The City of Carthage is considering a proposal to put a disc golf course at the Ballpark.

Miles Seaborn, a Carthage resident and professional disc golfer, has asked the city to let him install a disc golf course near the walking trail. Seaborn plans to fundraise for the disc golf equipment the city would need.

“There’s a lot of courses in the area, but not in Carthage,” he said. “You have to travel 30-40 minutes outside of Carthage to find one. There’s a big group of golfers in Nacogdoches and a big group in Longview, a big group in Shreveport. I think that it would be something that would be well-served here in the community.”

Seaborn spoke to city commissioners at their December meeting, telling them about the sport’s growing popularity. It’s both easy to do and appropriate for all ages: all you need to do is know how to throw a frisbee at the target.

“One of the benefits to is is there’s no age limit and it’s free,” he said. “I take my kids out. I’ve got 2 and 3-year-olds. I take them out with me all the time. They don’t last the whole time, but they love getting out there and just throwing things in the woods.”

Seaborn said disc golf courses, if they are good, can draw enthusiasts to town. Courses in Nacogdoches and Timpson have also drawn tournaments, which helps the local economy, Seaborn said.

Seaborn’s proposal, which is not finalized, would include nine holes in the woods beside the walking trail. The disc golf course would not cross paths with the trail, but Seaborn said they would use the trail to help people walk to each hole.

“I know that’s something that has been spent a lot of time and money and effort into and the community loves. I don’t want to touch that at all,” Seaborn said of the trail. “Every hole would be designed away from it. There’d be nothing crossing it. It wouldn’t be of any impact to the trail at all.”

The city would not have to do much work in the woods to put in a disc golf course, Seaborn said. He envisions a beginner to intermediate-level course, based on the available land.

“Unlike traditional golf, there’s no limit. Your imagination is not limited,” he said. “You don’t have to clear-cut everything and start from scratch. You literally take whatever land you’re given and you place it in to fit how the land gives it to you. So there’s very minimal impact. If something ever happens and it needs to get pulled out, it gets pulled out and there’s no impact to it. The only thing that it takes to install it is a ground sleeve put in the ground just like fence post. You just pull the targets out of the ground and that’s it. The land will grow back.”

Seaborn said the costs to install a course would be between $5,000 and $6,000, and he would fundraise for everything they would need. City Manager Steve Williams added that the only cost to the city would be a little maintenance to keep things from getting overgrown.

City commissioners said they were open to the idea, but that they’d like to see more finalized plans.

“It’s definitely something I’d like to pursue,” Mayor Lin Joffrion said. “We have the infrastructure there, the space is there, the parking’s there, the restrooms are there.”