Possible new course at Perry Lake

[Nivek9]

This was posted at kcfdc,org. I thought I'd share with my KDGA friends in case someone closer to Perry wants to get in on the action. Sounds like a good opportunity:

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Hi everyone, I am a Park Ranger with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Perry Lake. We are looking at possibly installing a new disc golf course here at the lake. We are looking for an organization(s) that would be interested in forming a partnership for maintenance, course monitoring, etc. The course would be located in Longview Park. This park is located in a very scenic area that I think would make for a neat course. If your club is interested, please contact me. My contact info is as follows:

Kyle Broockerd
USACE PARK RANGER
kyle.j.broockerd@usace.army.mil
785-597-5144
cell# 785-215-4216

[scarpfish]

Here's a map to and an overhead shot of the piece of land in question. Location is a bit remote, but it looks very wooded.

Longview Park - Perry Lake



If this is going to be like the Pomona course, I wonder how close they'd let us get to the water.

[mrsenortyler]

Looks like that would be BALLER!!

[Ring]

Looks sweet!! Good luck geting it in..

[carlbren21]

Looks sweet!! Good luck geting it in..

It will be a LOT of work. I met with the ranger on monday at the site. They are looking at putting it in the top section of that map above the circle drive, not near the water (apparently the lake level is very inconsistent and floods the campground by the water every year). Lot's of elevation, pond, creek, and other cool topography. Potential for a killer pro level course. They are going to buy all the equipment, including powder coated mach 3's with flags, rubber mats, tee signs, etc.., and I believe help with some of the installation. Hopefully we can work something out with them, but it will require a ton of work to start with, and a lot of continued maintenence. They are wanting a club to do all of the maintenence on the course, which presents the biggest problem with how rough the area currently is. The area by the road on the right has some open meadow areas that has long grass like pomona, and they aren't wanting to mow it. If this was closer to any city, it would be a no-brainer, but is 40+ minutes from any larger city including topeka. We'll see what happens.

[mrsenortyler]

Mach 5's catch just as good, and they're a bit cheaper too. Who cares though, their powder-coated baskets are PIMP! I am getting those for the next course I install.

[carlbren21]

Mach 5's catch just as good, and they're a bit cheaper too. Who cares though, their powder-coated baskets are PIMP! I am getting those for the next course I install.

I agree about the mach 5's, but if they can supply the powder coated mach 3's with flags... including a practice basket... I def won't complain! We are meeting again with the ranger to walk the land again and see if we can work out the kinks. I hope we can, because this could turn out to be a killer course that would make for a great weekend of camping and golf! Even being a ways from everything, there is a bar/grill 1/4 mile away that could really top of a nice day of golf!

[mrsenortyler]

Is the location in the State Park then? or another part of the lake?

[carlbren21]

It is located in the state park pictured above (Longview Park). It costs to camp, but the course is located in an area that will be free so no pass is required.

[Ranger KB]

Hello Everyone, just a quick update on the course at Perry. We have the first nine holes laid out, with the back nine to be laid out tomorrow. We burned the entire area on Monday, March 16 to clear out some of the brush. Right now we are getting bids for some of the work to be done, i.e. tee pads, etc. We are trying to get things rolling as quickly as possible, but there is a lot of work involved. This has the potential to be an extremely fun and unique course. I will try to post some pictures of the course area if I get a chance. Hopefully when this gets put in it will increase visitation in the park, as it is a very nice area that is just a little off the beaten path. Soon we might be needing some volunteers to help clear brush. It would also be nice if everyone could please spread the word about this new course to generate some public interest. Anyway, just a little update in case anyone was interested. If anyone has any questions please feel free to contact me.

Kyle Broockerd
kyle.j.broockerd@usace.army.mil
(785)215-4216

[smitty]

Kyle-

If the ground was so rough that it had to be burned before you could design a course. Who is going to keep it mowed after the course is installed?


My advice would be to not do any tees yet. Give it a while. This will give you a chance to tweak the design as needed. 15 to 20 feet left or right on a tee can make a hole play much different.


Hope it all works out.

[Ranger KB]

There are only a few holes on the course that would require mowing. The Corps can probably take care of this. The reason we burned the area is mainly for preventative management to control enroachment from woody species of plants. We burn hundreds of acres around the lake each year for this purpose. With the disc golf course being placed here, it seemed like a good area to burn on this year's rotation. Not only had we not burned Longview Park for a few years, but it helps when laying out the course. As far as laying out the tee pads and such, we need to get some rough areas mapped out so we can get bids for the concrete work. As some of these holes might create some access problems for these contractors, we need to let them know at least the rough locations of the tee pads so they can plan accordingly. It would be unfair to ask them for estimates without at least a general idea of where things are going to be, and how they can get the concrete there. We have plenty of time to tweak tee pad and hole placements, but we just needed to get the ball rolling. Trust me, we aren't cutting any corners here just to slap in a course and be done with it. You can rest assured that it will be a well thought out course. Thanks for the feedback guys, if there are any other comments or concerns please feel free to post a reply or contact me.
Thanks

[smitty]

Sounds cool, and I didn't think that you would be cutting any corners.

I hope it all goes well, and cannot wait to play it.

[Schoen-hopper]

Not sure who all is doing the design here. Obviously there is a lot to consider.

While dual pin placements give the course some different flavor, difficulty level should be set by the tees. So if it is possible to design the course for more than one skill level, consider 2 tees per hole. If this is a possibility, even if only one set of tees is put in now, the design needs to happen now for both tees. The PDGA has laid down a proffessional color code standard. Blue=advanced (highly recommended)= 950 (925-975) target skill level. You could have shorter tees for white (900 rated) or red (850 rated).

Par 4 style holes are often the best in the game, but there are a very few number of these around the country. Courses utilizing pars above 54, espescially 60+, are really setting the bar for the rest of the courses. Too many course going in lack length variety. The game has evolved past the par 2, pitch & putt.

That's the other thing that makes a course great: variety. High shots, low shots, left turns, right turns, straight, short par 3's, long par 4's, dog-legs, single paths, multiple routes... makes for a fun round. Risk reward. Not sure how close the water comes, but water bordered holes add excitement to say the least.

Appreciate posting the info. A professional designer is always recommended, but if not using one, bouncing ideas off experienced players is usually a good idea (though the feedback you get is not always the best).

[scarpfish]

While dual pin placements give the course some different flavor, difficulty level should be set by the tees. So if it is possible to design the course for more than one skill level, consider 2 tees per hole. If this is a possibility, even if only one set of tees is put in now, the design needs to happen now for both tees. The PDGA has laid down a proffessional color code standard. Blue=advanced (highly recommended)= 950 (925-975) target skill level. You could have shorter tees for white (900 rated) or red (850 rated).

Par 4 style holes are often the best in the game, but there are a very few number of these around the country. Courses utilizing pars above 54, espescially 60+, are really setting the bar for the rest of the courses. Too many course going in lack length variety. The game has evolved past the par 2, pitch & putt.

While the prospect of another course that would be considered challenging by pro/advanced standards would be nice, I think another thing that needs to be taken into account is who the primary users of the course are going to be. I suspect considering the location, a great deal of the course users are going to be families camping at the lake who shoot 700 rated golf on a good day. Pomona would be a good example to look at. I don't know how much traffic that course gets during peak camping season, but I think even it, which is mostly open would be considered overwhelming for a lot of casuals, particularly if it is mowed "links" style as opposed to "park" style. Those folks want to spend more time throwing their discs and less time looking for them in 12"+ grass.

Obviously, I would like to see some dynamic holes where both skill levels can be accommodated. Walnut Ridge in Des Moines (about 6500' from the shorts and almost 8000' from the longs) is one of the best examples I've seen. I just wish I had some pictures to show Kyle.

Not sure how close the water comes, but water bordered holes add excitement to say the least.

A strange quirk about most of the courses I've seen in parks surrounding Corps built reservoirs, and Pomona and Walnut Ridge are no exception. Except for the occasional tiny creek or ditch, there is near non-existent water threat. I suspect the way these lakes grow and shrink depending on rainfall is the reason.