darby town council

“Be human,” said the course’s co-founder Rick Spross. “And be sure to have fun.”

The definition of being human is also simple enough. Don’t throw your discs at those passing by. Pick up your own garbage. Be kind to others.

And don’t expect either Spross or his fellow disc golf course builder, Jeremiah Bennett, to tell you about the rules.

“We’re not going to put rules on anyone,” Spross said, with a smile.

The two young fathers are instead focused on ensuring their community has something new that will encourage kids to put down their video game controllers and get outdoors with their families and friends to enjoy the natural area in their own backyard.

The 18-hole disc golf course the pair created after maneuvering their way through the politics of local government and gaining support from many of Darby’s businesses is already catching on.

On one day this past summer, Spross was surprised to find nearly 50 people out playing the course.

The idea for a disc golf course for Darby was hatched as the two men were playing other courses in Victor and Missoula.

“We thought if we could get something here that everyone could enjoy, it would save them the trip to other places,” Bennett said. “It would be nice to have a course a little closer to home. And we knew that everyone likes to play new courses so it might bring some people to town.”

After navigating a small speed bump over a misunderstanding on the impact the course would have on access to the park and receiving the go-ahead from the town council, the men went to work to clear a decade’s worth of downed branches and other debris from the new course’s fairways. They used their own lawnmowers and weed-eaters to mow down the grass. And they installed the tee-boxes and baskets that marked the two ends of a hole.

They both invested hundreds of hours in making their dream for the community come true.

“We started as being the ones doing the work and then more people got involved,” Spross said. “This wasn’t a project completed by town employees. It was all volunteers.”

Both were happily surprised early in the building process to hear chains banging (hence the name of their disc golf club) along the course as disks found their way into the chain baskets.

“People were showing up and playing as we were building it,” Bennett said. “We didn’t advertise it. They just noticed when the baskets started to appear. We’ve seen kids and their parents and older people down there. It’s been nice to see the variety of people show up and play.”

Neither had done anything quite like this before.

“We just put our heads together and what we saw as we walked through the park just came together,” Spross said. “When we were designing it, we wanted to ensure that we didn’t change anything. The bends that people find in the course are the way it was.”

The popularity of disc golf is on the rise.

“The concept is just like golf but instead of hitting a ball, you’re going to throw a disc,” Bennett said. “The only difference is it’s a lot cheaper to get started and it doesn’t cost anything to play at our course.”

Discs cost anywhere from $10 to $30. People can play the course with one disc or they can splurge and buy different size disks that serve as drivers, mid-range and putters.

“It’s just fun,” Spross said. “You don’t have to be good at it. We’re not in it for the competition. We just want to have a place where a group of people can gather, have fun, talk and still socially distance if they want.”

The Chain Banger Club has a winter league up and going. The men hope this spring when the temperatures warm that they can offer a couple of classes to students at the Darby School.

“As a kid growing up in Darby, it was hard because you didn’t really have a whole bunch of things to do,” Spross said. “It really dawned on me when I had children. Darby needs a place where kids and their family can go and do something together.”

“I really hope that it brings something positive for our community,” he said. “We want it to be something people can see and say, ‘hey, this is good for this town.’”

Darby Mayor Ruth Lendrum believes they’ve accomplished just that.

“It’s a really nice addition to our town,” Lendrum said. “I think the town feels it’s a wonderful activity for families and young people. Since the park goes right down to the river, people who go there to play disc golf can also fish or hang out on the beach.”

Lendrum was encouraged to see the two men take their idea through the public process that included a meeting packed with people in support.

“That included the previous mayor who goes down there and plays disc golf with his grandkids,” she said. “I feel like they learned so much about the political process and how to make it work. We’re a small town and we’re always looking for people to get involved in politics.”

But Lendrum said she’s most proud of them for all their hard work and focus on a project that they felt was important to build for their children.

“Who can doubt the ability to achieve by two young fathers who want to do something for their children?” she said.