West Van launches pilot nine-hole disc golf course at Ambleside Park
West Van approved a $3, nine-hole disc golf pilot at Ambleside Park, betting winter play on a course the mayor said will be “wildly popular.”
West Vancouver is putting a nine-hole disc golf pilot on the tee at Ambleside Park, a small-footprint test that will charge $3 a round and use the Ambleside Par 3 golf course when the regular layout is usually shut down for the season.
Council endorsed the project with a July 1, 2026 target for the golf-fee bylaw changes tied to the pilot. The plan calls for disc golf to operate between October and March, turning one of West Vancouver’s gateway parks into a seasonal proving ground for a sport that the District says can broaden recreation without demanding major new land.
That is the core wager here: whether disc golf can fit cleanly into a busy municipal park, attract beginners, and coexist with existing users. The District’s report ties the pilot to its 2024-2026 strategic goals and to official community plan language that supports shared-use, versatile park design and access to sport and active recreation. In other words, Ambleside is being used to test not just demand, but compatibility.
The North Shore Disc Golf Association has been pushing for that kind of access across the North Shore. The group presented to council in July 2025, said it had formed a registered society, and told officials it was already active at Eastview Park with weekly events while working with West Vancouver on Rockridge course improvements. The association’s message was clear: build something fun, healthy, accessible, and low cost.
Mayor Mark Sager expects the answer to be obvious. “I think this is going to be wildly popular,” he said.
The timing also reflects a broader shift in the sport’s footprint. UDisc’s 2026 Growth Report says there are now more than 17,000 disc golf courses worldwide, 89 percent of them free to play, and 21.2 million rounds were played in 2025. That growth gives West Vancouver a live test case: if Ambleside works, it could make a stronger case for more municipal disc golf in British Columbia. If it struggles, the pilot will still have shown where park design, pricing and seasonal access start to matter.
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