COLUMBIA FALLS — For years, disc golf has been growing in popularity across the country, including in northwest Montana.
Julian Nizzoli has been a fixture in the Flathead disc golf community. He hopes to inspire others to join the sport.
"There's something to feeling a disc fly, that first time that you go to throw it and you watch it flip up and glide. I don't think there's anything that a human can throw farther than a frisbee," Nizzoli said.
Nizzoli is a board member of the Flathead Valley Disc Golf Association, which manages three courses in the Flathead.
Those courses include one near Smith Lake north of Whitefish, Lawrence Park in Kalispell and a new course at Rivers Edge Park in Columbia Falls.
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"We had some community members reach out about the possibility of having a course in Columbia Falls, with some of my experience, I started the conversation with the city, the public works and parks department were very open to it," Nizzoli said.
Nizzoli put together a proposal for a nine-hole disc golf course that he brought before the Columbia Falls City Council.
The course was approved, and community members helped install it and raise money to complete the project.
"It was something that was really community driven, and we were just able to be the conduit to help make it happen," Nizzoli said.
Nizzoli hopes to design additional courses in the Flathead and bring in high-profile tournaments.
"Our long-term goal is really to bring the Montana State Disc Golf Championships up into the Flathead Valley, bring 200 people here for a couple of days to enjoy the valley and play some disc golf," Nizzoli said.
Nizzoli hopes to see more people outside enjoying disc golf this summer.
"Anyone can come out and enjoy it, whether if you’re throwing a lid or you got a bag of 25-discs. It's really something that's open to everyone," Nizzoli said.
