Find out where a new disc golf course is opening
DECATUR TOWNSHIP — Two Decatur Township elementary school teachers turned a hobby into a vision, and that vision is becoming a reality.
Evan Sullivan and Ryan Gammons, both teachers at Blue Academy Elementary, picked up disc golf as a hobby. Throughout 2020, they started playing at courses around the area, as well as entering a few amateur events.
As they started to play at more courses, they realized the area around their school did not have a disc golf course.
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Over Thanksgiving and Christmas break in 2020, they began to research how to start a course for the school. Coincidentally, the school district owns land behind the school building, so they wrote up a proposal and submitted it to the MSD of Decatur Township Superintendent. It contained an 18-hole course design, a logo, pricing, ideas on how to construct the course, lesson plans to involve the students, and ideas on how to get the local community involved.
It was accepted and the Hawks Nest was born.
With the help of another teacher, Rachel Slagle, grant letters were written, and fundraisers were scheduled to raise the money to bring their vision to reality. They worked with Decatur Central High School vocational teachers/students to perform the course installation and creation of the logo.
They also worked with local businesses to arrange for signage, driving pads, baskets, discs, landscaping, etc. Additionally, they are dedicating holes around the course to local heroes.
Sullivan and Gammons plan to host tournaments, incorporate the sport into lesson plans throughout the year, and then on Field Day have the students show off their skills in different event categories (e.g. longest drive, best form, best put, etc).
This disc golf course started from the hobby of two men and will become a place for students to watch their own hard work build a gathering place, learn a new sport, and create a place for a community to gather and share memories for years to come.
What is disc golf?
According to the Professional Disc Golf Association, disc golf is played much like golf except, instead of a ball and clubs, players use a flying disc, the only thing necessary to play. The sport was formalized in the 1970s and shares with golf the object of completing each hole in the fewest strokes (or, in the case of disc golf, fewest throws).
A disc golf hole begins from a tee area and ends at a target, the most common of which is an elevated metal basket. As a player progresses down the fairway, he or she must make each consecutive throw from the spot where the previous throw landed.
In group play, the farthest away player always throws first. Players should not get ahead of the of the away player. The trees, shrubs, and terrain changes located in and around the fairways provide challenging obstacles for the golfer. When the ‘putt’ lands in the basket, the hole is complete.
Grand opening scheduled
The grand opening of the Hawk’s Nest Disc Golf Course will be Saturday, July 24 at the Blue and Gold Academy of Decatur Township, 5650 Mann Road, Indianapolis. The opening ceremony will be at 9 a.m., followed by the free clinic at 10 a.m. and the 18-hole tournament at 11:30 a.m.
There will be a free disc golf clinic for the public of all ages. There will be a rules overview, as well as information about disc selection, driving, approach shots and putting.
There will be a tournament following the clinic. The cost is $30 and includes a Hawk’s Nest commemorative disk. Proceeds will go to the Decatur Township Educational Foundation and for course improvements. Online registration only at https://www.discgolfscene.com/tournament/Hawks_Nest_DGC_Opening_Tournament_2021.
