colorado course maintenance

[smyith]

so I recently moved out here from the Midwest. and I have to admit I am a little disappointed in the total lack of course maintenance here. everywhere I've been except for a few courses has grass waist high in the fairway. I am curious if this is normal or the rain being using used as an excuse to not mow? do the park districts not give a dang about disc? doesnt seem like there is a lack of tax money in the are, so i cant see them having the issues MI does (they still manage to do better than this). can someone fimilar with the denver metro area point me to the courses that actually consistently take care of their parks? would be appreciated. Not lloking to start any arguements just curious and looking for guidance.

 

[TheWCG]

Badlands brah

 

[Usher]

Depends. Springvale in Thornton is mowed by the city weekly. Other course depend on the city.

 

[smyith]

Thanks. Ya badlands isnt bad, played johnny roberts...mowed and a fun putter course.

 

[threevok]

Best bets:
Benedict Park in Brighton
Loomiller and Centennial Clark in Longmont
Springvale in Thornton, most holes
Badlands, most holes
East Interlocken in Broomfield
Johnny Roberts in Denver
Harlow Platts and Valmont in Boulder
Exposition Park in Aurora
Edora in Fort Collins
Head for the mountains

 

[smyith]

Best bets:
Benedict Park in Brighton
Loomiller and Centennial Clark in Longmont
Springvale in Thornton, most holes
Badlands, most holes
East Interlocken in Broomfield
Johnny Roberts in Denver
Harlow Platts and Valmont in Boulder
Exposition Park in Aurora
Edora in Fort Collins
Head for the mountains

awesome. exactly what i was looking for. thank you.

 

[TheWCG]

Best bets: Head for the mountains

Yes sir

 

[TalbotTrojan]

The issue isn't that they do not take care of them but that they build courses on open space land where they do not have to take care of the course as much. Saves on labor, makes good fodder for new threads on DGCR. I agree with what has already been said. I do know there is a plan in place at Fehringer Ranch to mow, but I also know if it gets too wet that becomes a non-option.

 

[AndyJB]

This freakin' guy again...

Why don't you just schedule a work day at the courses that you like but wish were mowed? All the local clubs are very easy to contact. No, local Parks and Rec at just about any course does not take care of the course maintenenece. Here in the Springs, we are lucky if Widefield gets mowed once a year. Everything is up to us.

You mentioned your hometown area has a lot of maintenece done by local clubs. Same thing here. All the clubs I've worked with in CO are desperate for motivated people to organize work days/events/etc. Oftentimes, someone who is not from the area is the best at this, because they don't have any bias or any stuck in a rut ways.

 

[AndyJB]

It does surprise me how often people move to Colorado and gripe about courses but don't bother to inquire about how to help. I'm super jealous of people who come from areas where Parks and Rec does anything for their courses. It doesn't happen here. No Parks department will ever put man hours into a course...they rely soely on local volunteers.

Sorry I came off as a jerk in my post above, but all you have to do is talk to a local player or email a club. You were lucky in your previous location that Parks did some work, despite having little funds. Here, pretty much state-wide, they have the money but don't care.

I understand now why you were so let down by the Aviary. Its all perspective. Colorado, dispite being a haven for disc golf, gets no support from the local governance.

 

[smyith]

Sorry AndyJB TLDR

 

[smyith]

Andy,
First, if you want me to join a club, why would you be nothing but hostile to me from the very start. You messaged me with hostile remarks and then get upset that I send you back a message explaining myself in detail. "too long" for you to read. very mature.
Second, like I already explained to you, I just moved here. I took a huge hit financially and professionally in order to do so. Joining a club and volunteering my time isn't on my list of priorities yet. Right now I am just looking for some courses I will enjoy playing while building a new life here. When I reach some stability then clubs and helping out will be back on the list.
Third, seeking information as to why something is before acting is how I do things. I am not and have never been one to act on something just because someone told me to. Knowing now that the parks departments for the most part dont care but are willing to work with clubs and residents tells me that there is something I can do. Not all places are like that.
Hope that wasn't too long for you to read.....smh

 

[tomdizzlefizzle]

It does surprise me how often people move to Colorado and gripe about courses but don't bother to inquire about how to help. I'm super jealous of people who come from areas where Parks and Rec does anything for their courses. It doesn't happen here. No Parks department will ever put man hours into a course...they rely soely on local volunteers.

Sorry I came off as a jerk in my post above, but all you have to do is talk to a local player or email a club. You were lucky in your previous location that Parks did some work, despite having little funds. Here, pretty much state-wide, they have the money but don't care.

I understand now why you were so let down by the Aviary. Its all perspective. Colorado, dispite being a haven for disc golf, gets no support from the local governance.

Give him a break he is from Illinois.

 

[Chiefstang]

I run the club in Longmont. Our courses are perfectly maintained by the city. Hit up the "Longs Peak Disc Golf Club" on Facebook for all our events. We have about 130 members and are pretty active.

Tag round tonight at Loomiller Park, Dubs tomorrow, and League on Wednesday. Come on up!!!

 

[riltim]

This freakin' guy again...

Why don't you just schedule a work day at the courses that you like but wish were mowed? All the local clubs are very easy to contact. No, local Parks and Rec at just about any course does not take care of the course maintenenece. Here in the Springs, we are lucky if Widefield gets mowed once a year. Everything is up to us.

You mentioned your hometown area has a lot of maintenece done by local clubs. Same thing here. All the clubs I've worked with in CO are desperate for motivated people to organize work days/events/etc. Oftentimes, someone who is not from the area is the best at this, because they don't have any bias or any stuck in a rut ways.

People should be able to comment on/question the condition of a course without some bozo laying into him about doing course work.

Most sane parks would never let a disc golfer out on public land with a lawnmower as it's a liability nightmare.Knowing this why would someone try to contact the parks department to see if they could help out running some power equipment?

 

[jeffmonty]

Most sane parks would never let a disc golfer out on public land with a lawnmower as it's a liability nightmare.Knowing this why would someone try to contact the parks department to see if they could help out running some power equipment?

You must have it pretty good where you're at.... All but one of our 4 courses depend completely on volunteer club labor for maintenance, including the use of power tools.(with the blessing of the Parks Department). Without this volunteer labor, 3 of the 4 would be unplayable, with the one exception a 9 hole short course in a park the city mows about half of.

It's easy to become spoiled/entitled if all the work is done by someone else, and you only have to show up and play.

 

[jeffmonty]

^^ I should have added that those courses are located mostly in the undeveloped areas of the City and County properties.

 

[riltim]

You must have it pretty good where you're at.... All but one of our 4 courses depend completely on volunteer club labor for maintenance, including the use of power tools.(with the blessing of the Parks Department). Without this volunteer labor, 3 of the 4 would be unplayable, with the one exception a 9 hole short course in a park the city mows about half of.

It's easy to become spoiled/entitled if all the work is done by someone else, and you only have to show up and play.

I don't have it good. The maintenance of our home course is 100% up to us with the exception of multi-use portions of the park, which they will mow. We are forbidden from using any power saws too due to liability so the city will chainsaw stuff for us too which usually takes 4-6 after notice.

 

[COLODISCR]

I'm actually kind of surprised at the response... Being a city employee myself I can tell you that someone would flip here and you'd get fined by a park ranger for mowing or using any power tools in a city park without written permission. They would really lose it if something gets damaged or someone gets hurt possibly leading to a closure of the course too.

On the other hand if someone offers free labor and it's approved by parks and recreation why send paid employees out when it's done for free? I think part of the issue is we just put up with it and complain on here instead of going through proper channels to get it fixed. Anyone bother to complain to parks & rec (to a supervisor) or talk to city council about the condition of the city park you are playing at? Your taxes pay the bills and if enough complaints are heard things usually get fixed (eventually). All that being said I'd be all about doing volunteer maintenance especially if they let us set up the course, make changes to it and maintain it. That way we could have the courses we want getting scoring 4-5's on the reviews here. It's pretty bad that we have no courses worthy of top pros like Mcbeth with as many people we have that play here. Maybe we need a well maintained pay to play course here in the metro area. Sorry end of rant...

 

[AndyJB]

It's easy to become spoiled/entitled if all the work is done by someone else, and you only have to show up and play.

Absolutely. There is just no impetus for the parks and rec's around here to put any effort into maintaining disc golf courses. For instance, our local pitch n' putt type course, Cumberland Green, was the site of my 2013 Birdie Bash. A bunch of the money went back to the city. They ostensibly used it to put in three more trash cans....this year.

And yes, I have complained to parks departments in Fountain and Widefield, to a very tepid response. Our local club was singing the praises of the parks dept. in Colorado Springs because they had a work release program from the jail come clear out some trash and a volunteer day to come clean up the Aviary. Seems like small potatoes. They DID build a very nice path on one of the holes, which is the only thing city employees have ever done for that course.

And it's not really a knock on them. Like COLODISCR said, if people are going to do it for free, why send employees to do it?