'Disc Golf'
Course Approved

A golf course in the woods?

That was the proposal before the Randolph Selectboard Tuesday evening—and the board said "Yes."

It's not as crazy as it sounds. The idea was to set up one of Vermont's first public "disk golf" courses as part of the Randolph recreation program.

Disc golf, a variation of the more informal sport of Frisbee golf, is gaining popularity in Vermont and elsewhere in the world, with 1200 courses in the U.S. It is similar to real golf, in that the players try to complete each "hole" in the fewest possible tosses, keeping score on tally cards.

Disc golf also has a true enthusiast in Bethel Gilead, which is how the proposal came up. Ric Timmons, has installed a nine-"hole" course near his home in Gilead and has attracted 100 players in two years, he said Tuesday night. He's played in other courses in Vermont and elsewhere and would very much like to bring his favorite sport to Randolph.

Timmons came to Tuesday's meeting with the blessing of the Recreation Advisory Committee, which recommended disc golf as an entertaining addition to the town's recreation program.

An 18-"hole" course could be set up for just $6500, Timmons estimated. The cost is almost entirely for 18 galvanized metal baskets, permanently installed, into which the discs must be tossed to complete the "hole."

Selectman and Recreation Committee Chair Heather Tallman said the Committee could scare up $3000 and would attempt to raise the rest in donations.

Volunteer time would also be needed for construction, signage, etc. The course should be self-maintaining through a local disc golf club, Timmons said.

He noted that disc golf can be played in winter as well as summer and that an annual January "ice bowl," to benefit a local food shelf is becoming a tradition in the sport.

The Selectboard gave its tentative blessing to the idea.

The location that Timmons has scouted out is the wooded area along the White River just downstream from the municipal swimming pool. The woods would have to be thinned out a little, but not too much, he said, since wooded courses, with their natural obstacles, are common.

Timmons also tentatively would extend the course to the north side of the river, so that players would have to throw across the river twice to complete the course.

Timmons said that disc golf became a "demonstration sport" at the 2001 World Games in Japan and is growing in Vermont, where some 70 players competed for the state title last year. The first public course was opened last summer in Waterbury Center, and Oxbow High School is working on a course, he said.

Although people can use regular Frisbees, more serious players use special discs that fly farther, curve better, and cost from $7 to $14 each, he said.

He estimated that the course could be constructed by the end of June, after which lessons and clinics could be offered.