My boyfriend and I have introduced the idea to the City of Long Beach to put a new disc golf course in one of the City's many large parks, to a warm reception.
It started when I sent an email to the City suggesting a new course, and to our surprise, one of the City's Recreation Supervisors asked to meet me and talk about the idea. We met him at the Eldorado Park course this morning. He was wearing a dress shirt and tie, carrying his briefcase. But he was a nice guy who admitted that he didn't know anything about disc golf, was very interested in the idea. We talked about disc golf, the community that it creates, the estimated cost to construct a course, and recreation program opportunities as we wandered over to the first tee and waited for a group to finish shooting 1. I eventually teed off.
There were several other groups on the course, so the R.S. observed on his own that that it's a popular recreational activity, is inexpensive to maintain, and is self-promoting (doesn't need a formal program to make worthwhile).
I teed off a couple of shots from #2, and the R.S. didn't even put down his briefcase to he pick up a driver and toss a pretty good approach shot for a rookie. My boyfriend handed him another disc and said, "Put down your briefcase this time." Dang, the R.S. laid it up about 8' from the basket. We knew we had him then.
We stopped playing and we walked the rest of the course. We ran into one of the local guys who's a Grand Master, and the R.S. was pretty impressed with him. Then we watched our friend shoot an amazing tee shot, and that pretty much sealed the deal.
So now I need to get back to the R.S. with a list of suggested resources for him to contact. He wants to understand the opportunity as fully as possible, and put together a preliminary proposal that he can circulate within his department.
I've got a lot of ideas on where to start, and I'd love to hear from anyone who may have been down this path before. I'm also interested in learning about any grants that be available beyond the PDGA's $500 Innovation Award.
Appreciate any experience or resources you have to share.
Thanks in advance.
It started when I sent an email to the City suggesting a new course, and to our surprise, one of the City's Recreation Supervisors asked to meet me and talk about the idea. We met him at the Eldorado Park course this morning. He was wearing a dress shirt and tie, carrying his briefcase. But he was a nice guy who admitted that he didn't know anything about disc golf, was very interested in the idea. We talked about disc golf, the community that it creates, the estimated cost to construct a course, and recreation program opportunities as we wandered over to the first tee and waited for a group to finish shooting 1. I eventually teed off.
There were several other groups on the course, so the R.S. observed on his own that that it's a popular recreational activity, is inexpensive to maintain, and is self-promoting (doesn't need a formal program to make worthwhile).
I teed off a couple of shots from #2, and the R.S. didn't even put down his briefcase to he pick up a driver and toss a pretty good approach shot for a rookie. My boyfriend handed him another disc and said, "Put down your briefcase this time." Dang, the R.S. laid it up about 8' from the basket. We knew we had him then.
We stopped playing and we walked the rest of the course. We ran into one of the local guys who's a Grand Master, and the R.S. was pretty impressed with him. Then we watched our friend shoot an amazing tee shot, and that pretty much sealed the deal.
So now I need to get back to the R.S. with a list of suggested resources for him to contact. He wants to understand the opportunity as fully as possible, and put together a preliminary proposal that he can circulate within his department.
I've got a lot of ideas on where to start, and I'd love to hear from anyone who may have been down this path before. I'm also interested in learning about any grants that be available beyond the PDGA's $500 Innovation Award.
Appreciate any experience or resources you have to share.
Thanks in advance.
