Blyth Park - New Courses

Fletch · #1 April 14th, 2010, 01:08 PM

Last Thursday I presented to the Parks Board a proposal for a 9 hole course in Bothell at Blyth Park. After 45 minutes of deliberation and input from community members, it was unanimously approved by the board for installation in late spring/early summer. Due to conservitive spending this year, we are able to pay for all the baskets from the operations budget. There will be a work party in May/June to install baskets and rough tee pads (no concrete until the park goes through the master plan process in the next few years).

The topography is very beautiful and the course sits just above the sammamish River adjacent to the back 9 of waynes Golf Course. It will be fairly short, but there will be a few 300+ holes and what may turn out to be one of the most picturesqe holes in WA. Think Terrace 18 with a backdrop of the river and golf course. Roughly 450+. We had to design the course so as not to interfere with current park use (playgrounds, shelter reservations, etc)
so will not be using much of the field at all, but that's OK as the drainage isn't great anyway. THIS COURSE COULD BE AWSOME! and there is room for possible expansion to 18 down the road.

I had to present the information objectively as possible, being that I am the Lead for the parks division, but as a testament to the progressiveness of the board, the words "no brainer" kept popping up. The Rec department may also jump on board organizing leagues and such.

Big thanks to Lowell and Chris (MLT Park board member) for their input, and all the community members who voiced there support publicly. With what seems like a potentially great course going in at Siver Lake, upper east side Disc Golf is on the rise!

Ol' Bob · #2 April 14th, 2010, 01:31 PM

Woo-hoo!

Tim · #3 April 14th, 2010, 01:38 PM

AWESOME. 9 minutes from my work, and on my way home, "no brainer" is popping up in my mind too! Keep me posted, Adam, I'll for sure be out there to help out however I can.

JR Stengele · #4 April 15th, 2010, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fletch

Last Thursday I presented to the Parks Board a proposal for a 9 hole course in Bothell at Blyth Park. After 45 minutes of deliberation and input from community members, it was unanimously approved by the board for installation in late spring/early summer. Due to conservitive spending this year, we are able to pay for all the baskets from the operations budget. There will be a work party in May/June to install baskets and rough tee pads (no concrete until the park goes through the master plan process in the next few years).

The topography is very beautiful and the course sits just above the sammamish River adjacent to the back 9 of waynes Golf Course. It will be fairly short, but there will be a few 300+ holes and what may turn out to be one of the most picturesqe holes in WA. Think Terrace 18 with a backdrop of the river and golf course. Roughly 450+. We had to design the course so as not to interfere with current park use (playgrounds, shelter reservations, etc)
so will not be using much of the field at all, but that's OK as the drainage isn't great anyway. THIS COURSE COULD BE AWSOME! and there is room for possible expansion to 18 down the road.

I had to present the information objectively as possible, being that I am the Lead for the parks division, but as a testament to the progressiveness of the board, the words "no brainer" kept popping up. The Rec department may also jump on board organizing leagues and such.

Big thanks to Lowell and Chris (MLT Park board member) for their input, and all the community members who voiced there support publicly. With what seems like a potentially great course going in at Siver Lake, upper east side Disc Golf is on the rise!

Nice work! Like the others have said, keep us updated and thanks for all your time and effort.

sillybizz · #5 April 15th, 2010, 01:38 PM

I had heard Lowell was working on a park in Bothell and that it was privileged information on where it was being located, thanks for the update and coming out party. Keep up the good work on those new courses. Great Job Adam, Lowell, Chris and anyone else working on this.

Adam Schneider · #6 April 15th, 2010, 01:42 PM

Blyth is now a blue icon on the Washington map.

cefire · #7 April 15th, 2010, 07:48 PM

Nice job, great to hear that there will be a new local option!

cefire · #8 April 16th, 2010, 06:00 PM

BTW Adam, I think you need the Port Angeles course on your map!

Adam Schneider · #9 April 16th, 2010, 06:33 PM

Done. Let me know if you see any other omissions.

sillybizz · #10 April 16th, 2010, 06:40 PM

I sent you a message about Dykstra Park, that needs on the list too.

captain jack · #11 April 16th, 2010, 08:11 PM

BOOYAA!!!!!!
As I have been a Bothell resident for 15 years now, any new local courses are always welcome.
I'm surprised nobody has considered the new Centennial Park in Bothell, this would be a perfect place for an 18 hole layout.

JR Stengele · #12 June 1st, 2010, 08:51 AM

Any Updates?

Fletch · #13 June 11th, 2010, 06:31 AM

There will be a work party Saturday, June 19th from 10am-3pm at Blyth Park. Mostly it will be roughing out teepads and hauling wood chips. We will provide refreshments and maybe lunch for the event so anyone who would like to be part of this please come and show your support. I would love to get impressions and feedback from the disc golf community as well. We will provide the tools, just bring gloves.

Hope to see you there!
Adam

Fletch · #14 June 11th, 2010, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by captain jack

BOOYAA!!!!!!
As I have been a Bothell resident for 15 years now, any new local courses are always welcome.
I'm surprised nobody has considered the new Centennial Park in Bothell, this would be a perfect place for an 18 hole layout.

Been there, tried that. Centennial park was purchased threough a Snohomish County Conservation Futures grant and is required to be a passive use park. That said, I conceptualized 18 holes 2 years ago there, brought it foreward, and was shot down. Think of Blyth as a trial run, with Centennial being the ultimate goal. It could truly be an epic course along the lines of a Lakewood.

Tim · #15 June 11th, 2010, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fletch

There will be a work party Saturday, June 19th from 10am-3pm at Blyth Park. Mostly it will be roughing out teepads and hauling wood chips. We will provide refreshments and maybe lunch for the event so anyone who would like to be part of this please come and show your support. I would love to get impressions and feedback from the disc golf community as well. We will provide the tools, just bring gloves.

Hope to see you there!
Adam

Marking my calendar...

LakeStevensBA · #16 June 11th, 2010, 11:36 AM

Good Job Adam! You're the man!

I will make an announcement at Monday's Lake Stevens Doubles regarding the work party. We usually get quite a few to support.

Silver Lake work party 3 weeks ago
Marysville work party tomorrow
Blyth park next week

I love where this momentum is taking us!

Fletch · #17 June 11th, 2010, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LakeStevensBA

Good Job Adam! You're the man!

I will make an announcement at Monday's Lake Stevens Doubles regarding the work party. We usually get quite a few to support.

Silver Lake work party 3 weeks ago
Marysville work party tomorrow
Blyth park next week

I love where this momentum is taking us!

Couldn't agree more!

2010 will prove to be a great year for disc golf in our area, thanks everyone for the support.

Actually having to spend 10 minutes to decide where to throw on a Saturday without traveling more than half hour is getting me pumped up!!!

captain jack · #18 June 11th, 2010, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fletch

Been there, tried that. Centennial park was purchased through a Snohomish County Conservation Futures grant and is required to be a passive use park. That said, I conceptualized 18 holes 2 years ago there, brought it foreward, and was shot down. Think of Blyth as a trial run, with Centennial being the ultimate goal. It could truly be an epic course along the lines of a Lakewood.

I guess I should eat right and drive safe for a while, disc golf is finally coming of age in Washington.
So now we have Blythe, Terrace Creek and Silver Lake locally, with a possible Centennial "Lakewood like" course, and another idea for a long "Seatac like" layout in Everett, this could become disc golf central soon.

UPPER EAST SIEEEED REPRESENT'N !

Fletch · #19 June 17th, 2010, 06:37 AM

We will be bringing the BBQ for dogs and burgers (veggie burgs for the veggie folks) Saturday. Looks like the weather should cooperate as well.

Should have close to 50 yrds of wood chips for some chip hauling fun. Mick and I marked out all the pads and pins yesterday so we're ready to roll.

See you there!

Adam

Tim · #20 June 20th, 2010, 07:03 PM

Well, there's some good news and some not so good news from this weekend. The good news is that Blyth Park looks to have some cool potential for a sweet little course. As Adam said, the holes are all relatively short, but definitely have some challenge to them. The closest comparison I can think of would be the woodsy holes at Dalaiwood--though there is some openness in play on some of the holes. Also good news was that it was good working weather throughout the day--no rain and comfortable temps. We were able to get one hole pretty well covered with wood chips, but unfortunately that leads to the not so good news....

The turnout for this work party was disappointing to say the least. Besides Adam and Mick (who were paid to be there), Sarah and I were the only volunteers to show. I feel like we did a decent amount of work for 4 people, but there was SO much more to be done. Apparently, Adam got a good number of verbal commitments, but when it came to the day of, there were more flakes than a dandruff convention. I don't know of many other work parties where all the tools are provided, as well as coffee and lunch, and a clear plan of what needs to be done. I suppose the offer of free beer would bring more folks out, but somehow I doubt the parks department is willing to back that idea.

Besides getting the work done, there's a potentially more crucial reason for people attending these work parties. Anybody that's tried putting a course in knows that it's a hard sell to city councils/parks departments--just look at how few courses we have in the area now. In the eyes of the parks department, if only a couple people are showing up to volunteer to put a course in, then maybe there isn't that much interest in putting a new course in, and maybe the course doesn't need to go in after all. We need to show that yes, we do indeed want a new course, and yes, we're serious about it.

I don't know when Adam is planning the next work party, but we should definitely make a stronger effort to show our support next time around.