New disc golf course coming to Havasu

A disc golf course is being added to the Lake Havasu Golf Club – a move that is expected to help grow the sport among the community and generate more business to the club.

“We’re excited just to bring something new to the community because we’re part of it and (we want) to invest in it,” said Lake Havasu City local and disc golf player Graham Russell.

Russell and fellow disc golfer Matt Wafford were brought on by Lake Havasu Golf Club owner Craig Adams to help install the disc golf course at the facility. Russell and Wafford are both competitive in the sport. Russell has played disc golf for 12 years and has played in the professional circuit for nine of them. Wafford, who is also from Havasu and made his way to the professional division, has played disc golf for 20 years and has competed since 2015.

Adams said the new disc golf course is a way for the club to increase its revenue, especially during the slower summer months. The disc golf course is also free of charge for kids while the costs for adults will be $13. Adams runs the Juniors of Lake Havasu Golf Course program at the club and disc golf has served one of their activities.

“We want to grow the sport obviously and get those kids involved and learning the game,” Wafford said. “I think a lot of them will be enthused to play it, which helps us and grows our community of disc golf.”

The Golf Club is installing 10 holes on the east side of the club and will set up more holes on the west side later. The plan is to have 18 total holes. The club is expected to host high level tournaments once all 18 holes are installed. Baskets aren’t installed yet and the course is estimated to be open sometime around the middle of July.

Russell said each side of the course is expected to be set in different difficulty levels with the west side offering the more challenging holes and drawing higher level competitors to Havasu.

“There’s a whole disc golf pro tour. They’re actually playing the World Championships in Utah right now at a golf course for one of their two locations,” Russell said. “They travel through this part of the country different times of the year and our intention will be, instead of them going one way, they’re going to travel another way between events and we’ll be able to have events that they play.”

Havasu has hosted disc golf tournaments before with the most recent being the annual Lake Havasu City Open at SARA Park in February. That tournament had 100 participants from around the country and registration was filled within an hour of its opening.

That tournament had a maximum of 100 participants due to the size of the facility. The space at the Golf Club could draw more competitors when it’s ready to host tournaments. The Grand Island Park is another local place that has a disc golf course, but it’s only nine holes and not suited for competition.

“Disc golf has really blown up nationally and locally,” Russell said. “We decided it’s a really good opportunity to give local players another place to go and play and help out the golf course during those slower times. There’s disc golf courses on golf courses all around the country. There’s one in Kingman over at Cerbat Cliffs (Golf Course). There’s several in Vegas.

“There’s tons in Southern California and we thought it was a good opportunity to get our communities together and provide another amenity while also bringing people onto the course. Plus, it’s good for kids to do it.”