Death of a Course

[ChoochCharlie]

What are the causes of death? What reasons do courses vanish or get removed?

French Creek near me in PA has a new one in the woods, but I don't know if this is why they removed the old one. Both are still on the official state park maps, posted and printed. And on the PDGA list.

And I read and hear about great old courses that are no longer. What stories goes along with their demise?

 

[billnchristy]

Easiest way to sum it up is dumbasses.

Either dumbass players/park inhabitants or dumbass politicians.

 

[wolito]

Thats a good question. I don't have any stories to share of course becoming extinct though. A number of them are pulled for using the land for something else. A few are pulled for issues regarding discs hitting other park users. I believe some are just neglected and not well cared for.

 

[Camgolfer]

The course nearest me, possibly the busiest course in Denver has been a hot topic in the city to be pulled. This course is very popular with veteran and new disc golfers alike. The problem is that it is an older course, is very crammed in to a small space, and is a popular park for people walking, riding bikes and other non-disc related activities. One hole has been permanently pulled and the course is down to 17 holes. With the popularity of the sport and this course in general because it is shorter than other local courses, many people play it. Did I mention this course is always busy. People get hit, errant discs land in neighbor's yards, discs hit cars, etc so its only a matter of time before this course is permanently closed which would be a tragedy since it is a disc golf course named in honor of a local disc golf legend.

 

[bazillion]

Deerfield died, so the rumor goes, because someone got hit by flying plastic. It came back only as a result of a total redesign and extensive warning signage around the perimeter of the park. It's back on a trial basis, with civic final call due sometime soon. Don't know when, sorry.

 

[DavidSauls]

By far most of the extinct courses I've played, and especially great ones, were private courses. Their reasons for closings were varied but mostly due to non-disc-golf related issues in the property owners' lives.

I can't think of any public courses anywhere near me that have closed, but there have been occasional threats, portions of courses lost to other activities, and encroachment by other park activities that have diminished courses. To my knowledge these haven't been directly due to disc golfers' conduct, as much as the parks department holding other users in higher regard.

 

[jasonc]

cause of death

We had a short, 9 hole course pulled a couple years ago because of NIMBY residents. The worst part about this one was 99% of the complaints were filed by people who lived across the street from the course. There were only 2 residents that actually shared a property line with the course. To this day, the same park area is rarely used for any activity. Same as it was before the course was installed. :doh:

Apparently the mere sight of people walking through the park and trowing plastic was too much of an eyesore for these residents.

 

[optidiscic]

French Creek's 2 older courses were pulled and a better course was built back in the woods using the 36 baskets (2 baskets per hole) The new course is far more challenging and safer as it doesnt meander around common use areas. Thats a case of it being done right.
Often those in power see disc golf as recreation and areas of parks are zoned recreation and they demand the course be put in this area. DUMB! Disc Golf should be put in the non active areas of parkland away from others but you can never seem to get this point through many park boards nimble minds. So you get the crappy course in the public area that is either dangerous or is never played...and then the same park board reports to other towns etc. that disc golf is not a worthwhile venture due to lack of popularity or its dangerous. It has to be done correctly in the first place.
Also when planning you have to consider the worst possible player making the worst possible decision and making the worst shot. Yeah u gotta plan that some idiot will throw a boss on a 200 ft hole and griplock into that parking lot or playground.
In short your design has to be idiot proof and your park board must be idiot proof. Not likely but its reality.

 

[agent_peebody]

Easiest way to sum it up is dumbasses.

Either dumbass players/park inhabitants or dumbass politicians.

Basil Marceaux wouldn't have let it die.

 

[Sunday Mike]

Hoopes Park in Chandler was pulled back in '03 because a lady got hit in the face and made a stink w/ the City Council. The real sad part is that before she got hit she was often seen having a beer w/ disc golfers--so she knew what the deal was. Sucks...I liked that course.

 

[mabraddock]

johnson park in grand rapids got its baskets pulled because douchebag hillbillies and scrappers kept stealing the baskets... the county only fell for that a few times and guess what? post course with zero maintenance... guess it was a pretty good course before all that...

 

[Spatula Cornroll]

That sucks. I grew up in grand rapids. Played that course a bunch of times.

 

[ironmon]

wtf - you wanna play dg there?
play object there!
do ya really need ka-ching?
or is it the rip?

yeah - it's drive for show putt for dough
but when you're kickin back it's
drink and rip
put in a 4x4
cover the top with metal to get a tasty sound

 

[Sadjo]

It seems a lot of the courses in the West Suburbs of Minneapolis, MN are no longer or been moved. I know one was moved to a different city park due to the walking path being too close to the course. I'm not sure if anyone ever got hurt or hit, but they moved the course to another park so no real lose.

Mostly the ones that end up being pulled are due to expansion of park activities that result in taking over land the course was on. In a lot of these case, the park plan had been to use that land for future activities and Disc Golf was a low cost alternative sports until funding became available to expand the course.

A recent private course, Chattooga Belle Farm in Long Creek, SC, is using land that the owner of the property has plans for developing in the future. When designing the course, the pitch to use that land was the course can be pulled and redesigned when the time comes. The holes that play along the lake wouldn't be there if it wasn't for this discussion. Playing along the lake adds to the course.

 

[srm_520]

Public courses in neighborhoods that decide to go private. It may just kill off River Grove in Houston. We'll see.

 

[Porkchop]

Des Moines History of Pulled Courses

• 1979 - Walker Johnson - Pulled in 1980 to make room for new Police Station (Baskets moved to North Karen Acres Park)
  
• 1980 - North Karen Acres - Pulled in 2000 due to encroachment of suburbia

• 1995 - Margo Frankel Woods State Park - Pulled in 1997 (The course used 14 acres of 140. The Sierra Club, Garden Club, and Audubon Society protested the course and wanted it removed. They won. The course was removed in three days.)
  
• 1999 - Big Creek State Park - Course paid for by the State of Iowa because of large number of written protests sent to the state over removal of Margo.

 

[ZBoazMobster]

Has any course ever been pulled due to sinkholes? One of our courses has some, and a few are getting pretty bad. One particular spot, I seen a guy literally fall all the way up to his hip, into a hole. This was years ago, it was on level, flat ground.... Now the same spot has an area of about 200 sq ft that has depressed 2-3 feet.

 

[Dfwdscglfr]

whoa which course

 

[eegor]

I couldn't give the year... but over a decade ago, there was a course at Robertson Park (also called Dalrock) at Lake Ray Hubbard east of Dallas. It was wide open, never mowed, baskets used as grills by "new arrivals to our country"...

Seldom played and never maintained, the course died a natural death...

 

[klay]

The course at Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado was pulled by the forest service due to what was claimed to be "erosion issues".

Rumor has it, though, that a new course will be installed there next year with the proper precautions in place to prevent the same things from happening again.