Next Volunteer Project

[bettercounsel]

I have asked some people about what HFDS should do next vis-a-vis courses. Here are some things that have been mentioned to me:

(1) reforestation of Moffitt; (2) red-brick tees project at Jester (novice/rec tees); (3) expansion of Imperial Park Course in Sugar Land; (4) fundraising for concrete tees at Jester; (5) fundraising for concrete tees at MacGregor; (6) fundraising for a new course like Harris County Precinct Four Course (perhaps somewhere like Cypresswood), (7) a new course somewhere like George Bush Park, and (8) charity disc golf events at the Jim Mozola Memorial DGC.

These sorts of projects will need volunteers to provide the leadership, time and effort to get these projects going, move them along and see them to completion. If you have a disc sports or disc golf project that you would like to see HFDS do, please make a post on this thread and come to a club meeting and talk about it.

[ERicJ]

Originally Posted by bettercounsel

(3) expansion of Imperial Park Course in Sugar Land

All the adjacent land is not City Park property. Last year for the Sugar Land Showdown tournament I investigated all the options for space for more holes.

There's a wooded area bounded by the current #6-8 that could be carved out to make at most two more holes. But that brush and undergrowth is super thick and prone to growing back easily. Throwing around it is precarious enough, much less through it. I don't think that course gets the foot traffic it would need to keep carved out fairways from growing back. The wooded area at the front of the park is the same story. So, at best, you'd be looking at four more holes. And if the City ever puts the proposed walking trail on their master plan in that changes things.

IMO, a better course of action with regard to the City of Sugar Land is to help ensure that the proposed course at Sugar Land Memorial Park is a good one.

[JimG520]

RE: Imperial. My thoughts on the extra holes definitely involve carving holes out of the wooded areas by 1 and 6-8. IMO, a mixture of wooded holes to go along with the existing wide open holes may make the course more popular. That is the closest course to my home, and I don't play it precisely because it's boring and wide open (and on the weekends holes 1-3 can be unplayable because of the soccer people).

I think with some tweaking of the existing holes and good use of the wooded areas, we could definitely add more than 4 holes. I'm not sure we could get a full 18 though. The other land that is potentially available is across the street from hole #7 behind the fire station. When I checked a city map a few years ago, that land was listed as part of the park property. However, that land isn't ideal (houses, buildings, and the road are all in play)l, but it is lightly wooded, so one or maybe two short holes could be added there.

I do agree with ERic's concerns about the thick brush. Without heavy foot traffic, those areas would need constant maintenance. If we cleared out fairways so they are easily mowable like the left fairway on hole 6, would P&R maintain it?

Also the eventual footpath is a concern.

I brought this up last year in this thread.

[JimG520]

Originally Posted by ERicJ

IMO, a better course of action with regard to the City of Sugar Land is to help ensure that the proposed course at Sugar Land Memorial Park is a good one.

And the thread for that course/plan is 4 years old. And the talk in that thread implies that the course discussion goes back much longer than that. I'd prefer to get some improvement out of the existing course over the next year, than wait another 5 years for a potentially better course that may or may not eventually come. The only potential drawback I could see would be the city saying "look you already have a good course at Imperial, you don't need one at Memorial now". Is that a realistic concern?

[ERicJ]

Originally Posted by JimG520

The other land that is potentially available is across the street from hole #7 behind the fire station. When I checked a city map a few years ago, that land was listed as part of the park property. However, that land isn't ideal (houses, buildings, and the road are all in play)l, but it is lightly wooded, so one or maybe two short holes could be added there.

That land is owned by the adjacent Bible Church, not the City/Park.

[JimG520]

http://svrch15.sugarlandtx.gov/websi...ind/viewer.htm

shows that corner as Park owned.

Either way, it's not much space. One/two holes at max, and they'd be short. I'm far more interested in the two wooded patches and the little bit of open space beyond the outfiled on the far NW field. Of course that's where the proposed walking path is going, right?

[ERicJ]

I'd inquired about that land between the Church and the Fire Station to use for the Showdown and was told it belonged to the Church. Below is the official park map from the city; the faint green line is the proposed trail extension.

[JimG520]

Well, I'm shocked that we got two different maps both from the City of Sugar Land. It's almost as if city government is a giant bureaucracy and one hand doesn't know what the other is doing.

[ChingLizard]

Originally Posted by JimG520

Well, I'm shocked that we got two different maps both from the City of Sugar Land. It's almost as if city government is a giant bureaucracy and one hand doesn't know what the other is doing.

Really? Here is my shocked face:

[derek]

Originally Posted by bettercounsel

I have asked some people about what HFDS should do next vis-a-vis courses. Here are some things that have been mentioned to me:

(1) reforestation of Moffitt; (2) red-brick tees project at Jester (novice/rec tees); (3) expansion of Imperial Park Course in Sugar Land; (4) fundraising for concrete tees at Jester; (5) fundraising for concrete tees at MacGregor; (6) fundraising for a new course like Harris County Precinct Four Course (perhaps somewhere like Cypresswood), (7) a new course somewhere like George Bush Park, and (8) charity disc golf events at the Jim Mozola Memorial DGC.

These sorts of projects will need volunteers to provide the leadership, time and effort to get these projects going, move them along and see them to completion. If you have a disc sports or disc golf project that you would like to see HFDS do, please make a post on this thread and come to a club meeting and talk about it.

I think most of these things will happen and can happen, just a matter of time and money. I have to say I am really proud of recent accomplishments of HFDS and the players and I'm glad to be a part of it. The club has really stepped up lately and if things keep going at the current pace we will only be limited by our funds and not by lack of approval for new projects. City of Houston has worked with us to streamline the process for disc golf projects and we are lucky to have someone in parks and rec who is very proactive. He has helped raise our profile in city government and wants to help us get as much done as possible

There are some who say, HFDS should not get involved with course development and spending money on baskets and tee pads. I strongly disagree. Without constant course development and maintenance by the club, we are at the mercy of city government or private course development in the suburbs and we have no control over our own fate. This kind of approach will never get us any further and its only hurts us and all the players in the community. Now is the time to work for what we want for ourselves and for the future players in Houston just as people like Jim Hudson & Andi and many others did many years ago to get the original courses put in and open the door for disc golf in Houston. If the original pioneers of disc golf had just waited around for others to take action, we would probably still be playing object golf.

City park land is volatile and always changing, and we need to stay ahead of them. This means smart planning wherever possible in anticipation for whatever they might do (skateparks, dog parks, soccer, baseball, walking trails etc.) We can fight some projects that threaten our courses, but we have to pick our battles. Its a balancing act to not allow ourselves to get stepped on and fighting other projects to protect our courses when needed.

I say, what better to spend our money on than the one aspect that our whole game is built on. Without improving the course we have and adding new courses to the area, we won't have anywhere to hold events or teach the next generation of youth players. If we are simply satisfied with what we have, then we risk losing it all in a matter of time to other groups and projects that inevitably come to occupy the space in which our courses reside.

The city has been somewhat aware of HFDS through the years, but finally they are starting to see we are a real organization and we are an asset in city parks. In the past, there has been an 'us against them' sentiment and I hope to change that. While we are relatively small as a group, I see this as only a temporary problem of a growing sport and we should not view ourselves as any less important than other groups. When the city plans a park, they automatically think of softball, baseball, soccer, dog parks, pools. I think we can make disc golf part of that list as well.

Here is another issue that I think is somewhat unique in Houston that I do not see many other places. For years and years, we have had lots of small shorter courses, but not many higher level sites inside the city:

In other parts of the country, high level courses are seen as fun for rec./casual players and at the same time are good enough to challenge and help grow the next generation of pros. Most of this is about perception and a shift in expectation. If all new players expect the game to be easy and they can reach most holes off the tee in their first month of playing the game, we are setting the wrong example. Of course we do not want players to get so frustrated that they never try again, but also we cannot cater to the fear that newer players expect everything to be easy or else they just quit. Multiple tees can help solve this, and so can the existence of beginner type courses like Moffitt, that way we don't have a stagnated environment and we also have sites that push players to take their game to a higher level if they want. This is why I think its great that we finally gave Moffitt a long over-due upgrade, and now we can improve some of our higher level sites or make new sites.

1. Reforestation at Moffitt - I have spoke to Trees for Houston about Moffitt and they would like to help us in addition to the plans already in place for MacGregor

2. Red Brick project at TC Jester - if there is a need, I see no problem with this and I will work with whoever wants to lead the project (David B.) and create some novice shots. Red tees could be helpful for introducing new players to the sport or for families playing.

3. Expansion of Imperial Park - I elect Jim G and Eric to make this happen

4. Concrete at Jester - Right now I think this is the site that needs concrete the most and would have the biggest benefit.

5. Concrete at MacGregor - I am working on getting parks & rec to do this since their experiment with asphalt did not turn out to be a permanent solution, they may be able to redo the tees in concrete as an 'upgrade'

6 & 7. Fundraising for a new course/courses - There are a few sites available and soon I should have some news to present to the club about where I would like to propose something new. We may have to choose between baskets for a new course and concrete tee pads depending on amount of funds.

8. Charity Events - This is always good and should be even more feasible now that we have 21 holes at TC Jester and a much improved Moffitt with concrete tees.