New course on Portland's west side

[spindoctor]

Originally Posted by Garro

Way to go Jim! Nice work on this. Everyone agrees that Hagg is a great piece of property. Did they mention the issue of raising the water level in the lake? Some of us have heard that idea has basically been shelved.

Anyhow, I'm into helping with this. I used to live out there and have a real affinity for the place.

Garry

Raising the water level has not come up in our discussions. We have exchanged contacts and I correspond with them regularly now. I'll ask for the official position on that and update the answer here so we can know all where we stand.

[PDX_Stu]

Thanks for all the follow up and work. I will routinely drive over 30 miles to play Timber, McIver, and N. Bonne, but I never go to Hagg. It would be nice to see this become a destination course. I think a little redesign, maintenance, and adequate parking is the ticket.

[jdinteg]

Originally Posted by PDX_Stu

Thanks for all the follow up and work. I will routinely drive over 30 miles to play Timber, McIver, and N. Bonne, but I never go to Hagg. It would be nice to see this become a destination course. I think a little redesign, maintenance, and adequate parking is the ticket.

Stu, would you pay to park?

[Bob Horning]

Originally Posted by Sam View Post
Hagg Lake is going to be raised considerably.

Originally Posted by Scott

Pretty sure that's off the table.

Actually it is still very much on the table and because of water needs I'm sure it will be done in the future. The only real question is how high it will be raised. Hillsboro is now looking to add water from the Willamette, which will lower the height originally needed which was about 25 ft to about half of that.

[Trozzle!!!]

Originally Posted by spindoctor

The conversation went very well! They have been looking for someone to engage on this course for a while now. They have had some leadership changes there too, which is a good thing in our case. Here are some details and history as told to me from WA county. This is important because it gives us an idea of where they're coming from:

• The original group that installed the course was a disc golf club (maybe even just 1 guy who had some help; his name isn't relevant for this discussion) from Forest Grove. The club moved on and passed the baton to 2 others. They've been good about maintaining the course (some signs, trash, etc...) but WA country doesn't have much contact with them.
• Lots of disc golfers complain about the tall grass in the summer. This course is on an elk preserve, so the grass can only be cut occasionally. Bottom line is the tall grass isn't going to be cut any more frequently than it has been in the past. I don't believe this is a problem; see the next item.
• WA county is absolutely open to some course redesign (e.g., moving holes). Moving some holes from the middle of the field to the periphery and hugging the tree lines may help. I'm sure there are several other options here.

I committed to pursuing this further by coming up with a plan that I will run by them. This plan will certainly consist of multiple steps over many weeks and months. It will include vision and goals, a business case to help with funding and a timeline. I think it's highly dependent on how fast we can move and organize.

I will definitely need help! I'll be contacting people I know, and some I don't know as well to get this started. This is in its very early stages, but I think there's lots of potential and a huge opportunity here. I may fork this off onto another thread on this forum that is specific to Hagg Lake.

Although the original course designer C.E. is now in Cali, The course is still being maintained (as much as we can) by myself and many others who were involved in the original development and install of Hagg. We do regular trash runs and course maintenance (clearing whats needed). We have been doing this for years and still do it. We all know it needs lots of work and I have been in contact with some who are very interested. Unless I hear different, the course is pretty much in my groups control. The land is of course County owned, but the baskets belong to us. If anyone is interested in working together on this, please message me here, or on FB. Troy Trozzle Grotte

[Garro]

Trozzle, thanks for the updates. What do you here about raising the water level of the lake? Is that still on the table? And if so, how do you think it will effect the current course lay-out?

[Trozzle!!!]

I havent heard anything lately about the dam. Last i knew if it was going to be done, it would still be another 20 years or so. No immediate threat.

[spindoctor]

I think it's still in consideration. I contacted WA County and they said they're not sure, but they think its likely too. They also sent me here:

http://www.tualatinbasinwatersupply.org/project_description.html

There are a couple different plans. I've emailed the project manager for the Hagg Lake effort. I should hear back pretty soon, and if I don't hear back, I'll call him. When I hear something, I'll post it here.

[spindoctor]

Originally Posted by Trozzle!!!

Although the original course designer C.E. is now in Cali, The course is still being maintained (as much as we can) by myself and many others who were involved in the original development and install of Hagg. We do regular trash runs and course maintenance (clearing whats needed). We have been doing this for years and still do it. We all know it needs lots of work and I have been in contact with some who are very interested. Unless I hear different, the course is pretty much in my groups control. The land is of course County owned, but the baskets belong to us. If anyone is interested in working together on this, please message me here, or on FB. Troy Trozzle Grotte

Sounds like we should join forces!

[spindoctor]

The short answer is there is serious consideration for raising the water level of the dam. Current thinking is to go up about 12 feet. No date is projected, but the timeframe being thrown around is 2025. I'd say this is a non-issue from a disc golfer's perspective there.

Their full response is here if you're interested. I had to call them to get the projected date.

The two options that are described on the website for raising Scoggins Dam were identified in 2006 when the project was preparing an Environmental Impact Statement. Since that time, concerns about a possible large earthquake off Oregon’s coast and dam safety have arisen. The Bureau of Reclamation has been studying the structure and identifying options for strengthening the dam. Meanwhile, two partners in the project - the City of Hillsboro and Tualatin Valley Water District – are considering other water supply sources (Willamette River). Clean Water Services as the project manager is still considering a possible dam raise, but a much small one about 12 feet which would need to be coordinated with Reclamation’s efforts to reduce the safety risk of the dam.

[Trozzle!!!]

check your email spin

[Matt B.]

Originally Posted by spindoctor

The short answer is there is serious consideration for raising the water level of the dam. Current thinking is to go up about 12 feet. No date is projected, but the timeframe being thrown around is 2025. I'd say this is a non-issue from a disc golfer's perspective there.

Their full response is here if you're interested. I had to call them to get the projected date.

The two options that are described on the website for raising Scoggins Dam were identified in 2006 when the project was preparing an Environmental Impact Statement. Since that time, concerns about a possible large earthquake off Oregon’s coast and dam safety have arisen. The Bureau of Reclamation has been studying the structure and identifying options for strengthening the dam. Meanwhile, two partners in the project - the City of Hillsboro and Tualatin Valley Water District – are considering other water supply sources (Willamette River). Clean Water Services as the project manager is still considering a possible dam raise, but a much small one about 12 feet which would need to be coordinated with Reclamation’s efforts to reduce the safety risk of the dam.

Not sure how or if it affects the 12 foot water level rise, but around 2009-10 some federally protected species were also discovered in the park, and my understanding is that the presence of those species also decreases the likelihood of the project happening.

[Bruce]

All I hope with Hagg is this... Holes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 16, 17, 18 aren't touched. All of those holes are great. Move hole 2 back to the original location and that hole once again becomes great as well!

[Trozzle!!!]

We will keep that in our thoughts Bruce. I do prefer the old hole 2 as well. I myself have a few changes I have been thinking about for years, but never implemented.

[Bruce]

Hole 7 would also be epic with a B location deeper and left, near the boarder of the cut grass on the slope side. We've talked about that often when out at Hagg, since we get out there 3 or 4 times a year minimum.

[Trozzle!!!]

We are having a meeting today, in about an hour.

[spindoctor]

Troy, Amanda, Jason and I met on Sunday. We brainstormed ideas for improvements at the course. I learned a lot about the history of the course. To their credit and dedication, these 3 have used their own time, efforts, resources and money to maintain and improve this course.

Going forward, we're each going to do a few things before we get back together in a couple weeks. At that time, we'll finalize the list of improvements and our capacity to achieve them. We'll create a proposal and business case and take it to WA county.

If you're familiar with this course and/or have ideas, this would be as good a place as any to float them. We're logging all the ideas we see here. No guarantees, of course, but we'll consider all input as we draft the proposal.

Stay tuned. We'll update here as it unfolds.

[Adam Schneider]

I've only played the course three times, and not in a few years, but one thing I can say for sure is that the "meadow holes" were a LOT better when they hugged the edges of the trees. Moving them out into the open removed some of my incentive for going all the way out there.

Also, I love the forest holes — especially #14 and #9. (Yeah, #9 is aggravating as hell, but it's beautiful.)

[Trozzle!!!]

I wont go into much detail yet Adam, but baskets hugging the tree line, like they used to be, was one option that was discussed. You aren't the only one I have known to prefer the old positions. We will see what we can do.

[Flash]

Parking will always be an issue at Hagg unless the course build or re-design can happen around an existing parking lot. The best option is 1/4 mile further down the road. There is also a bathroom there. If the group involved looked at an out and back design that players could play as 9 holes or a complete 18 hole course would bring more of a destination feel to the park. The group should speak with Washington County about the use of the land near any of the parking lots on the west side of the lake.

You could always leave the original course if there is too much history there that individuals feel tied to and don't want to see changed, don't change it look to add more courses. Its really not that hard to secure funding for 18 baskets, speak with the Washington County Visitors Association. They helped to fund the Meadows Ridge course at Horning's Hideout and the course at LL Stub Stewart. They have grants they award yearly to help improve the tourism to the county. Stu's comment is clear, he would drive twice as far to play Milo or Trojan then go to Hagg Lake. I think these are the things the Visitors Association needs to hear to help the cause. Plus Hagg lake brings revenue with park entrance fees.