Group proposes new disc golf course for city
By Nelson Daily Editor
By Timothy Schafer, The Nelson Daily
A Nelson group is proposing to take an unused piece of property on the southern edge of the city near the cemetery and add it to the recreational inventory of the Heritage city for no cost to the taxpayer.
Led by spokesperson Mike Moor, the Nelson Disc Golf Society petitioned City council Monday night at their committee of the whole meeting to allow them to install a public 18-hole disc golf course — at no cost to city taxpayers.
Representing around 80 people who are members of the society, Moor said the idea was to obtain permission from the City to further develop 15 acres of existing parkland area above the Nelson Memorial Cemetery for the course.
“The newly cleared uphill parkland is an ideal location for a course,” said Moor.
“It’s been shocking to learn how much support there is for the sport in Nelson … and we hope to translate the excitement and enthusiasm into a course.”
Moor said all associated capital costs of the proposal — which included a new trail in conjunction with the City’s Active Transportation Plan and to provide ongoing stewardship for the site — would be funded by individual donations and 13 local business sponsorships, with trail building and course installation done by volunteers.
It is because of this large core group that the Society elected to pursue the idea of creating a $15,000 course in Nelson, and to compliment the existing courses in Salmo and Rossland.
With a new course in place, said Moor, the Society would host tournaments and bring in players from all over the region, bringing sport tourism tax dollars in to the city.
Although council did seem to look upon the idea of the course in a favourable light, they could not give permission at the committee of the whole meeting, and forwarded the matter to City staff for consideration at a future meeting.
Coun. Kim Charlesworth wondered what would have to be cleared in order to make the “fairways” for each hole. Moor said there would be minimal brushing in order to create the course.
The course would also be shared with the mountain bikers who cut through the area to reach the trails above. Coun. Donna Macdonald asked Moor if he had considered the ramifications of placing a course in mountain bike territory.
“I don’t know if they have a formal trail through the site … but I’ve never seen a mountain biker come down through that area,” he said. “With signage and appropriate design of the course there could be a specific mountain bike trail designed and built so there wouldn’t be conflicts.”
Moor said they would like to have the course installed by spring of 2011 to be available for the BC Senior Games in mid-August.
editor@thenelsondaily.com
What is disc golf?
Disc golf is a disc game in which individual players throw a flying disc into a basket or at a target.
According to the Professional Disc Golf Association, “The object of the game is to traverse a course from beginning to end in the fewest number of throws of the disc.”
Like traditional golf, trees, shrubs, obstacles and terrain changes provide challenging onstacles for the golfer.
Of the more than 3,000 established disc golf courses as of 2010, approximately 87 per cent are free.
The game is played in Canada and the United States and more than 20 other countries around the world.
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