YORKTON - The golf discs were flying ‘Down Under’ recently, and when the final chains had rattled Team Canada had emerged with bronze medals at the WFDF 2024 World Team Disc Golf Championship.
The event for National Teams Disc Golf was in its fifth edition with the event first taking place on Grouse Mountain in Canada in 2016. No other country has been successful in defending their title until Estonia this year.
After four days of competition spanning 364 rounds of match play at the Mundaring Disc Golf Venue in the Perth Hills of Western Australia Nov. 6-9, Estonia defended their title of World Champion with their back to back gold medal win against home country Team Australia.
Team Canada edged out Norway to take the Bronze.
Team Canada captain Craig Sheather said Canada was within one shot of being in the gold medal final.
“It came down to one putt (a 35-footer). If it goes in we play for gold, if it didn’t it was for bronze,” he said, adding obviously it did not go in, but it shows how close Canada came. “That was pretty close.”
While the World Flying Disc Federation may not be as broadly recognized here as the pro disc golf tour Sheather said the world organization is the one which may eventually lift the sport into a much-coveted Olympic spot.
The WFDF is the international sports federation responsible for world governance of Flying Disc (frisbee) sports, including Ultimate, Beach Ultimate, Wheelchair Ultimate, Disc Golf, Freestyle, Guts, and Individual events.
“The PDGA looks to be the big thing,” he admitted, but added internationally the WFDF is the organization that has the ear of the Olympic committee. If disc sports are to get to the Olympics “this is the path.”
As it was, at the recent event in Australia 23 countries competed consisting of teams of 6-12 mixed gender and aged players.
Overall, the WFDF is a federation of more than 115 member associations, which represent Flying Disc sports and their athletes in 111 member countries.
The team event utilized a ‘Match Play’ format (akin to ball golf’s Ryder Cup play), explained Sheather, adding it is a format rarely seen, taking what is usually a very individual-oriented sport to one where the team has to come first.
And, “you’re playing for your country,” he added, noting that creates a uniqueness to the event as well.
The match play format focuses on head-to-head competition with both doubles and singles with points accumulated over the round of play. This format enables teams to win points on each hole, rather than counting the total number of throws for the total match.
The uniqueness of play puts some added pressure on team selection too.
Sheather said while top-rated players in the various categories are given invites – not all agree given the personal costs they must bare – and then he as captain filled out the roster with players with experience in the past, and who were willing to fill a role. He said in some cases alternates might not play, but must still be ready if needed, and that requires a certain mind set.
The event took on some added importance as it was the final points contributor to the Disc Golf World Rankings which are used to select the 15 countries that will join hosts People’s Republic of China at the World Games in Chengdu in August 2025, where Disc Golf makes its return to the sports program since debuting in 2001 in Akita, Japan. The invited teams (in ranking order) are: Estonia, Finland, Canada, USA, Austria, Australia, Germany, Czechia, Great Britain, Norway, France, Japan, People’s Republic of China, Slovakia, Latvia, and New Zealand.
Sheather said inclusion in the World Games is huge.
“It will be the biggest disc golf event in the world,” he said.
It can also be seen as a step toward the Olympics.
“It’s getting close,” he said, although close in Olympic terms is relative. He said he sees the sport in the Olympics “before 2040.”
“That seems like a long way away but not where the Olympics are concerned.
Sheather pointed out the sports for the next Olympics are set, and it takes time to build momentum, so 2036 would seem the logical goal.
In the meantime what does Canada need to do to return to the gold medal it last won in England in 2017?
Sheather said the simple answer is better players adding it’s not that the team was bad, but disc golf is growing worldwide so competition is becoming keener.
I think disc golf growth has an exponential component to it . . . The evolution of the sport is pretty crazy,” he said.
“. . . We had a quality team, but so did the other countries. Canada has some pretty elite players . . . But so do other countries.”
That all said Sheather said in a team event where one or two strokes can be the difference between a medal and a lower finish he still considers “Canada to be in the ‘A-tier’.”
The next WFDF World Team Disc Golf Championship will be hosted in Lithuania in Vilnius in August 2026.
