Disc golf drawing hundreds to Meadowbrook Orchards
STERLING — Meadowbrook Orchards co-owner David Chandler said the reaction to adding a disc golf course to the 100-acre orchard at his family’s multigenerational farm on Chace Hill Road “has been incredible,” with more than 600 people coming out to play the course just during the first week it was open in October — and many more since then.
“I never knew how popular disc golf was,” he said.
After an employee brought the idea to him and “after a bit of nagging,” Chandler met with Melissa and Scott Radford, the owners of Disc Golf 978 out of Fitchburg, and began hatching a plan with them, along with local disc golf pro and course designer Bob Kulchuk. The Meadowbrook course features a balanced mix of water, wooded, orchards and wide-open holes.
“Being able to help in the design on the course, I was hooked,” Chandler said.
He said disc golfers can currently enjoy the temporary course, and they are working hard on creating a permanent course layout on part of their expansive, picturesque property that is not currently being used for growing apples. Plans are to complete the course by mid-March. His 13-year-old son Nathan has taken to playing disc golf with friends after school.
“I have played a few holes with him, but I have been more focused on building and maintaining the course,” Chandler said.
He said he is glad he was introduced to the sport, which has grown in popularity over the past two decades. According to Wikipedia, as of February 2020 there were 6,652 known disc golf courses in the United States on the official Professional Disc Golf Association Course Directory. The Meadowbrook course now has its own Facebook page: Meadowbrook Orchards Disc Golf.
“It has been a lot of fun to get to know the players, both amateur and professional,” Chandler said. “The players have all been great; they are just happy to be able to play.”
“The barrier to entry into disc golf is very low,” he said, with starter sets available in the farm store for just $25 and greens fees “very inexpensive compared to ball golf.”
“Disc golf at Meadowbrook has become a good way to introduce more people to what we have to offer,” Chandler said. “We have been able to add a new demographic of people who would not normally come through the door.”
They hosted a successful charity tournament, the inaugural Jeffrey Cranson Disc Golf Tournament, the last weekend of October, with the proceeds going to Spaulding Rehabilitation, where Cranson spent time when he was battling cancer. Family matriarch Kathy Chandler works with and for Spaulding Adaptive Sports; when the Cranson family was approached about the tournament and asked where they would want proceeds to go, they chose Spaulding.
“The tournament went great even considering that we had rain both days,” David Chandler said. “Despite the weather, the players had a great time, and the idea to call it the Jeffrey Cranson Memorial was fitting. I knew Jeff growing up; his mother is an employee here, and he was a disc golfer before he passed away. Having Jeff’s siblings and friends here to help make it a success was heartwarming.”
Jeffrey Cranson’s mother, Maureen Cranson, said they were thrilled to have the tournament, which David Chandler said they plan to hold annually, in her late son’s name.
“Family and friends were obviously touched that Meadowbrook Orchards and Disc 978 would raise these funds for Spaulding in Jeffrey’s name,” she said, adding that her son played disc golf “long before it became this popular.”
The tournament attracted many participants, including 65 pros and 72 amateurs. Between tournament donations, sales and the players voting unanimously to donate their “hole in one” earnings, more than $3,000 was raised for Spaulding.
Two tournaments are slated at Meadowbrook for the end of February. Singles flex start on Feb. 25 and doubles on Feb. 26. For more information and to register, visit www.discgolfscene.com/courses/Meadowbrook_Orchards/index.
