Disc Golf Kaua‘i ‘Ohana

By Tommy Noyes

For more than seven years, Ryan Moen (left) and Larry LaSota, seen here at Lydgate Beach Park’s basket #1, have been bringing people together to enjoy free disc golf in our county parks. With volunteers’ kokua, they will soon be installing even better facilities. Photo by Tommy Noyes

On Kaua‘i, disc golf is picking up momentum as a low-cost, family activity.

Lydgate Beach Park’s coastal course earned co-founder of INNOVA Champion Discs Harold Duvall’s admiration, as he wrote to his life-long friend Larry LaSota, “I did enjoy a round at Lydgate. The method you used to install the course was quite ingenious!!! Thanks for being a real supporter of disc golf and allowing me to enjoy one of the most beautiful courses that I have played in 35 years of disc golf.”

The Disc Golf Kaua‘i ‘Ohana (DGKO) is sanctioned by the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) and coordinates events on public courses at Lydgate and the Weliweli Disc Golf Park (2535 Kipuka Street, Koloa). With a mission of growing the sport, players on these courses typically welcome questions from anyone who is curious about the game.

“We’re all about collaborations,” said Ryan Moen.

LaSota, Moen, and all of the ‘Ohana members continue to donate countless hours advancing the sport.

“Some of the nation’s foremost disc golf professionals were attracted to Kaua‘i to help us with designing and building the courses,”  LaSota said. “And the County of Kaua‘i Department of Parks and Recreation has been a real partner in allocating space for disc golf at Lydgate and Weliweli.”

Committed volunteers conceived, refined, installed and continue to maintain the courses. Now, DGKO promotes and coordinates PDGA-recognized competitions. Relying on its Facebook presence, DGKO recruits players and volunteers to sustain course improvements and upgrades.

LaSota lives in Wailua. In 2009, he started throwing discs at the trees and lamp posts in Lydgate Beach Park. He was amazed when in 2014, Sports Authority opened in Kukui Grove with disc golf gear on their shelves, and promptly sold out of discs in just a few weeks.

“I knew then that there must be demand for better playing facilities here on Kaua‘i,” LaSota said. “         So I hired Chuck Kennedy and got him to design the Lydgate course.”

As the “Father of the PDGA Ratings System,” and the designer of more than 50 courses, few persons have contributed more to the growth of disc golf and the PDGA than Kennedy.

With the Lydgate course layout ready for review, LaSota had a year of meetings with and presentations to the Friends of Kamalani, the Department of Parks and Recreation, the PDGA, and disc golf equipment manufacturer Innova. Finally, he went before the County Council to get all the approvals needed to actually proceed with building Lydgate’s course.

By 2015, the DGKO signed up 13 members who helped refine the Lydgate course layout, always balancing playability with the safety of everyone enjoying the park and the nearby Kamalani Playground.

Moen said safety and respect for park users has always been paramount.

“Fund raising to cover the costs for Lydgate’s nine baskets and their installation was a challenge,” Moen said. “But club members came up with most of the needed monies, and then we ran a Go-Fund-Me campaign that brought in donations from all around the county and even Canada.”

Brian Foster stands out among the ‘ohana’s many dedicated volunteers. Over the past few years, Foster has taken charge of stewardship for the course in Lydgate Park, clearing the fast-growing vegetation.

“Ryan Jacobsmeyer has taken on running our organized activities in compliance with pandemic suppression best practices,” LaSota said. “He’s our Facebook admin, manages the merchandizing, and he coordinates competitions twice a month.”

• Tommy Noyes is Kaua‘i Path’s executive director, a League of American Bicyclists Certified Instructor and active with the Kaua‘i Medical Reserve Corps.