Advise for a new course please

[craigd]

Dude. I live in Marietta, so first of all, God Bless You if you can make this happen. I can't express my excitement at reading this thread.

Second, and most important, there are a couple of active disc golf organizations in the area. If you aren't a member of one or both, by all means, they'd love to help you in this venture. Below are links to their websites. You absolutely MUST get in touch with them, especially if you want help designing the course. If you haven't broken the news to either of these groups yet (I hope you're a member of one or both and you already have), it would be a major bombshell. Cobb County is desperate for an 18-hole course, but nobody is going to turn down the chance at a second 9-holer, and it would be a gateway to more and larger courses. Git 'er done!

http://www.discgolfatlanta.com

http://ngdgc.org/default.aspx

Hey Man,

I am glad you are so excited. I have been in touch mike and Mark with NGDGC. I have walked the park with Mark already too. I have not tried to reach discgolfatlanta yet because I am a little worried about having to many irons in the fire if you know what I mean. I have the impression that ngdgc is pretty involved with Oregon park so I am waiting to see if they are really ready to actually put in alot of energy in a different park. They, on the other hand are most likey waiting on me to make sure this really happens before they make a commitment. If I get the go ahead I will most likely try to get as many people as want to contribute to come and help with the layout. My thoughts are to take as many suggestions as possible but limit a team of about 5 people to be the ones to decide where the pins and holes shold go. I just think that it will be too hard to get many more people than that to agree. Anyway I have to focus on getting the OK for now.

If you are wondering how all of this happened...
The City Code Enforcement Official lives a couple of houses down from me. His son and my son are good friends. I have even taken him disc golfing with us and he likes it which is a plus. We were talking about the park and that is how all of this came about. He is all for it. The chief of Police is all for it and wants something to happen quickly. The neighbors around the park are on his butt to get something done with this land. I spent about two weeks putting together and extensive packet with all kinds of info and prices from disc basket manufactures. Now the Parks and Rec director wants to talk with me. I am waiting to get a date to meet with him. So hold your breath. I have been dealing with this for about two months now. I promised lots of support from the disc golf community and am sure I can count on everyone. I hope you will want to be involved too.

 

[solomon.trenton]

innova's ideas

I have a chance to build/design a course. It will be in a park here in Kennesaw, Georgia where I live. I have pitched the course to several people and there are several highly ranking city officials on board. Now it has come to a point where it is a watch and wait situation. I feel very positive that this could happen and am pretty excited.

I will get to the point in a few minutes but I feel like I need to give some more background. Here are the pros. This is a park in an existing neighborhood. It is small, about six acres. The property itself is pretty cool. It has rolling hills, 1/3 is densely wooded, 1/3 is somewhat open with many mature trees all around with little or no undergrowth, finally the last 1/3 is wide open. There is a creek running right through the middle so it is very nice.

Ok, now for the cons. It could only have 9 holes tops. They would have to be pretty short. I think 200' would be the longest hole. A few would only be 100'-125'. Pins and tees might be pretty close to one another in some cases.

This is a park that used to have a playground and basketball course but have since been removed, mainly because of vandalism, due to a few middle and high school punks. Now the park sits blank and waiting for some sort of rejuvenation. The city wants something that will bring older folks to the park to help keep an adult presence around for safety.

I really think a good course could be put here. I think I have convinced the powers that be for the most part. I think this is a nice opportunity to introduce younger players and families to disc golf, not to mention all the other benefits that would take forever to type and I would just be preaching to the choir.

Now for the questions. If this short new course was built in your area, would you come and play it? If you lived close would you help develop it and help it mature or would the fact that it is so short keep you away? I have read plenty reviews that say that short courses are a big con, not to mention it only will have 9 holes. If this happens I am most likely going to have to invest quite a bit of time and energy and I would hate for it to fail. The city would most likely pay for baskets and some labor. There is a chance that the community service labor could help as well. I am sure they would hate for it to fail also. With that entirely said let me know your honest opinion about this. If you have the time please be thorough with your answers. I will be sharing all of the feedback with the city.

innova offers quite a few ideas about how to build a course. check out the following link.

http://www.innovadiscs.com/coursedesign/course5.htm

 

[Lewis]

Yeah the NGDGC are good people, and the most "local" you can find. It's also a plus that they've got good experience with their own 9-hole course, and with working with the County and the Parks & Rec division. If they are willing to support you, and I'd be surprised if they weren't, there's no need to get the Atlanta DG group involved.

And you can count on my support. I'm not the most experienced player, and I've never designed a course, but I'm willing to help in any way I can.

 

[Steve C]

Craig, good on you. Go for it! I'm in E Cobb and its friggin 45 minutes to ERP/Deerlick/OP (a county of .5m people has one DG course - sheesh!)

I'll also second the earlier poster's suggestion to walk the park with as many players as possible. It doesn't mean they have to spend the next six months in your hip pocket. More ideas are better. And a few good ideas are the key to success. There are MPO-level players that are mature and articulate. They can help you.

I'm no MPO guy, but I'll be happy to help in whatever capacity you want.

Make it happen!

- Steve

 

[kinfolkfan]

I play the Hood River DGC, OR, that being said people will play anywhere. I really dont think they have 6 acres. Good MANDOS make good courses. Good luck. Have fun.

 

[craigd]

update

Update for the north Georgia guys... I have a meeting set up with Doug Taylor who is the director of the City of Kennesaw's Parks and Recreation department Friday, January 9th at 2pm at White Oak Park. This is a meeting to talk more about the course. As I have mentioned before, there are several people on board within the city. I believe this will be the last hurdle to overcome in terms of getting this going. If anyone wants to email Doug to show your support please do by all means. Please try to make all of your feedback to him as professional as possible. His email address is [email protected]

If anyone has questions or would like to know how you can become involved in helping get this off the ground you can email me at [email protected]

 

[theGryphon]

Well first off I want to wish you good luck with the prodject. Personally I think even a short 9 hole course is beneficial to just about any area. I see lots of familys bringing their younglings to my home course. This doesn't bother me but I'm sure it's a bit overwhelming for the families at times. I would think the shorter holes would give the younger crowd more confidence in their early years. I also think it would be great for older (no offense to anyone or anyones family) folks who may not be able to handle a full 18 holes on a big course. I think with the proper layout it could be a great addition to almost any community. I personally would show up from time to time if I a: didn't have much time but wanted to work on my short game. Or b: wanted to work on my accuracy. Maybe not throw from the tee pad but find difficult shots to attempt and set up for some practice with a few discs. This would be great for a newbie like myself, that way my practicing wouldn't get in the way of the experienced players. I agree with those that have said something about multiple baskets. If that's an option ...great. If not I still think just about any town would benefit from a well layed out and manicured DG park. Good luck.

 

[Olorin]

This sounds like it could be a great layout for kids! Courses of this level (Green) are the ideal way to introduce the next generation to the world's greatest sport. If it's designed for kids you could have a real winner. In an ideal world every area should have at least one Green level course for kids, beginners, and senior players.

GO for it!!

 

[Lewis]

So is the proposal for White Oak Park in Paulding County? That's Hiram, Ga, not Kennesaw. Now I'm confused.

 

[Flies to the Left]

Don't restrict your plans to just 9 baskets. If there is room for more, put them in. Don't get stuck on the idea of 9,18, or 27. One of the courses I have been playing lately is a 12. It uses all available space in the park and it really works well. Just don't crowd in the fairways. Also a practice basket is also welcome

 

[craigd]

So is the proposal for White Oak Park in Paulding County? That's Hiram, Ga, not Kennesaw. Now I'm confused.

It turns out that there is a new course going in at a park called White Oak Park in Paulding County as well. It is just a coincidence that they are named the same name. I am going to talk to the park guy about naming the Kennesaw course something else even though it is in White Oak Park in Kennesaw. Hopefully that will help stop any confusion. I am looking forward to the Paulding county course as well...

 

[swellerdiscgolf]

Good Luck with the course. While a 9er would not be my first choice, anything is better than nothing. Also with my job, I am on the road during the day and another course close by would be great to play, especially a short 9 that I could play during lunch. I know I don't live down there, but that is my opinion. So once again, GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[tick]

Thank you Craig for working to get another disc golf course built!
I believe a well designed and built 9 (or 12 etc.) hole course is a very good thing indeed. A poorly designed and built course is a step backward that should not be taken. If you have not already done several course designs, I urge you to get some advise - a walk through - from one or more experienced designers. Contact the PDGA's International Disc Golf Center in Appling GA and see if they can put you in touch with experienced designers in your area. Tom Monroe and Chuck Kennedy head up the Disc Golf Course Designers Group which is an association of those who are making an on-going effort to study and understand and put into useage the factors which create a superior disc golf course. I myself am a member of this group, and I have put in years of effort to learn about disc golf course design. Here is a link to the groups contact pages: http://www.discgolfcoursedesigners.org/discgolfwiki/index.php5?title=Main_Page
By all means, keep your hands on the wheel! Guide this project through to the happiest ending, but get the best help and advise you can. Designers provide a number of levels of service and fee schedules, so you can probably work out the level of service and cost that works for your project. Maybe you can even get the Parks Dept. to cut loose a design fee to help get a recognized designer to put his stamp of approval on the project.
Knowing what I know, if I were heading up a park department, I would never approve a new disc golf course which was not recommended by a recognized designer. Likewise, if I were a basket manufacturer, I would not sell baskets for a course without a similar approval.
Best of luck, and thanks again for this great thing you are doing!

 

[craigd]

Thank you Craig for working to get another disc golf course built!
I believe a well designed and built 9 (or 12 etc.) hole course is a very good thing indeed. A poorly designed and built course is a step backward that should not be taken. If you have not already done several course designs, I urge you to get some advise - a walk through - from one or more experienced designers. Contact the PDGA's International Disc Golf Center in Appling GA and see if they can put you in touch with experienced designers in your area. Tom Monroe and Chuck Kennedy head up the Disc Golf Course Designers Group which is an association of those who are making an on-going effort to study and understand and put into useage the factors which create a superior disc golf course. I myself am a member of this group, and I have put in years of effort to learn about disc golf course design. Here is a link to the groups contact pages: http://www.discgolfcoursedesigners.org/discgolfwiki/index.php5?title=Main_Page
By all means, keep your hands on the wheel! Guide this project through to the happiest ending, but get the best help and advise you can. Designers provide a number of levels of service and fee schedules, so you can probably work out the level of service and cost that works for your project. Maybe you can even get the Parks Dept. to cut loose a design fee to help get a recognized designer to put his stamp of approval on the project.
Knowing what I know, if I were heading up a park department, I would never approve a new disc golf course which was not recommended by a recognized designer. Likewise, if I were a basket manufacturer, I would not sell baskets for a course without a similar approval.
Best of luck, and thanks again for this great thing you are doing!

Well thanks tick,

it has come down to two days for me. I think that tomorrow will be the

 

[reggaB]

It turns out that there is a new course going in at a park called White Oak Park in Paulding County as well. It is just a coincidence that they are named the same name. I am going to talk to the park guy about naming the Kennesaw course something else even though it is in White Oak Park in Kennesaw. Hopefully that will help stop any confusion. I am looking forward to the Paulding county course as well...

On a side note, The Paulding County Course has installed the front nine!!

The front nine is now ready to play. Watch for the back nine as soon as I get the rest of the money for the baskets.

Right now there are white PVC markers for the tees, but we will be going "all out" on this course as time goes on. Think concrete tees, multiple tees and pin positions, benches, etc...

Good luck on the Kennesaw project, from past tries at getting a park in Cobb County they are really down on something if it does not bring them any revenue.


Later,

Mike D

 

[craigd]

On a side note, The Paulding County Course has installed the front nine!!

The front nine is now ready to play. Watch for the back nine as soon as I get the rest of the money for the baskets.

Right now there are white PVC markers for the tees, but we will be going "all out" on this course as time goes on. Think concrete tees, multiple tees and pin positions, benches, etc...

Good luck on the Kennesaw project, from past tries at getting a park in Cobb County they are really down on something if it does not bring them any revenue.


Later,

Mike D

Well thanks for the heads up. I will probably hit it this weekend!!!

 

[craigd]

Thanks to you who sent feedback on this thread.

Well I have some bad news. It would appear that the Kennesaw course is dead for now (at least in White Oak Park). There were several reasons. The least of which is a lack of money but that can be raised so that was not the big reason. Also they want there to be other activities and they think people will get hit by discs. That was not the killer though. This park does not have the parking that they think would be needed and also it is really close to homes. They are afraid it is going to cause trouble with the neighbors around the park. The good news is that they are not against a course just against one in this park. If any of you Georgia guys are aware of some property in Kennesaw (needs to be in the city limits) let me know. Swift-Cantrell Park or Adams Park are not an options either. Again this is not Cobb County I'm dealing with. It is the City of Kennesaw. Anyway, thanks guys.

 

[thatguy]

I don't have any advise but I want to wish you well in your venture. I am trying to get the same thing going here and understand how hard it is. Good luck and I hope next time I come through I can play at your course.