There are more rolled ankles than hole-in-ones at Ashburton’s increasingly popular disc golf course.
District councillor Phill Hooper is an avid disc golfer, and has raised concerns about the state of the course at the EA Networks Centre, which he believes is the best in Canterbury.
“Something we come across almost every round is rolled ankles,” Hooper said.
“There are a lot of nasty holes in the course.
“It’s a great family sport, but I’ve actually gone over on mine  [ankle] and fallen, and most rounds we have rolled ankles.”
Hooper plays the Ashburton course regularly, as well as others around Canterbury, and believes the Ashburton course is superior, but the fairways need flattening out.
He said he knows a large number of disc golfers travel to use the Ashburton course, and would hate for it to get a bad rap.
The council has had no reports of injury, but council group manager of people and facilities, Sarah Mosley, said in response to Hooper’s concerns staff are looking into the state of the course.
“Staff will assess the terrain of the course in the coming weeks and if there are any obvious areas of risk, they will try to find a remedy, noting that user care will always be required as the varied terrain within the course will never meet the standard of a traditional golf course,” Mosley said.
Staff will remedy any obvious areas of risk and roll parts when ground conditions suit, Mosley said.
Disc golf is growing in popularity since the 18-hole course opened in 2021, Mosley said, but as anyone can play the course free of charge “it is impossible to monitor or record exact numbers”.
“The EA Networks Centre has tracked 1255 hires and healthy retail sales of the discs, while 369 people who use UDisc, the disc golf app, have recorded their 3256 plays and the course maintains a 4.5 out of 5-star review rating.
“The utilisation of this existing reserve has increased dramatically since the installation of the disc golf course.”

• By Jonathan Leask