the game, getting new courses in, and promoting some light competitiveness between work colleagues. Chris finds the most satisfying part of his role is the amazing moments that occur with those people who didn’t think they could. ‘At a Come and Try event in Salisbury we had a guy in a wheelchair attend and at the end of the C&T he got out of his wheelchair, steadied himself and threw a disc. He said “that was amazing and he hadn’t done anything like that in years”’ he recalled when asked. Extending further, the people who believe they don’t have coordination for sport slowly catch on and ‘surprise themselves by throwing quite well’! On a personal note, he enjoys the faces of those suffering from some form of challenge, handicap, or physical or mental limitation when they see a disc fly out of their hands. Chris shared that being someone that suffers from anxiety that this is particularly satisfying, knowing first hand the benefits that Disc Golf can provide to those facing mental health challenges.
It’s not all plain sailing however, and while Chris can’t recall any major challenges with the events he runs, he shared that the biggest challenge is a ‘bad left leg’, where he suffers from a blood disorder call Klippel Trenaunay which causes him some pain, once again though, being outside and getting exercise helps him manage the symptoms.
Chris’s education and training as a professional allows him to effectively listen to people, and read their body language to ensure that everyone who comes to play an SA Disc Golf event leaves with a memorable, tailored experience, regardless of ability. He believes that the work he is doing through these events benefits the SA Disc Golf club, and the greater Disc Golf community in many ways, as it ‘not only promotes the sport in a positive light, but also helps anyone suffering anxiety or depression to focus on the “now” moment, be more present, and forget about what hasn’t happened yet” For Chris, this provides him an outlet, and something he really enjoys doing to fill his time while being semi retired, and “quite honesty, I would love to do this type of work as a career or job”
Through Chris’s work and the work of other club members, the club have been able to put in courses (including the recently opened Belair course), and are talking to a local council about another, having recently held a Come n Try day at the proposed site. Chris says SA Disc Golf will continue to push the events side of the club business, with special focus on mental illness support groups such as Beyond Blue, Headspace, and Lift the Lid through Rotary.
Chris is one of countless volunteers across our sport in this country that make it the inclusive, welcoming, competitive, safe space that it is for people from all walks of life. Chris’s journey started when he took a walk because he was having a bad day, and that walk has enriched his life in ways he never could have imagined when he left the front door that day, and the Australian Disc Golf community is much richer through the involvement of Chris, and people like Chris. Thankyou Chris for sharing your story, and thank you for all the work that you do to promote and grow our sport!
For more information on events and how you can get involved, email events@sadiscgolf.com
Got a story like Chris’s or know someone that does? Contact media@australiandiscgolf.com
