UW Disc Golf Course In the Making?
The UW disc golf club had their spring potluck kickoff meeting, with great success. Alot of people showed up, there was some mountain creek drinking, and a putting competition, which I would like to say, I won a sweet purple t-shirt. At the meeting, they stressed that the club was about going out and disc golfing and having fun, which is a pretty sweet way to go.
There are two tournaments planned so far for the spring season. One of them is Highbridge Park, which is about 4 and a half hours north. From the stories I was told at the meeting, they have around 6 disc golf courses which are the most amazing disc courses around. To go with that, there is a campsite on the grounds which we will be staying at and throwing a little shindig.
Another point that was brought up at the meeting was the possibility of creating a new disc golf course on the UW-campus. This would be huge, considering the closest courses to campus are either on the east side, Heistand, or west side, Elver Park, or way out in DeForest Token Creek. All of which are at a minimum a 15 minute drive. It would be incredibly nice to have a disc golf course on campus to go to throw some disc whenever your heart desires. Currently the disc golf club is low on funds, but is hoping to start selling hot stamped custom UW-Disc Golf discs. I am setting up a paypal scheme for their website to hopefully bring in some customers from around the state. Also, Innova has a program going on that states that they will match every disc golf basket you buy, to try and entice more courses to go up. This means that you only need to buy 9 baskets, at $300 or so a piece and Innova will match that. So $2700 isn't that high of a number once you think of it. Another aspect of it is location, with the UW-campus already fighting for green space, and coming up short, there aren't very many locations around campus that would have the land to house a disc golf course. Once suggestion was to put it by Picnic Point, which has readily available land reserves. I checked out the plot of land on the google maps satellite and took a screen shot and diagrammed it for those who are interested. Check it out. Thats all for now, peace out.
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Comments
Scott posted on 08/08/2007 @ 11:57:34 am
To my fellow disc golfers;
Hi, my name is Scott W. Brownlee and I am a resident of Henderson N.C. I have been an avid disc golf player for 20+ years and am currently trying to have a course installed in our community.
I have done an extensive amount of research and data accumulation in order to promote and interest the city council and parks and recreation department.
The statistical information available is very good, but as I have spoken with the powers that be, some more case specific data is needed. Our city has approximately 20,000 people, ranked near the top (in N.C.) in unemployment, crime, and people on welfare. The type of information that I have been asked for relates specifically to several areas of concern and they are:
1) Youth participation
2) Crime-(more, less, or the same)
3) Revenues-if any-(how acquired and an average amount annually.
4) Average course patronage-monthly or yearly
5) Overall efficacy of having a disc golf course-in other words, has having a disc golf course been a benefit to the community as a whole?
I am looking for some specific data as to how putting a disc golf course in Henderson would be a benefit. The information for a city such as Raleigh or cities larger than Henderson are helpful, but not quite as relevant to small cities. I spoke with one of the ruling elite of our city the other day and I have piqued his curiosity to the point that he asked for more information, especially as how it would be beneficial for this city. He seemed to disbelieve much of what I was saying (maintenance expenditures, no need to pay for coaches and referees-they currently pay about $100,000/yr., how little impact environmentally disc golf courses are, possible income from disc golf accessory sales, average # of people across the courses, how the older generation is the fastest growing demographic group, etc.
Much of the available data is dated and does not reflect the increases in courses and participation. So I am putting out the call for anyone with document-able proof to step up and help me persuade those in power to put a course in.
I have already gotten 3 individuals to firmly commit to sponsoring a hole and tee.:) I have received a lot of help from H. Duvall (Innova Discs) and C.H.Howard of Raleigh N.C. I have asked both of them for the same information and they are at a loss also for the type of info I am searching for. Information of this nature will also help me to enlist possible sponsors so that if the P & R dept. or city councils won\'t move on this, I will. I actually intend on making a move myself no matter the city's decision. There are 2 courses w/in 35 miles of Henderson, both are private, 1 is 9 hole and the other is 18 and 1 charges a fee. Neither are really viable options for this particular city.
So in short, testimonials from P & R people, league/club presidents, city officials, and parents would be a GREAT help. Positive is preferred, but negative has its uses also. As a parting question, anybody who knows anybody who is willing to be a sponsor, contributor, or a source of grant funding, please let me know. I may wind up having to pursue this on my own, so sources of funding that will work with an individual would be welcome.
Thank you for your time and attention in this matter.
Scott W. Brownlee zepruler@yahoo.com 252-213-6815
Tom Wilson posted on 08/08/2007 @ 11:58:23 am
Scott e-mailed me this message, I thought I would pass it on as a comment. I haven't put a disc golf course together, and don't know where to start, so if anyone could help him out, post a comment. Thanks!