Playing at night

[OFace12]

A few buddies and I want to try playing at night for the first time some time soon. My question is in regards to being at the park/course at night. Has anyone had any problems with being at the parks after dark? The courses that we plan on playing are going to be Alexander Park in Lawrenceville, GA and Little Mulberry Park in Hoschton, GA in case any of you are local and have past experience. When I asked the county parks and rec office, they told me that they technically don't close any gates to the parks but that they close at sundown. I'd like to try out playing at night, just not sure what to expect as far as someone showing up, giving us a hard time.

Thanks in advance.

 

[sisyphus]

I generally don't play at night, but do have a suggestion... given the above scenario (they don't close any gates, but the park is technically 'closed'), I'd try to find a place where they give you consent to be there after dark. The parks that close at dark do so for liability reasons, I'm sure. If anything unfortunate happens, they might decide the course poses them a problem and a headache they don't want to put up with any more. Just want to keep disc golf in a good light, as it were.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

I generally don't play at night, but do have a suggestion... given the above scenario (they don't close any gates, but the park is technically 'closed'), I'd try to find a place where they give you consent to be there after dark. The parks that close at dark do so for liability reasons, I'm sure. If anything unfortunate happens, they might decide the course poses them a problem and a headache they don't want to put up with any more. Just want to keep disc golf in a good light, as it were.

Might even be as simple as getting permission from the local police or parks/rec dept but agree 100% with your post. Dont disrespect the home of the course or you might find your course homeless...

 

[Jimb]

I contacted Shawnee S.P. in PA about playing glow a couple of years ago. Their general regulations were the same. They were open from dawn til dusk and didn't lock the gates. In their case, they had a permit that we could apply for to play at night.

 

[scarpfish]

A lot of this depends on the park. As others have suggested, check the park rules regarding curfews. In some locales, they are more restrictive during the winter months than during the summer.

 

[PWaggoner]

We have permission to play schumaker pond on wednesday nights from park and rec.

Agreement was before my time, ill have to ask how that worked.

 

[agentdozzer]

We get a permit every year for Banklick woods Wednesday doubles. Make sure to have permit with you. Even if you get a permit the local police probally won't get a call, and if they see cars it's there job to say something.

 

[agibson]

Our local town parks have an official curfew of 10 PM, which isn't very well publicized.

Rogers Lakewood used to have a gate that might get locked on any given night, perhaps around 9:30 PM, perhaps around 10:00 PM, maybe later, maybe never. The off-duty copy tasked with closing up the park would circle around the park, at least if he saw cars in the parking areas, to chase people out. He didn't seem to have much patience for disc golfers, or appreciation that the park was meant to be open until 10:00 PM. He and I exchanged words a few times. I never got a reply to my email complaint to the parks administration.

But, I was pleased when they got rid of the gate. (Maybe it would have been OK if they'd left one of the fences in place that kept discs out of a big batch of poison ivy, and _just_ got rid of the gate. But OK.)

I've not played much night golf since. But, I'd still try to abide by the 10:00 PM curfew. Basically late enough for my taste, in any case.

 

[Tripper]

My "home" course, Cedar Hills in Raleigh, just installed gates at all 3 parking lots along with sign indicating the park closes at 10. Just found out last week that while the gates close at 10 there is a vehicle sensor that will open it if you are stuck on the inside.

That would have been a really good thing for my buddy that got locked in at Buckhorn last year. Buckhorn's sign says park open "from 8-8" although they just put a new one over that to indicate the park closes at 5:30 now. I have only noticed the new closing time since daylight savings "fell back".