"Cross Farms Recreational Complex" - Tolland, Conn

Dave Mourad · Post by **Dave Mourad** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 10:31 am

Another I-84 corridor course is in the works...

Late last week I met with the director of Parks and Rec in the towne of Tolland, CT - a just north of UCONN and 2 towns east of Manchester. I was taken on a tour of the Cross Farms Recreational Complex near Birch Grove Primary School, and nearby the construction site for what will become the new high school.

Having just seen the PYE, I'm reminded of a similar configuration - Soccer/Lacrosse/Baseball fields occuPYEing the middle while the perimeter is available for the DG course. The area available to us is mostly wooded, although there will be some open field options, and hybrid field-to-woods, woods-to-fields possibilities. Old logging roads may make for a convenient path to insert fairways when designing some of the woods holes. There are no water options available, but small wetlands bowls much like the PYE exist as potential hazzards. There is definitely room for 18, however the current budget only allows for 9 to start.

The crack team of designers and architects is as follows, but any help or advice is muchly appreciated.

1) Mike Chipchase
2) Dave Mourad
3) Rob Sheftel
4) Les Sinnock
5) DavID Wollner - LEFTY Perspective!

Our challenege will be to design a 9-hole loop that will be contiguous, but also expandable to 18. Ideally we'll also begin near the parking area. If all goes well, we can have the course installed sometime in November to be ready for the time when the Wickham baskets will be warehoused for the off-season...

The google satellite map isn't ready with a high rez version yet, but here's an idea of the site in relation to the towne and infrastructure...

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=rhodes+rd ... &t=h&hl=en

Michael Chipchase · Post by **Michael Chipchase** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 11:38 am

Woo hoo Just let me know dave I can't wait for this one :bounce:

Dave Mourad · Post by **Dave Mourad** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 11:42 am

Chippy: Email me you're schedule and I'll take you for a tour...does either Wed or Thurs mid-afternoon work for you?

Michael Chipchase · Post by **Michael Chipchase** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 11:46 am

Thursday 4pm works for me dave

Mike Laterreur · Post by **Mike Laterreur** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 4:52 pm

let me know if there's anything I can do to help out.

Dave Mourad · Post by **Dave Mourad** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 7:04 pm

PROGRESS REPORT: 04-AUG-2005

Yesterday, members of the design panel toured the grounds for the first time. If you can believe it our main problem is that we have TOO MUCH land to work with - especially with a budget for 9-holes to begin with. There are some key features we need to include in the design, namely 2 holes that access some nicely shaped and mowed open fields buffered by woods on both sides. Unlike at the PYE, there isn't enough open space beyond the ballfields we can take advantage of and so the rest of the holes are almost 100% in the woods. Ultimately we may have an inverse course in the end - all woods except for two.

We came up with a very suitable 12-hole design that loops nicely as a first go-around, but when we actually measure it, we may discover that we need to extend it anyway.

Most of the work that needs to be done are clearing out ferns and saplings, with the logging road it's much like Hole 1 at Panthorn, but the overall challenge to the Whack Pack wouldn't nearly be as profound. By the sound of it we will have decent level of support from the town's Public Works department.

More than likely signage would provide simple information, such as distance/par/sponsor with basic arrows such that there would be no need to re-draw detailed maps each time the course adjust or evolves.

More later...

ben dubow · Post by **ben dubow** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 12:31 pm

That is great to hear. Tolland is a great place for a course... I live right in Tolland so let let know if I can be of any help. Also, when you start getting sponsors, let me know...

Ben

Dave Mourad · Post by **Dave Mourad** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 3:49 pm

Les and I was supposed to meet with Mike Chipchase in Tolland today, but with the wetaher patterns looking gloomy, we decided to cancel. Unfortunatey I don't have Chippy's cell phone # on me - If someone could email it to me or inform him that we've postponsed, that would be muchly appreciated...

Thanx!

Dave Mourad · Post by **Dave Mourad** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 3:19 pm

I just received communication from the Parks and Rec director, and he has a purchase order out for 13 Chainstars (it includes one sponsor from the P&R board). That being the case, with a little more sponsorship, we can achieve 18.

The design team will meet at the complex next week either on Tuesday the 20th or Friday the 23rd to stake out the initial course with flags. If all goes well, we could have this course available by late fall!

Mike Laterreur · Post by **Mike Laterreur** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 7:23 pm

dave what are you asking for in amounts of Sponsorship? I may be able to get 3rd Dimension to help out. Since hey the only real thing I get my Grandparents to sponsor is my Softball team.

And, what grandparents don't want to give their oldest grandson money? :roll:

Dave Mourad · Post by **Dave Mourad** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 11:12 pm

Design Team is meeting in Tolland Friday afternoon to flag the course...

I spoke with ID and he'll be there at about 3:30. Chip? Les?

Others are welcome to scope the land as well and provide suggestions, but the main flow of the course as it will be propsed to Tolland P&R has already been determiend.

Dave Mourad · Post by **Dave Mourad** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:46 am

Last Friday, Les, ID and myself staked out potential tee and pin placements for an 18 hole course. This Friday Tom Ainsworth, the Parks and Rec Director will be meeting with us at 3:30 to walk the course himself in order to determine the design's viablility with respect to land use and other activities.

Anyone else who would like to join us for a tour is welcome to join our march through the Cross Farms Woods. Based on their schedules, my guess is that Les and Chip will probably be able to make it at around 4:00, so our initial walk will be near the parking area...

Jeff LaGrassa · Post by **Jeff LaGrassa** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 11:05 am

Dave, thanks for keeping all of us posted. I look forward to hearing the results of your meeting with Tom Ainsworth.

:wink:

Dave Mourad · Post by **Dave Mourad** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 8:43 pm

Results of meeting:

I walked the grounds with Tom and he gave us the thumbs up on land use and the basic flow of the course. Les joined us towards the end and one thing that we learned is that some of the holes we designed (14-16) play in a wetlands area and should probably be modified. I noted that when we originally established them we were in somewhat of a rush, due to lack of light, so we will revisit those holes and may even completely redesign or re-route them, especially after surveying the types of shots we expect from the other holes on the course.

We recommended that P&R order 19-20 sleeves and the baskets could come later - at a time when we can afford all 18. After our walkthrough, we also wrapped trees that need to be cut to form fairways on the rest of the established holes. The good news is that the Tolland Public Works department will have some extra time in the autumn to help us out, and with some luck, we could have the course cut and hauled in 2005. Tom basically left indicating that if there's anything he can do, to let him know, so it's been a great working relationship throughout.

Les is going to try and map the course with a GPS device, so things are moving along.

As soon as we have hole distance measurements, I'll post basic descriptions of how the course plays.

Mike Laterreur · Post by **Mike Laterreur** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 6:38 am

Thats great Dave!

Dave McHale · Post by **Dave McHale** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 10:18 pm

good job mourad... not bad for a guy who said his days of putting courses in the ground were done

glad to hear tolland is going full steam, let us know if you'll need a hand out there for some workdays. (perhaps a saturday workday before the wickender the next day? Or maybe that saturday would be better reserved for a round or two of BUCKET @ da wick?

)

Dave Mourad · Post by **Dave Mourad** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:34 am

Here's our status: Version I of the course has been completely designed and measures about 4955 feet in length (About what Pyramids Silvers is for reference). There's plenty of room for Am and Pro tees in the future as well.

I'd love to show you some pictures, but I left my digital camera in it's carrying case somewhere out there on the course :oops:

DOH! Chip and I tried looking for it, but I'm going to be out there again on Sunday after Wickham Dubz to show people around, so hopefully it can be recovered (albeit perhaps a bit soggy).

Here's the breakdown:

Hole #1 200 ft - short right to left that begins with a short grassy field and enters the woods

Hole #2 265 ft - slight left to right across a short valley of ferns and a well defined fairway by mature trees on the left and right

Hole #3 255 ft - straight, tight, flat - many trees

Hole #4 295 ft - straight down an old access road and then banks right about 50-60 ft to a pin on a grassy hill.

Hole #5 350 ft - open shot over grassy area that falls to the tree line below

Hole #6 435 ft - uses lengthly field to a pin guarded by a buffer - mostly straight, but ends up slighly left. New obstacles on the right: fitness trail equipment we anticipate well rarely be used, but may affect some shots adding to the challenge of the hole

Hole #7 310 ft - runs down an access road in an S pattern - there's a need to shoot over a raised area where another road crosses about 250 down. The pin is places in a cove slightly left

Hole #8 380 ft - a real beauty - straight down past the same embankment (road) through an incredible array of trees in a row towards a large boulder and then works it's way through a thinner area to the right

Hole #9 165 ft - a tight short ace run right to left

Hole #10 365 ft - a very straight blast down an access road to a clearing where the pin is placed 90 degrees to the right about 60 feet down

Hole #11 195 ft - a basic wooded right to left hole with a large stump monolith in the centre of the fairway

Hole #12 230 ft - straight through woods and crosses an old trail towards a stone wall slightly left

Hole #13 285 ft - straight for 90 ft and then left to a beautiful grassy knoll in the middle of the woods. It looks much longer than it is due to the rise inelevation

Hole #14 240 ft - an S pattern towards a small clearing near a stone wall. Anhyzer righty shot off the tee

Hole #15 170 ft - short hole over stone wall to an elevated area straight across a dried brook

Hole #16 175 ft - short hole through woods before wetlands buffer

Hole #17 320 ft - a large left to right crescent that works upward

Hole #18 320 ft - a meandering fairway that wiggles through the woods to a pin on top of a hill overlooking the parking area

Dave McHale · Post by **Dave McHale** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 11:24 am

did ID design the whole course? seems like an overwhelming amount of "left to right" to me

hope you get the camera back safe and sound, mourad... that really sucks

Dave Mourad · Post by **Dave Mourad** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 11:41 am

I had the direction reversed on hole #1 - it's fairly balanced, and there is defintely a preponderence of "right-to-left" in the middle of the course.

We definitely appreciated ID's "lefty" perspective though.

As for the camera, it was a cheapy HP, but I would rather not have lost it - besides's my wife bought it after I lost another Kodak a number of years ago...sigh

I'm getting excited to begin playing it though!

Shawn Kennedy · Post by **Shawn Kennedy** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 9:05 pm

This sounds great--
Hope to get to throw a round or two during some future visit!

Dave--Here's a satellite pic for you:

Les Sinnock · Post by **Les Sinnock** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 2:40 pm

After a long and happy summer of boating in Fishers Island sound, I should be able to offer a little perspective concerning the new course.
Us designing dudes spent quite a while trying to even out the left to right, right to left play. Especially since we felt that the course a Wick tended to favor the lefties a bit much. Dave and I should be flagging the edges of the fairways for final clearing in the coming week or so. With any luck the parks people should be able to get going on everything soon. As Dave indicated we could use committments on additional sponsors. The sooner the better. I will be the new course contact as Dave is involved intimately with Wickham and I live a lot closer to this course than he does (Stafford). So, if you would like to chat further with me about it please feel free to e-mail me at Brewles@netscape.com or call me at 860.684.5481. If all goes well, I propose a kickoff tournement for early June. This gives us a little bit of a chance in the spring to tune up the course before we tourney. First tournement will be a singles tourney. Cash payout for all divisions and non-sanctioned by nefa or pdga. I'll post more about dates, cost etc. as things come along. - out :D :D :D

Les Sinnock · Post by **Les Sinnock** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 4:44 pm

The course is now totally flagged and waiting for the parks people to get to work on it. The flooding we had a week ago or so caused some delay with the parks folks but the plan is to go ahead in November some time with the tree and dead wood clearing. the park is going to buy 12 baskets. the rest need to come from the rest of us. As it stands now we have commitments from several people to buy complete baskets. Among them are myself, David Wollner, Bill Stapleton, I believe I heard that Ditterman would buy one but that is unconfirmed by me. And, I think we convinced Steve Dumas to buy one. So if this all stands, we are still short one basket (anybody, Bueller, Bueller, Bueller). How about a NEFA donation for this new and unique course to help round out the I-84 corridor. This course is located about three minutes from the highway in another of CT's fine wooded areas. We could use additional funding for tee signs, which are to be made at a discount rate by the incomparable Carl Emerson. Come on folks, so far all of the donations are from the Archers who have worked tirelessly to bring you disc golf in central and now north central CT. We thank you for your support. -out [color=darkblue][/color][size=18][/size][size=12][/size]

Stephen Ditter · Post by **Stephen Ditter** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 6:23 pm

I will confirm the speculation of a ditterman basket purchase. I would also like to offer my Panthron Wack Pack duties to the new course. Let me know when the next workday is and me and my wacker will be there. Beast of Burden for hire, I work for food and or beer. Which is considered liquid food, so I guess I just work for food in any physical state, solid or liquid.

-ditterman

Jesse Carrieri · Post by **Jesse Carrieri** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 7:07 pm

willing to help

Dave McHale · Post by **Dave McHale** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 7:48 pm

if you guys are out during the week at all let me know, i'm constantly looking for excuses to get out of the house nowadays. Getting cabin fever while jobhunting

Mike Laterreur · Post by **Mike Laterreur** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 10:13 pm

I'm also available to help out. I can maybe try to steal natalie for a weekend to come help. She's always willing to help out on a course. (Its great when she volunteers to help out too, and it counts as spending quality time with her)

:thumright:

Les Sinnock · Post by **Les Sinnock** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 5:44 pm

Thanks for your support. Workdays won't come for a stretch yet. I'm more in the market for funds. C'mon, empty your piggy banks for a good cause.

Michael Chipchase · Post by **Michael Chipchase** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 5:24 pm

Just saw a quick bit on eyewitness news about the 18 hole Disc golf course at Cross Farms opening in the spring.They showed a picture of the sign at the entrance and it was about 10 sec long but hey......any coverage is good

Dave Mourad · Post by **Dave Mourad** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 8:31 pm

Wow, the TV news piece escaped me, but I know that the Jourral Inquirer interviewed Les a coupla dayz ago, so we should expect some print soon too. Here we are in a thaw and folks are already anticipating the arrival of Spring 8) .

More Updates:

Tom A. from Tolland P&R emailed me yesterday and indicated that he's in possession of 19-chainstars (he even got a practise putting basket, which is something I didn't expect - that will give the game more visibility near the parking lot!) We are still working out sponsorships and grants since he was able to front the $ based on prior commitments. We are grateful for any support of course, and for the forthcoming NEFA auction grant as well.

I wrote him about getting together for a basket assembly party down the line, but sleeves won't be installed until the spring when the ground is firm enough...

Another note is that he has procured the resources of an Eagle Scout to help with the project. I'm not certain how his help will be incorporated, but I'd imagine it will be some physical help coupled with ancillary goodies like the development of tee signs and scorecards. It won't be for design consultation, so breathe easy :wink:

More info as it comes, but this entity is starting to take on a life of it's own. :cheers:

Mike Laterreur · Post by **Mike Laterreur** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 11:27 pm

Any schedule on workdays? I'd love to get out and lend a hand when I can.

NEFA DISCussion

"Cross Farms Recreational Complex" - Tolland, Conn

"Cross Farms Recreational Complex" - Tolland, Conn

PROGRESS REPORT: 04-AUG-2005

Great Stuff

Looking for MikeChip

Mappy

Hi, I'm back

Cross farms is coming along

Thanks