The sounds of discs hitting the basket and the smell of burgers filled the air at Sandy Beach Picnic Shelter on Douglas Island Saturday afternoon.

The Juneau Disc Golf Club and the Pioneers of Alaska organization teamed up to celebrate the annual Pioneers of Alaska Picnic and the grand opening of the Treadwell Pitch and Putt Dicsc Golf Course.

The picnic shelter is just a short walk from the beginning of the course which plays through and around the Treadwell Mine ruins. The nine-hole course is now open to the public, and anyone is welcome to play, said Russel Sandstrom, the club’s self-proclaimed “senior disc nerd.”

“We’re really glad to be out here and to see the club growing,” Sandstrom said. “The new course gives us a little more formal status for our bigger events and especially to attract more people to the area.”

The effort to create a course came largely from the club wanting to create a more easily accessible course for families and people with mobility issues. The club, founded more than 20 years ago, now consists of around 40 active members across the Juneau area and recently became a nonprofit.

Sandstrom said, for now, the course remains temporary for the next year to serve as a trial run to see how much traffic it brings in, and to keep the vegetation down so people can see the ruins more easily.

Ricky Deising, a Pioneers of Alaska member, said he is excited to continue playing disc golf in the future…