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Joined: 02 Jun 2008 Posts: 22 Location: tbd, twin cities

as far as upkeep of courses go, there are other models besides going pay to play to keep costs under control. i've been proud to be part of multiple disc golf communities that pride themselves on using volunteer power to keep local courses cleaned and maintained. people who help to keep courses maintained play the courses more and when players know that volunteers work on maintenance, they litter less and do less damage to courses.

as far as GGGT, i don't consider myself part of any old school dg community trying to maintain some rift. i'm aware that it isn't one single entity that can get two different cities (SStP and IGH) to make the same decision. to me, taking something that was designed to be free and has been free since opening and making it cost money to play (without a guarantee that the money goes back into the course) is a poor decision. anyone rumored to have a hand in that can continue to expect to face my internet typing wrath.

Joined: 16 Sep 2009 Posts: 5 Location: Coon Rapids

There are plenty of parks out there who rely on tax money to maintain their courses. How is disc golf in a city park different than a baseball field or even more expensive, a hockey rink? It's a booming sport that is still not recognized by the people who make these decisions about pay to play. I throw BRP a couple times a week and appreciate what a course can look like with the money going back into it. When a public park starts charging taxpayers money to use a property that they already pay for, it's kinda sad. Our sport is becoming just like every other sport, about money and business. I guess that means there are enough people playing to warrant attention from cities, counties and other monetary sources. My concerns are that the money coming out of these courses won't even be used for them, or to build new ones. And, as far as GGGT goes, it's still a business that feeds families and at the end of the day, the players are who keep this sport alive and moving forward. Let me know what you think.

Joined: 11 May 2007 Posts: 82

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for doing whatever it takes to keep courses free. I think once you start to charge everywhere you remove the momentum of the sport. However from what I was reading both SStP and IGH had serious Parks & Rec budget cuts and much of the maintenance that was required for these courses was just not possible without generating revenue. I would have rather they ask for volunteers but I can understand the obvious gravitation to charging to supplement income. It is sad, but it's reality.

As far as baseball fields, etc. They are subsidized typically by Little League, softball, etc. However the ice rink is a good example. In the latest posts on mfa it seems as if the idea is that it's the only way to actually get money spent on course upkeep and that it will allow course upkeep. Whether this is true, who knows, it's just as likely just soothe speak to justify the action.

Joined: 14 Jul 2007 Posts: 42 Location: Maplewood, MN

Wow! Mark Mcgwire used steroids! Who knew?

Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Posts: 181 Location: Minneapolis

Probably the same for Avery Jenkins.

Joined: 29 Aug 2007 Posts: 63 Location: Hopkins

Went to Kaposia Friday and it was a good time. Awesome to have shoveled and salted Tboxs. Thanks to whomever does that. Looked like alot of work. Lost an orange Sirius LF, marked. #13 buried on right.

Joined: 10 Oct 2007 Posts: 145 Location: West Saint Paul

goforparguy wrote:

Went to Kaposia Friday and it was a good time. Awesome to have shoveled and salted Tboxs. Thanks to whomever does that. Looked like alot of work. Lost an orange Sirius LF, marked. #13 buried on right.

The happiest game I've ever played was the last day of my paternity leave after my son was born, when I went out there, and there was one set of tracks in the virgin snow where someone had walked the course just to clear and salt the tees. Fresh snow and one set of boot prints. It was beautiful. Except, of course, whoever played next got a play by play of each of my errant shots. Smile

I found out later that it was Wes that was doing it, so I bought him a pack of Surly at the end of the Chilly Dog season in appreciation.

Oh, and I thought for a sec you were trying to lay claim to a disc that I lost out there a couple weeks ago, but mine was an orange Polairs LS buried on the right on #12. (although, it may have gone far enough right to look like it went right on #13)

Joined: 29 Aug 2007 Posts: 63 Location: Hopkins

Nahhhh I don't roll like that. Goes like this. I kept a disc for some guy from Duluth for over a year, keeping in contact with him for when he comes to the cities. We eventually met at a coffee shop, gave the guy his Ace disc from a course up there. 400 ft. ace it said on back. Anyhow i returned it ( after hanging onto it that long) barely got a TY and the dude took off.

Oh well, like i said i dont roll like that nor will that deter me from calling a name or # on disc. What goes around should come around. Hagd. GO VIKES!

Joined: 10 Oct 2007 Posts: 145 Location: West Saint Paul

goforparguy wrote:

Nahhhh I don't roll like that.

Of course not. I was just confused by the similarities, and thought it was funny. How could you have known about my lost disc, after all? Very Happy

Joined: 03 Oct 2008 Posts: 15

Well, the rumors are no longer rumors. I just got off the phone with S. St. Paul Parks and Rec. Dept. Both Kaposia and North Valley will be pay to play when the parks officially open. Which I believe is like April 15 or May 15. Not totally sure on the date. They will be selling leather bag tags that are good for both Kaposia, and North Valley. They will also offer daily passes for visitors. The season passes will cost $30, and must be purchased by May 1. SSP P&R doesn't have anything on their website, but once everything is finalized they will put more info in their city newletter which can be found on the left side of their website (5th one down). Inver Grove heights already has this info on their website.

When I first heard about it I was very upset because I play both of those courses about 50 times a summer each, and I'm a poor college student. I initially thought it would only be daily passes like Blue Ribbon, and feared for my bank account. However, I'm totally cool with season passes, less traffic and hopefully more money spent on the courses themselves. Hope the 15 minutes of research I did helps Wink

Joined: 11 May 2007 Posts: 82

Great update dude. After being out this weekend and running across some pretty poor etiquette and slow play at Bassett Creek and Sunnyside I don't mind the idea of having a few more P2P courses around town.

It'll be interesting how well they actually police this though. Hyland and EC I think do well because they are already relatively secluded and have choke points of sorts and are longer. Bryant however has literally no governor for this and people rarely pay from what I see walking to the first tee. It becomes unplayable outside of early mornings honestly.

Joined: 10 Oct 2007 Posts: 145 Location: West Saint Paul

Thanks for the info, man. Wish I had seen this yesterday when I was home with a "sick" kid who wasn't sick. We definitely would have taken a field trip to IGH.

Does not appear that there is any official word on if they are just tags or if they did go with the super-cool idea of numbered tags. Cool

I don't do the MFA bag tags, but this would be a great alternative that I would definitely play.

Joined: 18 Apr 2010 Posts: 2

So... when did they remove the back nine holes from this course? I got kind of a shock today when I led a friend down there to play them for the first time, and joke's on me... there are tees there, but no baskets! We just kept throwing our discs down the path, in the hopes that there would eventually be a basket somewhere. WTF?

Joined: 03 Oct 2008 Posts: 15

I think they take them out when they move to the short pin locations. I also think it would be safe to assume that when they move back to the long positions the back will be in as well. I know how you feel though. I still throw those holes even though there aren't pins to throw at.

I really hope that we get permanent tee pads for all of those holes now that it's pay to play. And for crying out loud, we better get short 9 back. It was a fun hole that made me feel better about losing strokes on 8. Wink

Not to mention who ever heard of a 23 hole course? ever since they put old 17, and 18 back in I feel that Kaposia as a whole feels off. There's no easy way to play those holes AND the back. If they want the option of playing only 18, I'm totally cool with that, but don't make those of us who love the back pay for it by only giving us 23 holes to play.

I seriously hope they straighten things out this year because I don't want to have to pay to get jerked around like we did last year. Constantly changing the layout seems bad for business.

Joined: 18 Apr 2010 Posts: 2

But the weird thing is, there weren't even any basket pipes in for the back nine! Don't they usually leave those in when they take the baskets out? Or do they take out the baskets and the pipes all at once?