Christmas 24—The overgrown disc golf course at Dry Creek Community Park will be “mowed and ready for play” by the end of the week, according to Longmont city staff.
Located at 1251 Grandview Meadows Drive in the southwest portion of the city, the 23-acre Dry Creek Community park has several amenities including an 18-hole disc golf course that has been around since the park was built between 2012 and 2013.
Over the years, though, more prairie dogs have moved into the area and its once-short native grass has grown tall.
“In the past, the parks department collaborated with the local disc golf club to mow fairways from the throwing pads to the baskets,” Timber Toste, Longmont parks superintendent, said in an email. “Despite this effort, the course remained suboptimal for playing.”
The parks department discontinued mowing the fairways altogether sometime between 2016 or 2017.
Toste made it clear that the city strives to maintain all of its parks’ amenities but must consider its available resources, too.
“Mowing the fairways was time-consuming and expensive, especially given the limited number of individuals playing the course,” Toste said. “However, we’ve recently received input that more residents are interested in playing the course again. Therefore, the decision has been made to resume mowing the native areas to improve the playability of the course.”
Disc golf, as its name suggests, involves discs or frisbees as opposed to golf balls and clubs. Similar to traditional golf, though, players start from a tee area and progress down a fairway by throwing their discs until they eventually end up in a metal basket or “hole.” Players attempt to reach each hole’s basket with the fewest possible throws.
The sport was formalized in the ’70s, according to the Professional Disc Golf Association’s website.
Longmont offers three official disc golf courses at Clark Centennial Park, Loomiller Park and Dry Creek Community Park.
Longmont City Councilmember Tim Waters, who serves as the council liaison to the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, said in an interview Monday that he had not heard concerns about the disc golf course at Dry Creek Community Park but was familiar with ongoing staffing shortages.
“I don’t think there’s probably a department in the city that’s fully staffed,” Waters said. “With parks and rec, maintaining what we build is always a challenge.”
A member of the Longs Peak Disc Golf Club could not be reached for comment.