After-work disc golf in Bend | Explore Central Oregon
A new championship-level course debuted this year as part of the Dynamic Discs Open.
The Supreme 18 at Jones Park is replaces the previous Jones West, Jones East, and Jones Gold courses.
“Jones Gold — it’s a course, that has definitely had some history, dating back in Emporia as to when I’d been there, I think first time in mid 2000s, 2008, 2009,” said five-time world champion Paul McBeth in a video about the redesign. “But now 2021, I think it is small. I think that’s the biggest thing is where the talent level is now, a lot of the players can throw up and over the trees, not use the course the way that it was originally designed.”
Course designer Eric McCabe heard that concern and met it head on. He agreed with the need to improve and redesign the course after the 2021 DDO.
“We started after the tournament last year and looked at the course,” McCabe said. “We looked at the scores from everybody and decided, you know, if we want to do something next year big, and we’re hosting the world championships, we gotta get a course that’s a little bit more aggressive.”
The gears started turning and McCabe went to work laying out a few different designs. He presented them to Doug Bjerkaas and they discussed which one might work best for Jones Park.
“We ended up going with the one that we have now,” he said. “We started construction and putting in the new baskets around November.”
Supreme 18 brings a number of new challenges for some of the world’s best players, and McCabe said it was a collaborative effort with a number of different parties.
“This couldn’t have been done without a team here in Emporia,” he said. “Our DD crew, Doug Bjerkaas. Keith Krause, and a couple of others that have really helped out with the process. Obviously the city of Emporia, too, for helping out with some of the funding to put some benches in there.”
McCabe said benches may not seem like a big deal, but in the disc golfing world? They are almost a necessity.
“I’ve been playing golf here since the late 90s and I’ve always thought, ‘Why don’t we have benches at our courses?’” he said. “You know, every other course you travel to, that’s a good quality, high-rank course, has benches.”
McCabe said the city’s willingness to assist with the project shows how much it values what disc golf brings to the community.
The course itself is both aesthetically pleasing and a lot more challenging. A limestone island at Hole No. 1 was designed and built by Scott Tjachman. McCabe said Tjachman was able to build the island is a matter of days.
“It was pretty amazing how quickly he got that turned around and we absolutely love it,” he said.
Supreme 18 will again be the featured course during the PDGA World Championships in August, giving players at the DDO a chance to preview what they will be facing. So far, the new course has delivered on its promise to be a challenge.
“A hole one, for the FPO — the female pro open — there was only one birdie on hole one, and it’s pretty crazy. It’s a challenging island hole, which is kinda cool, but scores were all over the place for the women and and the men.”
Another challenge is Hole 16 which has a “pretty big par” for the men. Hole 10 only had one birdie. That honor went to Corey Ellis, a pro from West Virginia.
“A lot of that is the elements,” McCabe said. “A lot of that was the direction of the wind and how strong it was blowing, so that makes things a little bit more challenging when you’re out there trying to score.”
He said that can make it challenging when it comes to design, too, knowing that it can be windy one day and completely still the next.
“There’s a fine line between those two,” he said.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the course is that it’s actually two courses in one. Other than the Supreme 18, there is also the Supreme Short. That course is designed for the casual players who make use of the park most of the year.
“It starts at the same hole and the only difference is you don’t play that as an island,” McCabe said. “You can play the Supreme Short course and there will be a course map and tee signs out following the Dynamic Discs Open. You can go out there and kind of get an appreciation for the big, championship-level course, but not have to play it.”
Of course, you can play it if you want to.
“It’s a pretty good challenge,” he added.
SMITHFIELD – With 1,200 signatures and counting, Smithfield resident John Snavely is using a grassroots effort to bring a disc golf course to the town’s Camp Shepard property.
Snavely, who lives off Log Road, said the Camp Shepard recreational area is an amazing piece of property that should be preserved, not developed. Snavely’s online petition, begun last week, also pleads with the town to not sell the front Colwell Street lots for possible development.
Developers expressed interest in the lots when Smithfield purchased the 114-acre property in 2020. Several known developers in town said that Smithfield could recoup some of the $1.2 million spent on the property. The town said it has not made any decision to sell, and town officials said there are no plans to unload the lots at this time.
Snavely feels that with the town approving multiple developments in the past few years, Smithfield should keep Camp Shepard as a recreational area. Previously owned by the Greater YMCA of Providence as a summer camp, the forested Camp Shepard closed in 2008 and has gone unused, apart from local hikers.
“I hope that’s the case, and it stays like that,” Snavely said.
Snavely said stopping development is a bonus, and he said the petition is about bringing an 18-hole disc golf course to Smithfield. He said he is really interested in seeing excellent recreation go into the Camp Shepard area.
“It wasn’t as much about selling the lots as much as it was to have a disc golf course on the land,” Snavely said.
As an avid disc golfer, Snavely said the course has minimal impact on the environment, while giving residents an area to enjoy games outdoors. Disc golf is played by throwing a Frisbee into a caged bowl. Similar to golf, each hole has a set par, and golfers attempt to get it in below par.
Snavely said the petition has tons of support from Smithfield residents, but is also gaining momentum in the Southern New England disc golf community. He said northern Rhode Island has two nine-hole courses, with one at the North Smithfield High School and the second at Slater Memorial Park.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to introduce the sport to northern Rhode Island that can also serve as an income generator to the town,” Snavely said.
Snavely proposed forming the Apple Valley Disc Golf Club that would fundraise for the relatively inexpensive equipment, and would also help clean and maintain the course. He said the town could charge $5 per person for entry, which could generate income for the town.
“Most people who want to play, play regularly. I go out weekly between 200 and 300 rounds per year. We play all through the winter,” Snavely said.
“A lot of people feel passionate about it,” he said.
Outside of the disc net, Snavely said each hole would have a sign at the tee designating the par, the outline of the hole, and the hole number. Generally, the course does not take up much room in terms of equipment, and could be set up off a hiking trail. Beginner disc golf Frisbees are affordable, and can be purchased online for less than $20.
“It’s an extremely inexpensive sport,” Snavely said, adding that it does not take much more skill than accurately throwing a Frisbee.
A good disc golf course could take up as much as 40-50 acres, and would need minimal clearing of trees and shrubs.
Generally, he said one person can do an 18-hole course in about an hour.
Town Manager Randy Rossi said he is not opposed to a disc golf course at Camp Shepard, though he is leaving the decision up to the nine-member Camp Shepard Recreation Board. Like all town properties, Camp Shepard needs to fit the needs of the population, he said. He said the committee will take its time to plan the park properly, which will take some time.
“It’s got to be done right with clear minds at the table,” Rossi said.
For now, Rossi said all the town is ready to do at the property is to continue to clean up, clear and cut brush, and repaint buildings.
A GUIDE TO HUTCHINSON PARKS
1 — Shady Ridge: neighborhood park with play equipment and picnic table
2 — Woman’s Club: shelter picnic area and playground
3 — Miller Woods: a native prairie area with a half-mile loop summer walking trail, winter cross-country ski trail in a restored oak savanna
4 — Rotary: one of Hutchinson’s larger playgrounds, shelter with large serving counter, paved half-mile trail around park and outdoor fitness equipment, restrooms
5 — Oddfellows: outdoor archery, picnic shelter, restrooms, play equipment along the Luce Line State Trail
6 — Roberts: four regulation softball/baseball fields, boat landing, restrooms, basketball court, sand volleyball, gravel trail through native tall grass prairie. Hutchinson Public Schools’ ecology site borders the east side of the park.
7 — AFS: a memorial park with various tree species, a statue and plaque remembering foreign exchange students
8 — Masonic/West River: showers, boat landing, restrooms, picnic area, sand volleyball, play equipment, shelters, RV and tent camping sites, permanent stage (available for rent), paddle sport equipment such as canoes, kayaks and stand-up paddle boards are available for rent in the summer months at the garage building on site
9 — Riverside Jaycee: horseshoe courts, restrooms, picnic area, play equipment, ball field, shelter and a native prairie area on the east end of the park
10 — Kiwanis: also known as Rocket Hill; play equipment, enclosed picnic shelter with restroom, snow sliding hill with warming house
11 — Eheim: scenic area north of dam with look-out pier and seating, statue of Little Crow
12 — Girl Scout/Gateway: scenic area south of dam with mass perennial plantings and seating benches, large mural painted on building with seating area
13 — Fireman’s: a memorial park honoring firefighters with sheltered picnic area, play equipment, WPA fountain pool and bridge
14 — Kimberly: neighborhood park with play equipment and access to Luce Line State Trail on city’s east side
15 — North Woods: volleyball, restrooms, Little League fields, play equipment, enclosed picnic shelter, in winter outdoor hockey/pleasure skating rink
16 — Lions Park East: picnic area near State Highway 7 with play equipment
17 — Boy Scout: picnic area near State Highway 7 with a Boy Scout statue
18 — Old Bass Pond: natural area next to the Crow River and Luce Line State Trail
19 — Tartan Park/VMF Field: fenced baseball field and top flight baseball field (home to the Hutchinson Huskies town team) with a sand volleyball court, playground, walking trail, skateboard park, picnic area and BMX terrain bike course
20 — North/Community Playground: tennis/pickle ball courts, pleasure/pond hockey ice rink with warming house, extensive playground behind Park Elementary School
21 — South: 10-acre park with mature trees, three picnic shelters, restrooms, play equipment, 9-hole disc golf course available year-round
22 — Legion: along State Highway 15 South with a picnic shelter
23 — VFW: youth baseball field, play equipment, basketball court, picnic shelter, restroom -the park is adjacent to Oakland Cemetery
24 — Elks: picnic shelter, restrooms, recreational ball field, volleyball, extensive inclusive play equipment, along with off-street parking
25 — Linden: park is adjacent to the Hutchinson Family Aquatic Center/Recreation Center and two indoor ice rinks at Burich Arena, an outdoor paved walking path and two T-ball-sized ball fields
26 — Lions Park West: neighborhood park with picnic table and play equipment
27 — Junior Community Women: a neighborhood park with new play equipment in 2021, area near high school with a basketball hoop and picnic tables
28 — Crow River Recreational Area: adjacent to Crow River and Luce Line State Trail with picnic areas
29 — McLeod County Veterans Memorial: a memorial park with a Walk of Honor, monuments, sculptures, large picnic shelter and restrooms
30 — Library Square: home of the 1904 Carnegie Library and site of an 1862 Dakota U.S. War stockade. Is used for many community activities; Dairy Days in June, summer Monday Music in the Park series and Arts & Crafts Festival in September. Contains a band stand for concerts and private events, center fountain and Hutchinson Brothers statues, along with other art pieces
31 — Rolling Meadows: small neighborhood park with playground equipment and single sunshade shelter
32 — Driftriders: a scenic outlook, sledding hill, 1/4-mile walking trail, picnic shelter, nature-theme playground
33 — Law Enforcement: a statue of a police officer honors those who have protected Hutchinson, including fallen officers
34 — Community Dog Park/East River Park: The fenced in area offers space for both large and small dogs. The park is on the south side of Crow River, east of Depot Marketplace, home of the Hutchinson Farmers Market
For more information about Hutchinson parks, call Sara Witte, parks supervisor, at 320-234-4228.
Fort Bend County will prepare to hold its first tournament using Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) rules on May 21. The Fort Bend County Commissioners’ Court has waived rental fees for the tournament at Jones Creek Ranch Park, where the event will be held.
A brand new portable new disc golf course was installed at Jones Creek Ranch Park last fall. The Houston Disc Golf donated tee posts, baskets and more to the course. The organization also helped with the course’s design.
Houston Disc Golf is a non-profit, volunteer organization that donates equipment to cities and counties to help grow the sport of disc golf. Typically, these cities and counties would not have spent their funds for disc golf otherwise. Houston Disc Golf Director Steve Stanley says Fort Bend County has been particularly helpful moving the process along.
“Fort Bend County has just been amazing,” Stanley said. “They’re on top of trying to do everything they can to get the course put in for their constituents.”
According to registration data from popular disc golf scoring app, UDisc, the Jones Creek Ranch course averages around 500 players each month. This isn’t including people who use the course and don’t log their scores in the app, so this is likely an underestimate. Stanley says most of these players are coming from out of town, bringing visitors to the county and adding to its economy.
“Think about it. All these people are driving into town, buying gas, stopping for drinks or maybe having lunch while they’re in the county,” Stanley said. “That’s probably more important than anything, these are people coming from outside your area.”
Fort Bend County Parks and Recreation Director Darren McCarthy echoed the importance of bringing new people into the county through this course.
“A lot of people playing disc golf had no idea the park existed,” McCarthy said. “Once people come, they’ll want to come back. This could bring in people from all over Houston.”
The upcoming tournament will be called the 2022 Zambia Open Fundraiser. In addition to cash prizes for winners, donations and proceeds from the event will go toward equipment and course upgrades for disc golf courses in Zambia. The funds raised will also help pay some of the Zambian staff’s salaries for the 2022 Open season.
The Jones Creek Ranch Park course will need to see some improvements before it’s PDGA ready. Namely concrete tee pads and tee boxes, but Stanley the course is well on its way.
“We’re close, but not there yet on the baskets,” Stanley said. “The county has been very good about going through all the steps.”
It is fairly common for organizations filing as non-profit entities to have certain fees waived by the court. Waiving the fees to use the park is one less hurdle for event organizers as they prepare for the tournament.
“We’re going to have more eyes than ever on Fort Bend County,” McCarthy said.
Fort Bend County will prepare to hold its first tournament using Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) rules on May 21. The Fort Bend County Commissioners’ Court has waived rental fees for the tournament at Jones Creek Ranch Park, where the event will be held.
A brand new portable new disc golf course was installed at Jones Creek Ranch Park last fall. The Houston Disc Golf donated tee posts, baskets and more to the course. The organization also helped with the course’s design.
Houston Disc Golf is a non-profit, volunteer organization that donates equipment to cities and counties to help grow the sport of disc golf. Typically, these cities and counties would not have spent their funds for disc golf otherwise. Houston Disc Golf Director Steve Stanley says Fort Bend County has been particularly helpful moving the process along.
“Fort Bend County has just been amazing,” Stanley said. “They’re on top of trying to do everything they can to get the course put in for their constituents.”
According to registration data from popular disc golf scoring app, UDisc, the Jones Creek Ranch course averages around 500 players each month. This isn’t including people who use the course and don’t log their scores in the app, so this is likely an underestimate. Stanley says most of these players are coming from out of town, bringing visitors to the county and adding to its economy.
“Think about it. All these people are driving into town, buying gas, stopping for drinks or maybe having lunch while they’re in the county,” Stanley said. “That’s probably more important than anything, these are people coming from outside your area.”
Fort Bend County Parks and Recreation Director Darren McCarthy echoed the importance of bringing new people into the county through this course.
“A lot of people playing disc golf had no idea the park existed,” McCarthy said. “Once people come, they’ll want to come back. This could bring in people from all over Houston.”
The upcoming tournament will be called the 2022 Zambia Open Fundraiser. In addition to cash prizes for winners, donations and proceeds from the event will go toward equipment and course upgrades for disc golf courses in Zambia. The funds raised will also help pay some of the Zambian staff’s salaries for the 2022 Open season.
The Jones Creek Ranch Park course will need to see some improvements before it’s PDGA ready. Namely concrete tee pads and tee boxes, but Stanley the course is well on its way.
“We’re close, but not there yet on the baskets,” Stanley said. “The county has been very good about going through all the steps.”
It is fairly common for organizations filing as non-profit entities to have certain fees waived by the court. Waiving the fees to use the park is one less hurdle for event organizers as they prepare for the tournament.
“We’re going to have more eyes than ever on Fort Bend County,” McCarthy said.
A handful of area residents and a Tahlequah city councilor agree there is a need for an elite-level disc golf course.
The Tahlequah Sports League is requesting to share acreage with the Tahlequah Trails Association to install the course.
According to the Professional Disc Golf Association, the ideal course has a range of hold lengths, pars and a mixture of holes requiring controlled left, right and straight throws.
Ward 4 Councilor Trae Ratliff said the city-owned property where the Tahlequah Trails is being constructed would be the ideal place for the course.
“There’s the one at the middle school and there’s one at NSU now, and initially, the conversation started with utilizing the trail system in front of my office,” he said. “They didn’t like the idea of having to cross traffic, and that wasn’t ideal.”
Ratliff got in contact with professional disc golf athlete Matt House, from the Cherokee County Disc Golf Association, and a group went out to the property to take a look.
“What we are trying to incorporate at the Tahlequah Trails property was something that would be a draw. To my understanding, the tougher the course –the more trees and obstacles and the tighter the fairways – the bigger the draw,” said Ratliff.
Ratliff said the idea of having the course co-exist with Tahlequah Trials would be to bring in more tourism and hold two professional tournaments a year.
The group presented the idea to the TTA during a forum, and Ratliff said it was a gracious request.
“We feel like the two are very similar as far as their goals: be outside, be active, do something with the family and enjoy nature,” he said. “Our intent is to do it right and to do something that’s good for the community, good for tourism.”
The intent was to apply for a grant through the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners for American Rescue Plan Act funds.
“I personally have a difficult time trying to find the downside. If there are negatives, do the negatives outweigh the positives and I have a hard time finding a lot of negatives,” said Ratliff.
The city partnered with the commissioners to create the park on 200 acres.
In 2018, city councilors accepted a lease bid from Tahlequah Trails Oklahoma Earthbike Fellowship to spearhead work on a trail system on 65 acres of surplus land owned by the city, adjacent to Diedrick Lane. The council also voted to purchase an additional 40 acres west of the proposed bike trail acreage.
However, during a City Council meeting in 2019, the board unanimously agreed to settle three lawsuits filed against the city regarding bike trails and the purchase of property. The acreage is between South 550 Road and South 540 Road, and is landlocked.
The trailhead –- the parking lot and entryway – are owned by the Tahlequah Trails Association. That one acre was donated by City Administrator Alan Chapman.
Ratliff asked if the request is turned down, whether that means it dies – and he hopes it doesn’t.
“The intention is not to be simple, and this is 18 holes, whereas the other are nine holes. The intention of this one is to hold PDGA tournaments, to be a professional disc golf association-sanctioned location, and that’s where the tourism piece comes in,” said Ratliff.
NEOSHO, Mo. — It didn’t take club members long. Once the Neosho City Council gave final approval to an agreement, members of the Neosho Disc Golf Club built a new disc golf course around a walking trail between Spring and Coler streets in Morse Park.
Council members on Dec. 21 voted unanimously to enter into an agreement with the club that allows club members to build and develop the course on city-owned land, with the parks department covering mowing and maintenance.
Club members had the course up and running last week, thanks to work from club members Jared Brown and Derek Green, said club president Frank Hebert.
“We already had a design in mind,” Hebert said. “We had already bought the baskets. We just had to have the approval so we could put them into the ground.”
The course has emerged as a need ever since the city beefed up its disc golf offerings. It has two other 18-hole courses in different parts of Morse Park, and the group in July expanded its annual Little Big Show Disc Golf Tournament to two days through a $4,786 grant from the city’s hotel-motel tax.
While no expansions are planned in the city’s current budget, disc golf could be further expanded in future years, said Clint Dalbom, parks and recreation director.
“We’re not opposed to the idea of adding more,” Dalbom said. “There was an idea for building one at the west end of the (Neosho Municipal Golf Course). There is some land there that’s not being used, and it seems like this sport has a huge number of participants, and that number is getting bigger all the time.”
The popularity of disc golf has expanded over the past decade and has spiked because of the pandemic.
Representatives of UDisc, an app that tracks disc golf course activity, reported that about 70% of disc golf courses have been built over the past 10 years. In its Disc Golf Course Report for 2020, a vast majority of those courses are free, and participation requires investing in only one disc. Costing about $15, the discs are engineered to be smaller and fly farther than a standard Frisbee, Aerobie or other flying disc.
Dalbom said the city had no numbers about how often the disc golf courses are used. Because disc golf is a free activity similar to using one of the city’s walking trails, the city has no way to track usage, he said. Anecdotally, however, Dalbom said the courses see visitors daily in all sorts of weather.
“Last winter, when there was snow on the ground, the regular golf course was closed,” Dalbom said. “At the same time, there were so many tracks on the disc golf courses that it looked like a herd of buffalo passed through.”
While the new course is labeled as a beginner course in city documentation, Hebert described it more like a short course — none of the holes are longer than 280 feet. The intent is for newcomers to have some success as they learn the game, without having to deal with longer holes found in Morse Park’s other courses. Some of those stretch as far as 600 feet.
Hebert said the new course is perfect for developing his short game, a phase equivalent in golf to hitting the ball from the fairway to the green. While the holes were designed to be shorter, they weren’t designed to be simple, he said.
The course is also drawing experienced players. Hebert said the design has revealed shortcomings in his own short game that he can now work on.
“People of all skill levels are playing that course because it’s still challenging,” Hebert said. “It’s one of those things where we made it with a certain set of players in mind, but it turns out everyone likes it.”
Another aspect of the new course that is attractive to city leaders: The club is taking on the cost.
Hebert said that the club is working with sponsors to develop the course. The course is playable now, with baskets at each hole, but plans call for concrete tee pads with informational signs and sponsor displays.
When the club is finished, Hebert said, it will have $7,000 to $9,000 invested in the course.