Meet your Aussie TDs
Last week I outlined the details for the 2022 Australian Disc Golf Championships where the Gatekeeper Media team will be covering the event. This week I want to share with you the story of the two blokes in charge of this event, Adam Lowe and Patrick Ferris. They were able to take time out of their busy schedule to answer some questions for the readers. All signs point to this event being the biggest to date for Australia, and Adam and Patrick have been a big part of this process. Adam says, “We have for sure contributed to the growth of the sport here on the Sunshine Coast and Queensland, and we think the Aussie Champs at Tunnel Ridge Ranch is going to raise the bare for events here.”
Let’s get to the roots of the Sunshine Coast Disc Golf Club. It was fate really; Adam and Patrick played on a card together at a tournament back in 2016, and that’s when they came up with the idea of starting a club. “For a while, it was just a couple of guys and a few portable baskets down at the park, but as time went on the club grew to become an incorporated organization”, Adam recalls. “We received grant money and established monthly leagues on a pop-up course to introduce and grow the sport.”
From these humble beginnings their passion grew, and they held their first sanctioned event, The Sunshine Coast Disc Golf Open, in 2018. The event was held at the Tunnel Ridge Ranch, and Patrick says, “it was a way to get exposure for the sport and working towards getting our first public disc golf course in this region.” Their efforts to host this event each year, even through the pandemic has helped them expand to four events each year, and now including the Championships. “Overall, the SCDGC has hosted 4 sanctioned events for 242 players with Aussies champs hosting 192 players - the biggest event to be held in Australia”, Adam says. “We strive to raise the bar at all our events and to inspire, motivate and support others wanting to host events and grow the sport.” It’s clear these two have the right passion and motivation, and their hard work is paying dividends. Adam says, “With over 5 years of consultation and working with local council, the club was successful in grant applications from government organizations to purchase all the course equipment and installation costs for the first public disc golf course in the sunshine coast region at Meridan downs park, little mountain. the 9-hole course was installed in May 2021 with tee pads added in October 2022.” An amazing accomplishment, and you can bet there will be more courses being installed in the coming years.
Like so many of us, Patrick and Adam do all this pro bono. All their leagues and fundraising efforts are done in whatever spare time they can find. Patrick is a father of three children, ages 4 and twins just under 2 years old, and Adam has his own 2-year-old with another on the way early next year. Full time jobs and full-time fatherhood AND full-time disc golf pioneers? I wonder if they even sleep way down there. So how do they stay motivated? Adam says, “It is because we want to put on a top-notch event and do something special for the sport and inspire others to do the same. It’s like they say: One candle to light a million candles.”
No doubt these efforts will be seen coming to fruition this year, and if you have a chance to get out there and support this event, be sure to give Adam and Patrick a big hug for me, they certainly deserve it.
