Course Construction Log

Several years ago, we first approached the administrator of Indian Foothills Park in Marshall, Missouri concerning the possibility of building a disc golf course. It was never negatively received, but there was no money available to build the course. For years, we just used targets such as trees. Starting in early 2005, an actual course is being constructed. This will be a log of our progress in constructing the course from the beginning of 2005.

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3/1/05
Still no baskets, Jeff is putting a trace on them. Cold weather has kept us from getting much done the last few days, but Jerry did finish the timbers on hole 8 today.

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3/2/05
Oops! I was wrong, Jerry was on hole 6 instead of 8 yesterday, and finished all but the back timber. He also dug out a hole for the basket on hole 7. It is where one of our old wooden targets was, so the hole was partially already there.

I attended the Park Board meeting tonight. It was the first meeting since approving the course. Basically, I thanked them and gave them a progress report. There were a few questions about the sport, and also about how to raise money. Everyone thanked me for the work we have been doing and are looking forward to seeing how it works out. One member had actually played once in Hays, KS, and said that course was very nice and a good addition to their park.

Still no baskets.

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3/3/05
Timbers were dug in for holes 6, 8, 12, and half of 7. We will need another delivery to do any more once 7 is done. Also, the holes have been dug to but the baskets in on three holes, don't remember which numbers. Unfortunately, still no baskets.

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3/4/05
BASKETS ARE HERE!!!!!!

Jerry, Bill, Brad, and Jon got straight to work by cementing the sleeves for 9 holes today. Also got 2 more holes dug to put sleeves in tomorrow. We are having very good weather and hope to be able to play 9 holes tomorrow afternoon. We ended up changing the hole location on 4. Same distance but a tougher shot. Only drawback is a longer walk to the next tee.

3/6/05
Baskets are installed on holes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, and 18. Jerry, Bill, and Jon worked all morning assembling baskets and putting them in the ground. We had grand plans for working in the afternoon, but ended up playing several 9 hole rounds of disc golf.

3/7/05
Jon dug 5 more holes today, and of course played 18 before going home. We won't talk about the scores, it was very windy. Only 2 more holes left to dig - 9 and 10. Still need to set the sleeves in concrete for 9 more holes.

3/8/05
Jerry, Lucas, Jon, and Josh concreted the sleeves for holes 8, 12, 15, 16, and 17. Jerry and Lucas also cleared some of the brush around hole 8. Can you believe we didn't play a single hole?

3/9/05
Jon went out and put together the basket on 12 tonight, so now we can play 9 holes easily. Of course I had to play 9 holes afterward. Birds on 3 and 12 and a final score of -1. Several people kept driving by watching, and stopping to talk. I also hope to finish the design for the first tee sign tonight.

The design of hole 10 has been bothering me quite a bit, and Jerry has said he doesn't like it either. The fairway is a little tight, but there really isn't much to it. We will be looking at either moving the basket (before digging the hole) or moving the tee.

3/10/05
The new locks came in so we started switching them out. Jerry installed baskets on holes 8 and 17. We also looked at the woods around hole 10. A new location for the basket was chosen that will add around 100ft I think. We will measure this weekend.

3/11/05
All holes are dug. Last hole dug was the new locatoin on hole 10. Lots of rock and brick made it tough. Installed baskets on 15 and 16. Only 4 holes left to have all the baskets in. By Monday, the course should be playable except for 3 major issues - woods on 10 and 14, and the bridge on 11. Also finished the design work for the signs on 1 and 2. Jeff stopped by and talked to us about the signs. We will be looking for some sponsors soon.

3/12/05
We had a long work day and got quite a bit accomplished. Sleeves are all concreted now except for hole 10. We also got the woods trimmed everywhere but holes 10 and 14. The woods aren't finished at all the holes, but trimmed well enough. We don't want to trim too much. We can always remove more, but can't put any back if we trim too much. We also made a huge dent in the woods on 14. It is actually playable now, but way too tight. It shouldn't take too much more work to complete. That would leave only the woods on 10 to finish.

3/13/05
Installed the baskets on 9, 13, and 14. Also trimmed the woods a little more on 14 enough to make it playable. The only hole that is still not playable is 10. All 17 installed holes could be played, with the main trouble being the lack of a bridge on 11. When playing 11, you will either need to make a very rough climb across the ditch, or walk the length of the fairways on 9 and 6 to get to your disc.

3/14/05
Jon and Josh concreted the final hole today. This one was a little strange. It is on high ground, but was about half full of water, even though it hasn't rained. We added the concrete and never had to add any water. In fact, we had to spoon some water out because it was too soupy. We also trimmed a small bit of the woods at hole 10.

3/15/05
We didn't have much time today, but Jon and Josh got the final basket installed today. Woods are still very thick around it, but it can be played if you really want to. Be ready to pull your disc out of thorns.

3/16/05
Some minor trimming got done today on 10, but we ended up playing all 18 for the first time, finishing up in the dark. First witnessed course record will be a lousy +8 by Jon. That shouldn't last long. Also, McDonalds and Applebees have said they will buy one of our sign sponsorships.

3/17/05
Some major trimming got done today on 10, along with some minor stuff on other holes. There was a little trouble with the Bobcat getting stuck that has hindered us a bit. It seems that the water table is high on hole 10, even thought it is up on a hill.

3/18/05
Worked on the woods some more around hole 10. While there, Jeff stopped by and had the finished product of our tee sign for hole 1 with him. It was great, maybe the best sign I've seen on a course. Now we need to finish getting sponsors for the remaining holes. While talking to Jeff, we saw someone else playing the course, James. I went and talked to him. He had never played before, but had wanted to for a long time. I let him use one of my discs (he was using a light frisbee) and he caught on quickly. He also volunteered to help us finish the course. Later Josh and I met a family of 4 playing the course. They already had their own discs. I wonder how many have already played the course when none of us were there to witness?

3/24/05
Bad weather has kept us away for a few days, but Jerry and Brad got back to it today. They got 9 holes dug for tee signs and installed the posts. Also, several more signs have been sold in the last few days. Jon still needs to get several of the signs designed, but we still need to remeasure some holes where we have moved the tees a bit.

3/25/05
Someone, probably Bill, cleaned out some more of the woods on 10 today. Thanks whoever it was! Three more signs were sole, bringing our total to 11. I hope to have them all designed and maybe even sold to give to Jeff on Monday. That's probably a bit optimistic.

3/26/05
We didn't get much work done today, other than taking a few measurements, but we had quite a bit of fun. Jon, Bill, and Jerry made a final run at the old course record, then a group from Columbia arrived and smashed it. We got some good feedback on the course and what we needed to work on. Hole 15 probably got the worst reviews, but our ideas on how to fix it were well received. We also met a couple of groups of beginners.

3/28/05
Jerry, Brad, and Bill got some major work done on clearing the woods today. Holes for the remaining signs were also dug. After working, Jerry set a new club record for the course with a +4. Overall record is still a -1 by someone from Columbia.

3/29/05
Final tee sign poles got set today. Also, the remaining signs were mostly sold. We may actually have more buyers than signs.