8 Year Anniversary of The canyons

The Canyons

Sep 1

As we approach the 8th year of the course being opened we wanted to celebrate in typical Delly fashion by running a PDGA sanctioned flex start! On Sunday September 18th you can show up to the shop to register for the flex start, here’s where it gets fun…we are bringing back the famous 8 LOOP. With permission from the park district we have decided to re-open the 8 Loop, as the hot season drags on the creek levels become low enough to cross without getting your feet wet. Bridges are still in the works but take a lot of time, money and resources.

8th Anniversary Flex

Sunday September 18th

9am-5pm register in person at the shop between this time, last tee is 5pm.

$5 Cash per person, Additional $10 for non PDGA members

$5 Optional Ace pot

Never before used layout: 1, 2, 6A, 6E, 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.

White Tees, A Pins

What is the 8 Loop? If you picked up or came back to disc golf in 2020, like a lot of people, you have never played the 8 Loop. In 2016 Sean discovered that the park district property expanded East of Fraction Run on hole 9. The goal was to turn The Canyons into a 27 hole course, this birthed the 6 Loop and the 8 Loop. The loops are numbered the way they are (6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, 6E, 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D) to preserve the original 18 hole layout, this gives players the option to play the loops or skip them. These loops are meant to be played after the original hole, (ex. you play hole 8 then the 8 Loop, then hole 9 and you are back on the original track.) The creation and naming of optional loops came to Sean’s attention while on his annual trip to Wisconsin, other courses utilize additional loops to give players the most options to play different layouts. Check out Standing Rocks in Stevens Point, WI.

In the fall of 2019 the 8 loop was temporarily closed due to the way players crossed the creek (using boulders as stepping stones). Unfortunately, the park district was forced to close the 8 loop until a safer crossing was implemented. The 6 Loop stayed in because it is still accessible using the larger bridge, however you play them out of conventional order. The 8 Loop is land locked by private properties, therefore, when the boulders were pulled from the creek there was no other access point to the loop. The re-installation of the 8 Loop will be permanent following The 8th Anniversary Flex Start with easy access when the creek is low. The 8 Loop is four tightly wooded holes that you may not see in other areas of The Canyons, it is surrounded by thick brush and elder trees tower overhead.

8th Anniversary, 8 Loop and PDGA #8.

The Canyons was designed by Sean Callahan and Steve Matul (PDGA 008), Steve passed away in November 2021 and is a course designer legend in the Greater Joliet Area. He is the head designer of these notable courses: Katherine Legge Memorial, Highland Park, The Oaks, Central Park and more. We also lost Steve Olson this year, Steve was always ready to work and share his opinion on course matters. Matul and Olson were integral for the installation of The Canyons. (Pictured below top, left, middle alongside Sean Callahan at the grand opening of The Canyons). Roy Carey, passed away in 2018, was another godfather of disc golf in our area and of The Canyons. We learned a lot from these pioneers and will continue their legacy with education and history preservation. All three will be memorialized on Hole 9 of The Canyons in 2023. Click here for The Canyons history

In the Mobius Strip below are notable moments of The Canyons. (Clockwise from top left)

Installation of Blue Tee of Hole 2
Sean Callahan, Steve Matul, Steve Olson at the grand opening of The Canyons
“Roller Phil” Corrigan, Gary Lewis & Jesse Saenz at the grand opening of The Canyons
Hole 1 of The Canyons
Sean Callahan with Dellwood Park sign
The Robin pavilion at hole 13, now Dellwood Disc Golf Pro Shop.
Drone shot of the main parking lot.

Check out the photos below from the grand opening of The Canyons September 20, 2014, by Lauren Lakeberg | The Disc Golf Photographer.

Or visit the Dellwood Disc Golf museum.