The Dellwood Disc Golf Story

Since the year 2000, Sean Callahan was drawn to Dellwood Park just as the generations before him had been. Whether it was taking photos, walking the trails or running in the woods with his dog, he always came to Dellwood as an oasis from everyday life. It was truly a place to unwind and get lost in nature.

In the Spring of 2013 he emailed the Lockport Township Park District Director, Dave Herman, about building a disc golf course on the property. Sean had played the sport for some time and had been inspired by a recent trip to Sandy Point Ranch in Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin. He thought Dellwood Park was a perfect property for a course.

The next morning Sean received a telephone call from Dave to set up a meeting to talk about disc golf and within a week, Sean and local legend Gary Lewis pleaded their case for disc golf in Dellwood Park, which Dave approved.

Sean was introduced to Steve Matul and each designed an 18 hole layout, after showing the proposals to Dave, a mix of both Sean’s and Steve’s designs birthed the original 18 hole layout. In the fall of 2013 work began on the course.

The Canyons was hand cleared by Roy Carey, Steve Matul, Steve Schlack, Steve Olson, Jason Poole, Jose Herrera and Sean and Sheila Callahan. A couple club work days helped with trash removal and trimming. In the beginning all work to complete the course was volunteer.

Since The Canyon’s opening Sean has masterminded the hole additions, long tees and B-pin placements. The Lockport Township Park District has done a remarkable job on upkeep and maintenance on the course.

Following the design of the course, on April 1, 2017 the Dellwood Disc Golf shop opened its doors to the public (and since then has had two re-builds that have tripled its size). To this day, we continue to run events and build our local disc golf community the only way we know best.