CLAREMONT — The building of an 18-hole disc golf course in Moody Park began later than expected this summer but if all goes according to plan, golfers will likely be able to experience the new course before winter sets in.
Alex Baldwin, of Claremont, who planned the course with Park and Recreation Department officials, and other volunteers have been busy since mid-August laying out the course.
Originally planned to be primarily to the right of the park access road beginning near the park entrance, Baldwin said they had to make some changes and now there will be six holes instead of two in the wooded area left of the access road.
“We changed it because some of the holes we were going to put in were interfering with some of the hiking and biking trails,” Baldwin said. “We decided we wanted to avoid them altogether so we were able to use some space on the left of the road.”
The six holes on the left are beyond the picnic area. Baldwin stressed that their objective was to avoid areas with walkers, picnickers and others. The course is laid out so the 18th hole basket leaves the golfers only a short walk back to the parking area.
For those unfamiliar with the sport, the object of disc golf is to fling a disc, similar in shape to a Frisbee, from a tee pad toward a basket about chest high mounted on a pole. Similar to golf, the goal is to deposit the disc into the basket in the fewest throws. The distance of each hole ranges from about 220 feet to just over 300 and different size discs are used depending on distance to the basket
Baldwin said the wooded landscape on the northwestern side of the park with steep ravines and trees, serving as natural obstacles on the course, are ideal for the sport.
“We play on, around and over these ravines which makes it interesting,” Baldwin said. ”It is nice to be able to use a part of the park that is not used at all.”
Walking parts of the course will be challenging as well because golfers will have to descend then climb back out of a few of the ravines. Hole 2 for example has the tee-pad on a flat area and the basket across a deep ravine on another level spot. To reach the basket area, or the disc, depending on where it lands, golfers will have to hike down the ravine and climb back up the opposite side on a trail, which was built by the volunteers working on the course. Hole six and nine are similarly designed.
“Disc golfers will be familiar with this kind of course because they (courses) are mostly wooded with elevation changes,” Baldwin said.
Work began in August and includes about four regular volunteers — Baldwin, Roy Mitchell, Jeff Coburn and Dylan Gelineau — who spend a few hours two or three days a week at the park. They have been clearing brush, building trails and trimming small trees. Some of the 12 by 4 foot tee-stands of crushed concrete in a raised bed have been built and the poles for the baskets will be set in pre-poured concrete blocks measuring 2 feet by 2 feet.
In the spring, Pine Hill Construction owner Mike Lemieux donated $26,000 for the purchase of baskets, tee boxes, concrete bases, railroad ties and other material, including sand and crushed concrete.
Lemieux and his crew have also used his excavator and loader to clear some areas of the course, mostly in the dense wood on the left side of the road, and build the tee-boxes.
Baldwin said the course will have signage to indicate distance and par for each hole and there will be markers to indicate when a disc is out of bounds. They also plan to name each hole.
The course layout begins just off the access road not far from the entrance with tee stand one. The baskets for each hole are close to the tee-stand for the next hole. “That was the difficult part, finding a good flow to everything,” Baldwin said.
The course will bring golfers deep into the woods to reach holes six, seven and eight and bring them back toward the road for holes 9-12. Hole 13 begins beyond the picnic area at the edge of the woods.
“We are in good shape and are making good progress,” Baldwin said last weekend while working with Damon Nitzel clearing brush. “We hope to be ready in the fall.”
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com
