The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Disc golf flies into Ypsilanti
Forgotten park finds use with popular sport
By Dan Duchene, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 3, 2007
An underutilized park in Ypsilanti will be given purpose this summer with the installation of a nine-hole disc golf course.
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Waterworks Park, on Catherine Street along the Huron River, has been regarded as an old park with no use. Home to a baseball diamond with no program, storage for the Department of Public Works and fishing along the river, people are excited to see something happening with the park.
"There really was no prospect for the park before this came to be," said Jason Wicha, a management intern with the city of Ypsilanti. "I think most importantly, (disc golf) will bring a significant amount of foot traffic into the park."
A disc golfer himself, Wicha had the idea to put a disc golf course in the park several months ago. He said he contacted representatives from Discraft, a Wixom-based disc golf manufacturer, to look at the park.
"I think (disc golf) will be a great activity for this park and know that many of the kids and adults in this area will be playing it regularly," said Pad Timmons, of Discraft.
"Discraft made an agreement that they would donate $3000 in design work," Timmons said. "I have been designing this course with Terry Calhoun for the last few months."
Calhoun is a member of the Ann Arbor Area Disc Induced Sports Club, or A3 Disc. The club, with nearly 200 members, has agreed to spend $2,500 on equipment to install the course.
A3 Disc describes disc golf as "played like ball golf, using a flying disc. One stroke is counted each time the disc is thrown and when a penalty is incurred. The winner is the golfer with the lowest score."
The holes in disc golf are metal baskets. Baskets are lined with loose chains to stop discs. A hole is completed when a disc comes to rest inside the basket.
"It's an exercise for the family," said A3 President Bill Gilbert. "They can take a short walk to the park and play some disc golf."
Timmons said the course will be half in the woods along the river and have in the park's open field. He said the course will be shorter than others, and will suit beginner and intermediate players.
Officials and community members hope the course will bring more people to the park and to the sport. They hope more people will get turned on to the sport, with the foot traffic mitigating any illegal activity that might occur in the underutilized park.
Jim Daniels is an A3 member living in Pittsfield Township. He said he's excited the course is opening.
"There's some crime down there from what I hear," Daniels said. "It will bring people in and drive out some of the activities they don't want there."
A course in Ann Arbor's Brown Park was cited by city officials as an example of the effects of installing a disc golf course. Because the park, like Waterworks, wasn't used, it had attracted crime, which was then dispelled by the course.
"When disc golf came, (the crime) cleared up," Martin Thoburn, an Ypsilanti resident and A3 Disc member said of Brown Park. "I think (the course) will do wonders for the neighborhood."
Work is scheduled to begin on the course, approved by City Council last month, May 19, as part of Ypsi Pride Day. Volunteers will be clearing brush from the course so baskets can be cemented in their locations. Wicha said the course should be playable by the end of the month.
"The hope is to see Waterworks as a work in progress," Wicha said. "It's my hope... moving forward that we can put in some cement tees."
The course is approved on an 18-month trial basis. City Council is to evaluate the course at the end of the trial period.
Members of A3 Disc club said they hope the course will be successful enough to improve and expand, perhaps adding more holes later.
The club uses and maintains disc golf courses in Ypsilanti Township's Rolling Hills Park and Hudson Mills Metro-Park. Members of the organization will be maintaining the course in Waterworks Park as well.
"Disc golfers take care of their parks," Gilbert said. "For us, it's always nicer to have more options to play."
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