Daniel Moose made a convincing presentation for installing a disc golf course at Lake Leatherwood City Park at the April 17 Parks Commission meeting, telling commissioners disc golf emulates what he called “ball golf,” and stressed it is real golf just as much as the pastime played with a ball except it takes up far less space and requires far less maintenance.
Disc golf is similar to ball golf but players toss a disc, or Frisbee®, at a target and fewest tosses wins.
Moose said in the past he played disc golf six days a week, but the closest course to Eureka Springs is 45 minutes away. He said there are weekly leagues in communities along the I-49 corridor, as well as tournaments. He claimed Eureka Springs is set up perfectly to host tournaments if it had a course, and could eventually become the Mecca for disc golf in Arkansas.
Moose proposed creating a nine-hole course toward the entrance of LLCP near the ballfields, in an area not being used. He estimated the set up might cost $500 per hole, and the course would be designed to fit the terrain – the more diverse the terrain, the better for disc golf. A nine-hole course would be the initial goal, eventually expanding to 18 holes.
He said Emporia, Kan., has invested in a big way in disc golf and several courses have been built, so it has become an economic boost for the town. Dynamic Discs, the main equipment maker for the sport, has its headquarters there, and has three other retail outlets including its most recently opened store in Springdale.
Moose committed to forming a disc golf club in Eureka Springs, and members could help create the course and provide assistance with maintenance. The course would need a cleared tee pad area on each hole, and at a distance a basket perched on a pole anchored in the ground. Players would have to steer their discs around, over and through terrain just as ball golfers do, but with far less landscape maintenance involved.
Players are all ages although the sport is very popular with a younger demographic. He said one of the best players is 60, and the top rated southpaw just moved to Springdale. Moose claimed the best players in the world have been coming to Arkansas to play, and the Professional Disc Golf Association is beginning to stage events in the state.
Parks Director Justin Huss liked the idea but acknowledged the challenge would be fitting in a course at LLCP given other activities going on in that area. Commissioner Steven Foster remarked someone had asked him earlier that day why Eureka Springs did not have a disc golf course.
Moose and Huss will walk the area and continue discussion.