Confederation College opens new disc golf course

Disc golfers in Thunder Bay, Ont., have a new place to play.

Confederation College on Tuesday officially opened its new nine-hole, par-three course, an event 2years in the making.

"I spent two summers as a student and realized there wasn't really much to do on campus outside during the summer months," said Robin Gathercole, president of the college's student union, and former director of athletics and recreation.

"I run a lot around BoulevardLake and saw a lot of student-age people play onthe course there," he said. "I'm like, 'Hey, you know what, we got lots of space. Why not do it here?'"

Gathercole said he also wanted to build something that would allow users to learn while they're out on the course.

"After a few conversations with [Shuniah Mayor]Wendy Landry, we came up with the idea of doing an Indigenous learning experience along the way ... which is what inspired the Seven Grandfather Teachings," Gathercole said.

The course itself was designed with help from the Ontario Disc Golf Association, and Thunder Bay Indigenous artist Kayla Esquegacreated the artwork that adorns the course; each hole features a sign painted by Esquega that's inspired by the Seven Grandfather Teachings.

"The Seven Grandfather Teachings, they're attached to these very iconic animals," she said. "I have a lot of inspiration from woodland artists like Norval Morrisseau, so I really wantedto sort of bring that attention to the animals, as they're super important to the the teachings."