Executing The Dream

[DavidSauls]

Can't believe this thread took a 5-month nap. Well, since April we sort-of finished those last 4 holes we were working on, so that at our October tournament we had two 18-hole layouts.

The "sort-of" part is that one hole needs the tee backed up another 100 feet, and will need a bit of a construction project to build that teepad on the hillside. We had a good day chainsawing a couple of weekends ago, then the plague struck and work stopped.

In the meantime, a friend bought some land and is putting in a course, on a much quicker timescale than we did. We did a little consulting back in November -- that is, we walked around spouting our opinions -- and he has an inaugural tournament coming up later this month.

About a month after this post -- or, a year ago -- a friend helped us build that final teepad, and reach something like a completion point. Except for the maintenance & enhancements (like better tee pads), of course.

Meanwhile, a friend recently bought 50 acres, with a huge pond and lots of hills. I've been there for a workday and a bit of a tour, but need to get back and just walk around offering suggestions, which is the easy part.

The friend I mentioned last year, built his course in a few months and held a tournament. It's a shorter, fun course.

 

[giles]

Update on Elk Hill and me. Firstly thanks for the kind words InnocenCrook, it was a pleasure having you out. I'm really happy with the full 19 layout on the expanded property vs the old 9 hole with alternate pins and tees. Never would have looked at this land and seen the potential, I kind of fell into it.
I pulled the course listing from the internet yesterday even though the course is alive and well. I lost my job that allowed me to work from home due to the pandemic driving the last nail in the coffin of that company. I bought my neighbor's septic pumping and portable toilet company last August. As a result I'm extremely busy doing the thing while my wife handles the phone and scheduling. Funny to say, I love this job. We work for money and the money is good while the work isn't difficult. Most of my time is spent driving around and I live in a beautiful part of the country. Though it obviously isn't glamorous work.
The decision to minimize the course's web presence was easy. I'm not here and available. My time when I am here became more valuable. It is the shoulder season here, I'd only gotten two calls to play the course so far this year and I just wasn't excited about it. That started me thinking about how popular disc golf has gotten and the fact that my town has a tourism based economy, those two calls had me dreading the potential traffic this summer. I decided I'd pull the course offline on my terms before my neighbors became uncomfortable with the traffic or I had rude guests. Happily, I never had golfers come in the past that made me regret posting my property for public play and it was a pleasure to share my property, so I figured it was a good time to bow out before I did have someone or a group tarnishe the experience.
I've made strong progress this spring before I need to transitionto maintenance, finally leaning on my golf buddies to lend a hand. In the quest to replenish my firewood stash for next winter we have made a significant dent in cleaning out the dead and small scrub oak from the patches that dot the property. Not only does it drastically improve the look and playability of the course, it has opened up new and fun pin positions that I've been taking advantage of by planting additional sleeves. All and all, I'm still pumped to have my own course to share with friends, I absolutely love fiddeling around in the yard on my 35 horse tractor. We are still open to hosting disc golfers, but prefer it to be friends, acquaintance, friends of my friends, internet friends or people with some kind of tenuous connection other than just the love of Frisbee and outdoors.

 

[goosefraba1]

Well... it has been long enough since I have posted an update (not sure that anybody cares or pays attention anymore). I guess this is more of a note to myself to read at a later date.

Current situation in my neck of the woods:

Black Bear DGC- On year 8 since its inception now. Course continues to take better shape each year. The fairways are more fair. The goat paths up and down the "mountain" are better maintained. The remaining 6 teepads that were natural tees are now turf. Still intend to make them concrete in the future to match the rest of what are now going to be the "short" tees. My partner in crime has been working hard to design the long tees, as I have less time to dedicate these days because hands are full. However, long tees plan on them being all turf. The material is just too hard to lug otherwise.

Tomahawk DGC- This has been the new labor of love. State Parks was kind enough to give us about 5 golf holes on a course that they have deemed undesirable/money pit. We designed this course about 18 months ago. We had about 20 acres to work with. Decided we wanted to make something unique. So, this course is "9 holes". However, Long tees and short tees... and long baskets and short baskets for every hole. The course is going to be LONG (for southern Ohio)! From Gold Tees, 8800 feet for 18 holes Long to Long. The final hole is 1000 footer with OB lake right side the whole way. Baskets are already in. I requested Innovas (gold standard IMO), parks decided to go cheaper and got the Veterans. Longs are Yellow bands, shorts are Blue bands. I actually like them more than I expected. Just hope they hold up.

Snyder's Henroost DGC- Not my project, but my mom's boyfriend plays regularly, and he somehow managed to place 18 holes on about 7 acres at their place. Super fun to play with baskets hanging from vines, elevated baskets, par 4s and a par 5. We actually played a PDGA sanctioned event there in November. Could only have 2 cards on the course at a time due to safety.

Southern Ohio Disc Golf Association- Related, but not a course. My small club of just a couple guys has ballooned in the past year. We went from just 3 guys hanging out and playing on the weeked... to building a course... to another course... etc. Last year we became 1 of only 5 I think 501c3 clubs in the state. We now have 25 members, most are PDGA. We have Winter League, Spring League, this year a fundraiser for another course nearby, and our annual Black Bear tournament.

Really excited for where this club and DG in our area are going!

 

[donnyv]