Come across these weird-looking baskets in Canberra's parks? Here's what they're for

To the uninitiated, it could look like Adam Stewart is playing a game of frisbee with a weird sort of rubbish bin.

We’re in Weston Park in Yarralumla where, with spins of his body, he’s repeatedly sling-shotting a succession of plastic discs in the direction of a curious-looking basket made up of two metal rings hung with three layers of chains.

“We definitely recognise it’s a niche sport,” he says.

It’s disc golf – the art of getting plastic discs into a special basket with as few throws as possible. It’s like a cross between basketball and golf, and over the years, the ACT Disc Golf Club has lobbied the local government to have four courses installed across the ACT.

The first was Eddison Park in 1997, crowdfunded by Greg Sparksman, a local player who went on to win tournaments across Australia.

There are now also courses at Athllon Park in Tuggeranong, John Knight Memorial Park in Belconnen, and Weston Park.

Earlier this year, the club invested $16,000 to upgrade the 27 baskets scattered over 3.5 kilometres of Weston Park to create a “championship-level course”, and Adam says they’re looking to open new courses in Gungahlin and Queanbeyan in the coming years.

After all, the ACT as a region “is punching well above our weight” on the national disc golf scene.

“More courses mean more people have more opportunity to play,” he says.

“It’s always a bit of a challenge to find land that can work, but we’re actually really fortunate because, per capita in Canberra, we have the largest number of courses of any place in Australia.

“Those in Sydney or Melbourne have to pay to enter their courses, whereas ours are in free, public parks.”

The local club, consisting of several hundred members (varying in seriousness and ages), meets every fortnight at one of the courses and holds three special competitive events a year, including for the ACT Championships in February.

“We have quite a few casual players who turn up at the John Knight course because that’s a good beginner one, and you’ll always find there are lots of people playing it on the weekend, just like you might go the oval and throw a frisbee with the kids.”

Adam, now president of the club, was introduced to the sport by a work colleague after the COVID lockdowns “when everyone was looking for activities to do outside”.

“I just got hooked,” he says.

He signed up for the very next Canberra ‘Aussie Disc Golf Day’ tournament at John Knight Memorial Park and, with only three discs in his backpack, got off to a good start by accidentally sending the first one into the pond while warming up.

“Still, it was a lot of fun.”

The player starts at least 40 metres from the basket, often with trees in the way, and selects the best type of disc for speed or accuracy to get him as close to the basket as possible.

“You have to find a way to navigate through trees, or maybe you can’t even get through initially, so you have to be really strategic about playing and trying to land in certain spots to open up angles,” Adam explains.

The discs vary in weight and feature blunt or sharp edges. He notes the speed they exit your hand “is more important than how you initially start”.

“We’ve got three of the top Australian players in Canberra, and they can throw these things over 150 metres, which is a long way for mere mortals.”

The chains hanging from the basket are designed to catch the disc so it doesn’t simply bounce off the central pole and undo your hard work.

Adam says it’s a great community sport and one that has piqued the interest of local NDIS providers and public schools.

“The schools are mainly of interest to me to get young kids aware.

“I would love to see a Canberra disc golf carnival. I grew up with rugby union and rugby league, and these would have their own inter-school competitions. I would love to see kids given the opportunity to compete in this.”

To learn more, visit the ACT Disc Golf Club.