On this day in 1979 the West Park disc golf course opened to the public in Joliet, Illinois. The course was designed was by Paul McCallister (PDGA #1124) with tweaks by Steady Ed Headrick (PDGA #1).  

It was the first disc golf course in Illinois. There were 24 holes and Wham-O’s were flying in the air while Earth Wind and Fire’s Dancing in September was playing on the radio. I got to listen to McCallister talk about this historic moment in a quiet group conversation at the Trinity Links disc golf course in Lockport today.

We laughed about how the public didn’t appreciate the volkswagen van life culture that was coming to the course at the time but for them it was just a fun thing to do. According to McCallister, before the course re-design in 2018 West Park was the longest running course in the ground that had all of its original holes. It certainly stood the test of time.

I call myself fortunate to have played multiple tournament and casual rounds at West Park over the 15 years that I have been playing now. I remember it was one of the first courses we played outside of our local Downers Grove area. The 355 extension was not even in the ground yet. We took I-294 to I-80 to get there but quickly adapted to taking the back roads.

I remember being blown away by the place. It wasn’t like the 9-hole courses around us. Hole 2 was the most striking to me, a short hole off of the side of a cliff, I always had to throw a couple just for fun. 

The whole park was beautiful with old growth oak trees. West Park itself has been an attraction in the Joliet area since the early 1900s. Formerly known as Bush Park, named after its previous owner who was a cattle farmer, Frank Bush. 

40 acres of Bush’s land was sold to the city of Joliet after his death to be devoted to parkland. There was an ice skating pond, rustic bridges and a picnic area throughout the park for all to enjoy. But in 1978 it was up to McCallister to design the historic disc golf course.

One thing is for sure, like the shape and turn of a (frisbee) disc, disc golf is constantly evolving. There are 10 courses or more alone in Joliet now. Disc technology is constantly evolving, players are throwing farther than ever and they are younger than ever. 

Records are broken all the time. It is not uncommon to hear things like “youngest player to… highest rated female and male player ever… furthest throw in the history…” it shows that our sport is constantly growing and I can’t help but to think what the future will hold for this game we all love so much let alone what the Joliet disc golf scene will look like in 5, 10 or 20 years from now.