Ranger Rick
March 14th, 2013, 12:08 PM
Howdy folks, just want to introduce myself, and tell you a little more about the new club being formed in Mount Vernon.
My name is Rick, and I have lived just a few blocks from the Bakerview Park DGC in Mount Vernon since it was installed in the mid 90's. I have played "frisbee golf" at Bakerview several times over the years but was not formally introduced to the game until last summer by my son-in-law who grew up with it in SoCal. Since then I have grown to love the game, and my wife thinks it may be obsessive, but she goes along with it because I am getting out of the house and getting some exercise out of it!
I have played most of the courses north of Everett, and a few in Portland and Montana as well now, which leads me to the understanding of why people don't like to play at Bakerview - there are no baskets and no teepads. This will change soon as we will be upgrading the course, or building a different one in Mount Vernon as fundraising ramps up.
I have met with the Mount Vernon Parks Director - Larry Otos, and he fully supports a greater disc golf presence in Mount Vernon. He has agreed to allow us to install baskets at Bakerview, and if there is enough traffic, he has agreed to look at concrete tee pads as well. The only problem with Bakerview is that even with baskets and tee pads, it would still be soggy for half the year, so we are looking at other parks to put in a 9 hole course. In our discussion, we looked at the long term growth of disc golf, and he was agreeable that a championship level 18 hole course was a possibility if there was enough demand. He was impressed that such a course could be build for $20k-$30k if the City had the right piece of property (which I think they do).
To that extent, we have started a new club in Mount Vernon - The Skagit Aces Disc Golf Club! Our immediate goal is to raise enough funds to purchase 9 Instep baskets, and spend the summer trying out different parks in Mount Vernon, so that by fall we will have raised enough money and found the right place for a 9 hole, short course. The long term goal is to show the parks department that there is demand for a larger course, and present a plan to the City for possible funding.
We are currently running a membership drive that will hopefully get us close to what we need for the 9 baskets. A 2013 Membership will run $25 (which may seem steep but will pay for itself by year's end) which includes a custom-printed Gateway Soft Wizard and custom-printed Mini Disc. It will also include either a price break, or added incentives at all club tournaments (I will get to those in a moment).
Our goal is to grow disc golf in Mount Vernon by bringing new players into the sport. To do this we will be holding monthly free clinics and non-competitive play, along with a quarterly ace-run type tourney. What's in the planning stage now is a Legacy Ace Run this spring; Dynamic Disc - 2 Disc Tourney in the summer; Discraft Ace Race in the fall; and Vibram Birdie Bash early next year. This will give new players some experience with different manufacturers and help them add to their collection of discs. Club members will get a price break on the DD tournament, but the other three have set prices, so members will get an added bonus such as extra raffle tickets or something.
I look forward to working with the Northwest Disc Golf Community to bring more disc golf opportunities to our neck of the woods!
My name is Rick, and I have lived just a few blocks from the Bakerview Park DGC in Mount Vernon since it was installed in the mid 90's. I have played "frisbee golf" at Bakerview several times over the years but was not formally introduced to the game until last summer by my son-in-law who grew up with it in SoCal. Since then I have grown to love the game, and my wife thinks it may be obsessive, but she goes along with it because I am getting out of the house and getting some exercise out of it!
I have played most of the courses north of Everett, and a few in Portland and Montana as well now, which leads me to the understanding of why people don't like to play at Bakerview - there are no baskets and no teepads. This will change soon as we will be upgrading the course, or building a different one in Mount Vernon as fundraising ramps up.
I have met with the Mount Vernon Parks Director - Larry Otos, and he fully supports a greater disc golf presence in Mount Vernon. He has agreed to allow us to install baskets at Bakerview, and if there is enough traffic, he has agreed to look at concrete tee pads as well. The only problem with Bakerview is that even with baskets and tee pads, it would still be soggy for half the year, so we are looking at other parks to put in a 9 hole course. In our discussion, we looked at the long term growth of disc golf, and he was agreeable that a championship level 18 hole course was a possibility if there was enough demand. He was impressed that such a course could be build for $20k-$30k if the City had the right piece of property (which I think they do).
To that extent, we have started a new club in Mount Vernon - The Skagit Aces Disc Golf Club! Our immediate goal is to raise enough funds to purchase 9 Instep baskets, and spend the summer trying out different parks in Mount Vernon, so that by fall we will have raised enough money and found the right place for a 9 hole, short course. The long term goal is to show the parks department that there is demand for a larger course, and present a plan to the City for possible funding.
We are currently running a membership drive that will hopefully get us close to what we need for the 9 baskets. A 2013 Membership will run $25 (which may seem steep but will pay for itself by year's end) which includes a custom-printed Gateway Soft Wizard and custom-printed Mini Disc. It will also include either a price break, or added incentives at all club tournaments (I will get to those in a moment).
Our goal is to grow disc golf in Mount Vernon by bringing new players into the sport. To do this we will be holding monthly free clinics and non-competitive play, along with a quarterly ace-run type tourney. What's in the planning stage now is a Legacy Ace Run this spring; Dynamic Disc - 2 Disc Tourney in the summer; Discraft Ace Race in the fall; and Vibram Birdie Bash early next year. This will give new players some experience with different manufacturers and help them add to their collection of discs. Club members will get a price break on the DD tournament, but the other three have set prices, so members will get an added bonus such as extra raffle tickets or something.
I look forward to working with the Northwest Disc Golf Community to bring more disc golf opportunities to our neck of the woods!