Vancouver-Clark Disc Golf

History

How a small club helped put disc golf on the map

Vancouver-Clark Disc Golf didn’t start as a big organization. Former club director Steve Carson describes why it came together:

“We basically formed so the parks department had an organization to work with.”

— Steve Carson, former VCDG club director

Parks departments plan and maintain public land. To add or care for a disc golf course, it helps to have a recognized group on the other side of the table: people who show up, organize work parties, and speak for the players. That’s the role VCDG filled.

The club later dissolved. “It dissolved awhile back,” Carson told us. This page is an attempt to write down what we can confirm, and to be honest about what we can’t yet.

Timeline

What we know, in order

  1. Vancouver-Clark Disc Golf forms Date to verify

    A group of local players organizes as Vancouver-Clark Disc Golf, formed, in Steve Carson’s words, "so the parks department had an organization to work with." The exact founding year is still being confirmed.

  2. Preview day at Pleasant Valley Middle School

    Before Leverich became Vancouver’s first major course, a preview day was held at Pleasant Valley Middle School. Nearby neighbors pushed back, and that location did not move forward. The date is confirmed by Steve Carson.

  3. Leverich Park opening day

    Leverich Park opened as Vancouver’s first major disc golf course — the course many area players started on.

  4. First tournament at Leverich: the Stumptown Wash Slosh

    The Stumptown Wash Slosh was the first disc golf tournament held at Leverich Park, per Steve Carson.

  5. Vancouver-Clark Disc Golf dissolves

    The club wound down around its final event, the Bad Monkey Open, on this date. "It dissolved awhile back," Steve Carson confirmed; he places the end with that last Bad Monkey Open.

  6. Preservation and revival effort begins

    A volunteer effort begins to preserve this history and explore whether a renewed Vancouver-Clark Disc Golf, or a Vancouver chapter coordinating with existing groups, could again help support courses and work with parks departments.

Dates here are confirmed by Steve Carson, the former VCDG club director. Anything still marked “date to verify” is sequence we’re confident about but whose specific timing we’re still confirming.

From the archives

Plans, signs, and the course being built

Steve Carson shared the original VCDG plans, flyers, and course photos below. They show how Leverich came together — from the early design maps to the concrete being poured.

  • Aerial map of Leverich Park overlaid with green fairway arrows and basket markers for each hole, titled “Leverich Park Disc Golf — Final design plan as of 10/22/2008,” watermarked Vancouver/Clark Disc Golf.
    Leverich Park final design plan, dated October 22, 2008 — the VCDG course layout.
  • Earlier aerial map of Leverich Park labeled “Leverich Park Design Plan I,” showing tee and basket positions for holes one through nine.
    An earlier Leverich design plan, with tee and basket positions sketched over the park.
  • Aerial map of Pleasant Valley Park with arrows marking a fifteen-hole disc golf layout, near the WSU Vancouver campus course.
    The proposed layout at Pleasant Valley Park, the early preview site before Leverich.
  • A disc golf tee pad under construction: wet concrete poured into wooden forms over wire mesh, with caution tape and a wooden sign post nearby.
    Building a tee pad at Leverich — concrete poured into forms during construction.
  • A finished disc golf tee pad made of inscribed bricks set into the ground, with an open grassy fairway and tall evergreens behind it.
    A finished tee pad at Leverich, set in inscribed brick on the open course.

Images and documents courtesy of Steve Carson, former VCDG club director. More to come as photos and video are added.

Original documents

Scanned plans, flyers, and signage from the VCDG years. These are the primary sources behind the timeline above.

History we’re still confirming

We want this record to be accurate, so here’s what is still open:

  • The year Vancouver-Clark Disc Golf formed, and who was involved early on.
  • How the Pleasant Valley neighborhood conversation unfolded, and why that site didn’t move forward.
  • The full list of courses and tournaments VCDG helped with, beyond Leverich and the Bad Monkey Open.
  • Where any club records, photos, or results ended up.

If you can help fill any of these in, we’d be grateful. See the notes below.