Tips to start a course...

[Showboarder]

I live in a smaller town that has 5 baskets at a college and I want to make a new course. My questions are simple, though the answers may not be. To start, I already have a park in mind, but I haven't put a course idea together yet.

1 - Aside from the obvious "putting the course together," where do I start?

2 - Would it be a good idea to check with the local paper to get an article run to see if there is anybody else out there that plays?

3 - Where should I look for funds?

I'm sure I've got more questions out there, but I figured I'd start here. And if you've built/designed a course before, I'd love to hear the story!

[Cgkdisc]

Contact the people listed as course contacts for the courses in your area/state and find out how they did it and people who can help you.

[zud00]

More than likely you're going to have to contact the parks department and make a proposal. The PDGA website has some great materials to help you get started. Others from this website have went thru the same process so maybe they can chime in.

[John Rock]

Go to the college and find out who plays, who installed the course (5 baskets), and any other questions you can think of to get you in touch with others in your area who play. Surely someone at the college knows someone or something.

Contact local businesses to see if they might be interested in helping. Sometimes you'll get lucky and find a nearby convience store/watering hole that will donate some funds and maybe even stock discs to sell.

Keep pressuring (nicely, of course) the local Parks Dept. Dig up costs and recreational value charts (or anything similar) to show them and let them keep them to study for future budget meetings.

Above all, BE PERSISTANT! Keep showing up at the area you want the course and mark trees (temporary markings) for targets. Play your layout over and over. Bring friends out to play. Host a small event. Anything to get people on the property and show the Parks Dept. that there is interest from the public.

[Jody Mitchell]

More than likely you're going to have to contact the parks department and make a proposal. The PDGA website has some great materials to help you get started. Others from this website have went thru the same process so maybe they can chime in.

This is the best advice you're going to get. Speaking from personal experience, this is what I, my wife and a few friends had to do to get our course. It's going to be a slow go process if they consider you're idea. Don't expect a course up within a few weeks or even a few months depending on how determined or how prioritized a disc golf course is to the city.

It took us 8 months to get a city council approval stamp but it was well worth every second. Contact the PDGA by phone and have them mail you a notebook, present that to your local parks & rec. then go from there. Having a petition isn't a bad thing either. We had one with over 600 signatures.

Just be professional when presenting your idea to them, hopefully they'll consider it. Best of luck to you, I know exactly what you're going through, I'm sure a LOT of us DGers do.

Also, I noticed John said something about contact local businesses. This was a big plus, too. Getting some sponsors/donations isn't a bad thing. The city doesn't mind spending the cash for the course but every bit they can save helps...politics, lol.

:)

[Sports_Fan_Stan]

Showboarder,

Let me know if I can get you in touch with folks around here that can help with your questions. Gotta agree with Jody that you'll need to begin networking with the locals who play.

BTW: Have you tried out the course in Harrah? I believe DG_Wizard lives there. Anyway, its my understanding that course is new (or heavily upgraded) and was done with plenty of help from the city and others. Sounds like quite a success story that should be looked at...

Stan

[deBebbler]

I live in a smaller town that has 5 baskets at a college and I want to make a new course. My questions are simple, though the answers may not be. To start, I already have a park in mind, but I haven't put a course idea together yet.

1 - Aside from the obvious "putting the course together," where do I start?

2 - Would it be a good idea to check with the local paper to get an article run to see if there is anybody else out there that plays?

3 - Where should I look for funds?

I'm sure I've got more questions out there, but I figured I'd start here. And if you've built/designed a course before, I'd love to hear the story!

What's "obvious" to one person is completely alien to another. Get prepared now to interact with people who are wholly ignorant to our game. You will be making the same explanations frequently.

1. Before you "put the course together", visit other courses around you. Play them and pay attention to how they are structured and how they make use of the land. Try to find some bad courses as well, to see what NOT to do.

When you have "put it together", utilize an overhead image of the course area, and overlap the hole and tee locations on it. (some GPS units can log precise coordinates for the map) This overhead will come in very useful when presenting to the Parks Dept, or whomever. Keep this image, pictures of hole and tee positions, and every other bit of info on a laptop if you can, to make it easier to port around and present.

Get an idea early on of the total cost for installation of the course. Maintenance of a park is increased minimally by a DG course (trash pickup, but not much more.) The lack of large long term maintenance costs is your greatest advantage. The initial cost is the only real obstacle, but it can be your greatest weakness if miscalculated. Better to have everyone on the same cost-page initially, than have the number rise later and lose potential support.

2. There are general wanted sections in most papers. Place an ad there to network with other chuckers in your area. Much better to pay $15 than have to spend energy shmoozing a writer to cover your story, and worse, risk a negatively biased or unflattering tone to the piece.

3. Ideally, you will have your area governmental infrastructure pay for it. A good way to get there, is to fund some smaller things, and have them pick up the rest. For example, find a local cement/building company to fund material/labor for the tees in exchange for sponsorship recognition on your course sign, and then get local sport shops to cover for a course sign. :) Every business you get on board will make it easier to convince the next, because no one wants to be left out of a popular movement, and community sponsorship will help sway voters on the local board for the final say-so. I've heard of businesses sponsoring individual holes, but that can make for messy/cluttered hole signs.

There are also grants you can write and win from the federal government. Talk to your college librarian and get in contact there with someone there who knows how to write successful grants. A small grant award can sway localities into granting the balance of your proposal.

Lastly, you will be dealing with governmental entities. The people on these committees in small towns are very interested in improving their local economies. DGers supply themselves at local stores, eat locally, and if you build a good one, will return repeatedly, each time dumping money locally. Also, DG is a sport for all ages, and emphasise the fact that it can be played by ages 8-80, and will be an inclusive activity for the entire community, not just college-aged freaks. ;)

Good luck, and keep in mind, this is rarely a process that is completed in 6 months. You are likely to be involved with this for years to come.


Oh yeah, don't forget to put in a warm-up basket close to the start of the course!!! :thmbup: