• Plans are underway to transform the closed golf course into the area’s newest disc golf course.

• The Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council has teamed up with the Parks Department to repair and renovate two bridges as part of the project. They are hosting an 80s-themed fun run/walk with food trucks on March 10 as a fundraiser for their project.

Disc golf enthusiasts will likely have a new 18-hole course to ramble over this summer in Jasper.

Designs are underway to transform the Alvin C. Ruxer Municipal Golf Course into the Alvin C. Ruxer Disc Golf Course.

The city closed the 60-acre golf course before the 2020 season. Last year, Chris Lubenow, treasurer for the Dubois County Disc Golf Club, presented a plan to turn Ruxer into a disc golf course. Subsequently, the project was included in the 2023 budget.

Last week, renowned designer and player Eric McCabe was roaming the course to begin the design process. McCabe was chosen for his pedigree — he has designed more than 70 courses in the United States and was the 2010 World Disc Golf Champion. According to Park and Recreation Director Tom Moorman, he expects McCabe to have the design done by the end of March, with work to begin soon after.

He said the Ruxer property is an ideal location for disc golf. Though flooding is an issue a couple of times a year, it will have little impact on the overall playability of the course. Moorman noted that one of McCabe’s courses is underwater at least three times a year. As soon as the water recedes, players walk back on the course.

Also, the disc golf course won’t require as much upkeep as the golf course did. According to Moorman, the parks department will likely only mow along the cart paths, in the tee boxes and on the greens. “Everything else we’ll leave wild like the Parklands,” he said.

“We did that last year and it was really beautiful out there,” he added.

Moorman is excited about what the new course will offer in regard to recreation opportunities for residents. But, he noted that these types of attractions have potential economic impacts as well. Hosting the 2022 Professional Disc Golf Association Amateur Disc Golf World Championships brought in hundreds of players in the Princeton and Evansville area last year.

Moorman said plans are underway to renovate the pro shop building to become a rentable facility that could be shared with the Jasper Volunteer Fire Department for special uses.

To support the…