Michigan New Course Updates

[XC_Eddy]

Glad to hear some positive potential about The Tailings. Haven't had the opportunity to play there yet since moving to the UP a couple years ago. I could be talked into making a trip up that way to do some work on it if I could make a day of it that involved playing what sounds like an awesome course. Not sure what kind of a lasting dent one guy with one day to offer could make, but contributions add up.

I don't have any equipment, not a ton of time (but Fridays and Saturdays mostly off), and would have no regular presence being almost 2 hours away. However, I'm young, able-bodied, and eager to do manual labor when I get the chance because my job is terribly sedentary.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Toboggan 2018: Public Service Announcement

With two major events slated for 2018, it looks like Kensignton's Toboggan will be playable for about a good month this year:

USADGC: Major (Fri, Jun 1 - Sun, Jun 3)
Great Lakes Open presented by Discraft: A-Tier (Sat, Jul 7 - Sun, Jul 8)

That's way longer than it's been available the past few years. I'm almost positive the flypads will be removed after each event, but as long as the baskets are in the ground. :thmbup:

So, if you've been itching to play this epic course, but the stoopidly short window of availability didn't work for you, you might want to plan a road trip some time between: Mon Jun 4th - Thu, Jul 5th.

Quality courses within 25 min of Kensington Metropark:
Black Locust (same park)
Lyon's Den (10 min from Kensington)
Cass Benton

Within 30-45 min:
Hudson Mills Original
Hudson Mills Monster
Independence Lake Red Hawk
Independence Lake Red Hawk - X
Rolling Hills

Within 60-75 min:
Addison Oaks

Burchfield and Stony Creek (each with two, tournament quality, 18 hole courses).

Could make a very solid DG road trip.

FYI the same $10/car daily park pass that gets you into Kensington also works at Hudson Mills, or Stony Creek (but only on the same day). But IMHO Toboggan + three add'l courses would be a beat down that time of year. If you plan to hit all three Metro Parks, it almost pays to get the Annual Park Pass for $35, and be able to pick them off two at time.
NOTE: Metropark entry fee does not include separate DG fee ($3/person per day).

Indy Lake and Rolling Hills are part of a different park system that charges $10/car, daily, with no add'l fee for DG. Again, the daily pass will get you into the other park on the same day.

 

[da Crippler]

Glad to hear some positive potential about The Tailings. Haven't had the opportunity to play there yet since moving to the UP a couple years ago. I could be talked into making a trip up that way to do some work on it if I could make a day of it that involved playing what sounds like an awesome course. Not sure what kind of a lasting dent one guy with one day to offer could make, but contributions add up.

I don't have any equipment, not a ton of time (but Fridays and Saturdays mostly off), and would have no regular presence being almost 2 hours away. However, I'm young, able-bodied, and eager to do manual labor when I get the chance because my job is terribly sedentary.

That sounds great Ryan. We'll have to get with Mountain Man to organize some work days, and I'm sure we can get a car pool going from Escanaba. Looks like a plan may be coming together.:thmbup:

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

With two major events slated for 2018, it looks like Kensignton's Toboggan will be playable for about a good month this year

I haven't played it since it rained cats and dogs on us at PAW 2000. I'd LOVE to exact my revenge on Toboggan on a sunny, calm day, albeit 18 years later...

 

[ru4por]

With two major events slated for 2018, it looks like Kensignton's Toboggan will be playable for about a good month this year:

USADGC: Major (Fri, Jun 1 - Sun, Jun 3)
Great Lakes Open presented by Discraft: A-Tier (Sat, Jul 7 - Sun, Jul 8)

That's way longer than it's been available the past few years. I'm almost positive the flypads will be removed after each event, but as long as the baskets are in the ground. :thmbup:

So, if you've been itching to play this epic course, but the stoopidly short window of availability didn't work for you, you might want to plan a road trip some time between: Mon Jun 4th - Thu, Jul 5th.

Quality courses within 25 min of Kensington Metropark:
Black Locust (same park)
Lyon's Den (10 min from Kensington)
Cass Benton

Within 30-45 min:
Hudson Mills Original
Hudson Mills Monster
Independence Lake Red Hawk
Independence Lake Red Hawk - X
Rolling Hills

Within 60-75 min:
Addison Oaks

Burchfield and Stony Creek (each with two, tournament quality, 18 hole courses).

Could make a very solid DG road trip.

FYI the same $10/car daily park pass that gets you into Kensington also works at Hudson Mills, or Stony Creek (but only on the same day). But IMHO Toboggan + three add'l courses would be a beat down that time of year. If you plan to hit all three Metro Parks, it almost pays to get the Annual Park Pass for $35, and be able to pick them off two at time.
NOTE: Metropark entry fee does not include separate DG fee ($3/person per day).

Indy Lake and Rolling Hills are part of a different park system that charges $10/car, daily, with no add'l fee for DG. Again, the daily pass will get you into the other park on the same day.

Great info, Bogey. Kensington has new leadership that are purported to be more supportive of disc golf than the previous. Though, I can only speak to second hand information on this. If the protective nature of the MetroPark system, in regards to Toboggan, hold true.....there is a decent chance they could pull those baskets as well as the pads. Unless you know something I don't. I will try to ask around and reach out to a couple of the "powers that be", to see I can validate that the baskets will be left in the ground between events. I'd hate to see someone make a road trip and find the course out of the ground.

I actually had heard the park was kicking around the idea of charging to play Toboggan. A higher fee than the regular course, but again rumor.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Just ran into Mark Ellis and some guys who play in the Sun Dubs league at Kensington..they confirmed baskets are staying in the ground between the two events.

 

[esdubya]

Hudson Mills is replacing the old Mach IIIs on the Monster this week with new blue-banded Discatchers.

Auction of baskets to follow, but what heard is it won't be until late spring or early summer.

Ever since George retired at the Metroparks the iciness towards disc golf has been slowly thawing. Good news on the Tobo.

 

[ru4por]

I just heard yesterday that A3 received zero state berths this year. Sounded like some politics at work. Seems damn odd that the largest club in the state and probably one of the larger ones around is slighted, but I am not that interested in the nonsense. I also heard Motor City Chain Gang received half of the berths generally allotted to A3. Anyone know what their plan is to give them out?

 

[esdubya]

the largest club in the state and probably one of the larger ones around is slighted,

you are joking, right? A3 hasn't fit that description since 10+ years ago. How many people show up to the weekly singles league at Hudson Mills nowadays?

I haven't been involved in the berth thing in a while since they won't give them to clubs not in Michigan. Maybe eventually we'll open a Detroit branch of the Windsor-Essex DG Club haha. From what I remember there are pretty harsh penalties for failing to follow the 'rules'. So if your club doesn't request them the right way, pay for them and pick them up the right way, and report the winners the right way you could lose access to berths the following year.

 

[davetherocketguy]

Heard something weird today. Someone said that the baskets at Johnson Park in GR were temporary and they were going back to a pole hole setup. That's not true is it???

 

[Future_Primitive]

I actually had heard the park was kicking around the idea of charging to play Toboggan. A higher fee than the regular course, but again rumor.

Just ran into Mark Ellis and some guys who play in the Sun Dubs league at Kensington..they confirmed baskets are staying in the ground between the two events.

I am hearing the same thing Bogey is, but I also hear you are correct as well. I heard the baskets will stay in for a month or so and they will be charging to play the course. Again, second hand info but seems to be jiving with what others are hearing. :hfive:

 

[ru4por]

you are joking, right? A3 hasn't fit that description since 10+ years ago. How many people show up to the weekly singles league at Hudson Mills nowadays?

I haven't been involved in the berth thing in a while since they won't give them to clubs not in Michigan. Maybe eventually we'll open a Detroit branch of the Windsor-Essex DG Club haha. From what I remember there are pretty harsh penalties for failing to follow the 'rules'. So if your club doesn't request them the right way, pay for them and pick them up the right way, and report the winners the right way you could lose access to berths the following year.

I wasn't, but I don't do much as far as leagues with A3. Too bad if something other than golf is diminishing club numbers or berth distribution.

 

[MHaas]

This may be in this thread somewhere so apologies if it is, but I was at a Disc Golf Informational Meeting at Waterford Oaks Wednesday night. Oakland County Parks, Huron Clinton Metroparks and DNR were all there. It looks like DNR is putting in 36 holes at Bald Mountain, with the first nine to be available by Memorial Day. :thmbup:

 

[ru4por]

This may be in this thread somewhere so apologies if it is, but I was at a Disc Golf Informational Meeting at Waterford Oaks Wednesday night. Oakland County Parks, Huron Clinton Metroparks and DNR were all there. It looks like DNR is putting in 36 holes at Bald Mountain, with the first nine to be available by Memorial Day. :thmbup:

Good stuff. Having all those entities at the table is pretty cool. I keep holding out hope for the DNR, to get motivated to put in a course on Belle Isle. Each course they invest in seems to be good for that cause. :thmbup::thmbup:

Who is doing the course design and oversight? Have you seen the area where they are talking about putting the course?

 

[MHaas]

Good stuff. Having all those entities at the table is pretty cool. I keep holding out hope for the DNR, to get motivated to put in a course on Belle Isle. Each course they invest in seems to be good for that cause. :thmbup::thmbup:

Who is doing the course design and oversight? Have you seen the area where they are talking about putting the course?

I didn't ask who's designing it but got the impression that it was the DNR themselves. Also not sure on where out there, I didn't realize that that property is as big as it is.

Also, almost forgot. The Oakland County folks are looking at a redesign at Addison. No details yet but they have budget approved for the project, and said that minimally they're looking at multiple tees to make it 'championship level' in terms of distance. The doesn't really fit with the current layout though, most of those holes you can't really extend. We'll have to see what comes of that...

 

[da Crippler]

It seems to me that I remember the DNR saying a couple years ago that they wanted to install courses at all state parks eventually. They were encouraging people to buy a yearly recreational passport and wanted to have more amenities like disc golf to offer campers. Porcupine Mtns. has one now and Bewabic State Park in Iron county was supposed to be next, at least in the U.P., but I haven't heard any more about it for a while now.

 

[Reniger]

It seems to me that I remember the DNR saying a couple years ago that they wanted to install courses at all state parks eventually. They were encouraging people to buy a yearly recreational passport and wanted to have more amenities like disc golf to offer campers. Porcupine Mtns. has one now and Bewabic State Park in Iron county was supposed to be next, at least in the U.P., but I haven't heard any more about it for a while now.

Yeah, Ionia State Recreational area (state park) has had 24 holes put in over the last two years. Solid course and well worth the extra $10 a year for the Rec Passport.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

I didn't ask who's designing it but got the impression that it was the DNR themselves. Also not sure on where out there, I didn't realize that that property is as big as it is.

Very glad they want to add a course, but I'd hate to see them squander the opportunity by giving control to people who think they know what they're doing, and end up with something that is some half-assed safety hazard, doesn't make good use of the parcel they've allotted, or doesn't play well. If they aren't hiring a designer, I really hope they at least solicit some input from a local club. Pretty sure Black Ace DG operates in that area. Maybe even Motor City Chain Gang... but I'd be willing to bet that Mark Stephens and John Minicuci are opretty busy getting things ready for USADGC and DGLO.

Also, almost forgot. The Oakland County folks are looking at a redesign at Addison. No details yet but they have budget approved for the project, and said that minimally they're looking at multiple tees to make it 'championship level' in terms of distance. The doesn't really fit with the current layout though, most of those holes you can't really extend. We'll have to see what comes of that...

Again, I wonder who they plan to do the redesign.

 

[davetherocketguy]

Just played and wrote a review for Winstrom Preserve in Holland. The redesign is a dramatic improvement over what was there before. Good job to whoever designed and installed this beauty. Its a ton of fun to play.

 

[da Crippler]

Just a quick update from the U.P. The grand opening for the Old Town course in Negaunee is scheduled for July 7. I believe they have all the equipment but there's still a lot of work to do.

The Eric McCabe designed Gladstone disc golf course also has received all their equipment and are waiting for the snow to melt, but the club has been very secretive about their plans and all they will say is early summer for opening. I do know it will have red and blue Veteran baskets and the pads will be 7'x5'x12' for the longs and 7'x5'x10 for the shorts. U.P. Mountain Man is also trying to come up with a plan to resurrect The Tailings from the neglect it has suffered.