Dretzka and Brown Deer are P2P starting this year, as well.
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Elver and Hiestand Park
- Thread starter damando_ed
- Start date
pointdisc
Double Eagle Member
You could do an open records request to see where the money is going. There's a decent chunk likely going for the ranger just to drive around & collect the fees.
Does that ranger also keep non disc golfers off the course? I think that would be my biggest complaint about a pay to play course in a multi-use public park. If I have to pay to play a course, then I don't want to have to deal with the guy running up and down hills getting his workout on, or the people walking their dogs thru the woods, or the family that thought it would be a good idea to have a picnic right next to a basket.
BlazedOrangeHat
Par Member
Member Glide who replied earlier in the thread runs the Glide disc golf store next to Hiestand park and has the passes for sale in his shop. He confirmed the general amount of money, however, the specific number is unknown unless someone who works for the city has access to that information.
Attachments
BuzzzChief
Double Eagle Member
So you've got a part-time ranger, course improvements, and some piece of that emerald ash borer mitigation. The season passes probably don't cover it.
trifocal
Eagle Member
At Hiestand Park...
Ranger? Last year I only saw a Ranger appear at #1 tee area. Infrequently.
Running? #3 was fairly popular for workouts, but not a real nuisance.
Picnic? I didn't see any picnics, but a film crew was oblivious to discs while filming behind #2 one glorious Saturday afternoon. Like 5 golfers on the course that day.
Dogs? People still bring their dogs... golfers and non-golfers. AJ the black lab and his human don't play DG, but are out walking in the morning. AJ has a nose for plastic and found discs end up back at Glide for pick up. :clap:
I'd like to see a couple free courses debut in the City. And baskets in Parks, like jungle gyms. 2- 3 baskets for kids to learn on and others to practice. Hope some of the revenue goes in that direction.
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Elver has a couple holes that run directly across a very well-used hill. Runners, hikers, general meandering. When I was there, we had to wait quite a while just for the hill to clear enough to be able to throw across it. Seems very odd for a P2P course.
Alcuin
Eagle Member
I have my gripes about the city's handling of the courses. If I recall correctly, there was a bit of a shakeup when the person who was in charge of the courses quit. As I understand it, he got disc golf. When he left, there was a bit of a vacuum. I'd love to see someone who really understands the game from an insider's perspective.
As a disc golfer and permit owner, here are my wishes:
More visibility for the rangers. I was asked for my pass only once or twice last year, and the ranger was very sheepish when she asked. I probably played at least 150 days last year, so I should have seen the rangers a lot more than I did.
Better communication with the disc golf community. The city needs to have listening sessions, or at the very least a suggestion box to see what people want and to keep people aware of what changes are being made to the courses. For example, they just up and switched a pin position on hole 18 Hiestand last year to deal with erosion. It was great that they did that, but there was no notice. They just decided to do it and did it. Need more communication in general.
Multi-use parks. I just don't think these parks should be multi-use at all if disc golfers are playing. This is my major complaint -- I'm paying money to disc golf here, and people are all over the hill at Elver, or they're riding their bikes around Hiestand or having a treasure hunt (we actually called the ranger and had them kicked off the course -- that was ridiculous). I know it would be a change for many people, but during disc golf season, there should be no people walking up and down Elver's hill. I don't care if there's just one disc golfer on the course: we pay for it, it is ours for the season. I'd like to hear an argument against this if there is one: my impression is that they just don't want to make the change, which is disappointing.
Signage for non-disc golfers. I'd like to see some signage explaining that this is a disc golf course at prominent areas around the course, a thumbnail about what the game is, and a warning that discs fly very fast, have sharp edges, and can injure you. People don't understand and respect that enough, and the fact is that if you are on the course, you might get hit. It shouldn't be my fault if I hit someone wandering around the course, but it's a grey area if they haven't been properly notified.
Free courses - I want to see some free courses sponsored by the city. I heard they were looking to create some smaller courses which would be more casual and free for those who just want to try the game or don't want to worry about navigating a difficult course. As I understand it, this was floating around as an idea, but I want to see it actually happen. Again, if they're planning this, I'd like to see them communicate their plans.
I'm sure I can think of more things I'd like to see, but that's enough for now. I rate them at a solid B- for their performance so far. I'm mostly satisfied, but I want to see some improvement as well.
As a disc golfer and permit owner, here are my wishes:
More visibility for the rangers. I was asked for my pass only once or twice last year, and the ranger was very sheepish when she asked. I probably played at least 150 days last year, so I should have seen the rangers a lot more than I did.
Better communication with the disc golf community. The city needs to have listening sessions, or at the very least a suggestion box to see what people want and to keep people aware of what changes are being made to the courses. For example, they just up and switched a pin position on hole 18 Hiestand last year to deal with erosion. It was great that they did that, but there was no notice. They just decided to do it and did it. Need more communication in general.
Multi-use parks. I just don't think these parks should be multi-use at all if disc golfers are playing. This is my major complaint -- I'm paying money to disc golf here, and people are all over the hill at Elver, or they're riding their bikes around Hiestand or having a treasure hunt (we actually called the ranger and had them kicked off the course -- that was ridiculous). I know it would be a change for many people, but during disc golf season, there should be no people walking up and down Elver's hill. I don't care if there's just one disc golfer on the course: we pay for it, it is ours for the season. I'd like to hear an argument against this if there is one: my impression is that they just don't want to make the change, which is disappointing.
Signage for non-disc golfers. I'd like to see some signage explaining that this is a disc golf course at prominent areas around the course, a thumbnail about what the game is, and a warning that discs fly very fast, have sharp edges, and can injure you. People don't understand and respect that enough, and the fact is that if you are on the course, you might get hit. It shouldn't be my fault if I hit someone wandering around the course, but it's a grey area if they haven't been properly notified.
Free courses - I want to see some free courses sponsored by the city. I heard they were looking to create some smaller courses which would be more casual and free for those who just want to try the game or don't want to worry about navigating a difficult course. As I understand it, this was floating around as an idea, but I want to see it actually happen. Again, if they're planning this, I'd like to see them communicate their plans.
I'm sure I can think of more things I'd like to see, but that's enough for now. I rate them at a solid B- for their performance so far. I'm mostly satisfied, but I want to see some improvement as well.
trifocal
Eagle Member
#2 and #3... many a disagreement over the years about right of way on 2 and 3. You have to bite the bullet there and be patient. I didn't make it to Elver last year, but I hear #9 has been reworked to make it less blind off the tee... Anybody know anything about reworking 2 and 3?
HeavyCritters
**Stickin'Putts**
Capital Springs going in today by 4pm according to a trusted source. 
Get your wallets out, suckers!
(Full disclosure, I love P2P when it's enforced).
Get your wallets out, suckers!
(Full disclosure, I love P2P when it's enforced).
A couple free 9 hole courses would help a ton in Madison. Milwaukee is doing that, and it should help with traffic. Give the uber-casuals a place to go play for free.
Alcuin
Eagle Member
Capital Springs going in today by 4pm according to a trusted source.
Get your wallets out, suckers!
(Full disclosure, I love P2P when it's enforced).
That is awesome.
Here is another request of mine.
I want to see a consortium of disc golf park managers. The city, the county, and whoever is in charge of Marshall should communicate with another and plan.
There should be one course per year that is chosen to stay open through the winter, or there should be a winter course set up. I see no reason why Cap Springs can't be open sooner than the rest, since it is newer and I don't see any concerns for erosion, etc. out there.
I'd like to see 1. the consortium, and 2. the course managers working together to deliver winter/spring disc golf for the community. Rotate through the available courses (with modifications as necessary, i.e. no Marshall 1-4 in spring when it's all water) or create winter courses that stay up all winter and into spring. I've heard there's been talk of doing this by taking over a golf course -- I'd like to see this talk become reality.
More communication, more involvement of rangers, a consortium, and some winter disc golf for the community: add that to my list of wishes.
HeavyCritters
**Stickin'Putts**
I'm with you on all of this. No winter disc golf option in the City of Madison is really sad.
Word on the street is that the long term plan is to redesign holes 1-4 to move the course completely off of the hill.
It is too big of an attraction to be given to DG, being the only exercise hill close to that size in Madison. Even if they tried to give the hill to disc golfers, they'd never be able to enforce it.
I don't mind waiting on the hill for people that understand they are on a disc golf course; they tend to see people trying to throw and slow down/speed up to allow you to throw.
What really blows is when there's a group of small children wandering around on the hill that have no clue what's going on and wouldn't understand "Fore!" even if you yelled it. :\
I think the lack of winter discing is what bothers me the most about the Madison situation. You're paying $88 for six months of discing.
john1bl
Bogey Member
last time I played Hiestand the course was ripped to shreds. The fast way to fix it is to close the course for a year and reseed but this would cost a huge amount and not be very popular. The other way is to fix the course slowly and make changes year over year. With over twenty years of damage the fixes will take time.
I buy the county pass for Token and Capital and pay for day passes at the city parks because of the amount that I play the city courses I would bite on a Madison Metro pass if available and less than $88.
My biggest gripe about Elver was that during the MCO one year I had to wait for hill runners to pass. I know that the park charged the organizer for the park that year.
I buy the county pass for Token and Capital and pay for day passes at the city parks because of the amount that I play the city courses I would bite on a Madison Metro pass if available and less than $88.
My biggest gripe about Elver was that during the MCO one year I had to wait for hill runners to pass. I know that the park charged the organizer for the park that year.
Glide
Birdie Member
Again, you are oversimplifying this. For example, heavy equipment was brought in to redo hole #9 at Elver. It's going to be a much better hole, but it wasn't as simple as tee pads, tee signs, benches and a basket. The hole was carved out of the woods down a hill and that takes more than a chainsaw and some grass seed.
Elver is over 20 years old and Hiestand isn't far behind. Until recently, they were passively managed at best. Some things like erosion were neglected for far too long. It's not the fault of the current parks department staff. They are playing the hand they have been dealt. I have been working with them for about seven years including the transition to pay to play and am optimistic about the future of disc golf in Madison. I believe the quality of the existing courses will significantly improve and pay to play will be the key to expanding existing courses and/or getting new ones.
