Mr. Peabody

[Brian Giggey]

Checked it out yesterday morning. Looks great especially compared to the last time I was there when it was nothing more then an overgrown lot. Giggity, I walked the 6 or 7 fairway's on the hillside, I'm assuming they go out low and come back high after that uphill pop at the end of the property? Also wondering how many holes there are before the retention pond and whether any holes will go over the pond.

There are only two holes in the sliver by the parking area (holes 1 and 9). No holes go over the detention basin. We did consider it (due to the narrowness of the parcel where holes 2 and 8 are), but took it completely out of the equation --- while there will RARELY be water all the way in that section of the basin, there is no reason to screw with safety when we don't need to.

You walk the path to tee 2 and the hole runs parallel to it. Hole 3 heads up the hill towards the property boundary. Hole 4 runs the rock wall an is the longest on the course at 270'. Hole 5 goes straight downhill and hole 6 runs parallel(ish) to hole 5 back up near tee 5. Hole 7 runs parallel to the path, ending near basket 2. Then you walk a bit back uphill to the 8th tee while the hole runs parallel to hole 2.

The only safety concern is REALLY poorly thrown discs that may bounce into the 2nd fairway from hole 8. The parcel is only about 55' wide at this point, but you have to get out and back so we did the best we could with what the land gave us. We also picked a figure 8 loop so tee shots on hole 3 go straight uphill instead of throwing downhill and hoping they land short of the confluence of holes at that intersection.

Very fun, short, technical course. Looking forward to the baskets, tees and signage going in soon. "Fair fairway" clearing is scheduled for early next week.

[Bill Stewart]

Great Brian, very exciting. Any way to post a map of the layout?

Can you give me a call at some point? 978 852 5886. There is a chunk of woods between "Hamburger Hill" (to the left of hole 17) at Pye Brook Park that JD and I have been scouting. We see two great holes, and then the other day I saw a third that would go nicely in the woods back there. These three holes would be an awesome addition to the course, connecting 18 to 19's tee.

There is a lot of friction when it comes to change between the Parks and Cemetery Department, and their favorite fall guys, the Conservation Commission. Not to mention a lack of volunteer time and machinery from those of us regulars at the course--obstacles that seem to leave this idea in the "nice thought" bin. But I was thinking that approaching these governing bodies with a "professional" proposal might be the way to make it happen.

The rails to trails people are extending the bike trail to and past Pye Brook Park (from the current terminus in Topsfield Center), and it runs next to this unused land. I thought now might be the time to approach them with an idea that piggybacks on "gentle" development of some overgrown park space.

thanks,

Stew

[Brian Giggey]

Great Brian, very exciting. Any way to post a map of the layout?

Can you give me a call at some point? 978 852 5886. There is a chunk of woods between "Hamburger Hill" (to the left of hole 17) at Pye Brook Park that JD and I have been scouting. We see two great holes, and then the other day I saw a third that would go nicely in the woods back there. These three holes would be an awesome addition to the course, connecting 18 to 19's tee.

There is a lot of friction when it comes to change between the Parks and Cemetery Department, and their favorite fall guys, the Conservation Commission. Not to mention a lack of volunteer time and machinery from those of us regulars at the course--obstacles that seem to leave this idea in the "nice thought" bin. But I was thinking that approaching these governing bodies with a "professional" proposal might be the way to make it happen.

The rails to trails people are extending the bike trail to and past Pye Brook Park (from the current terminus in Topsfield Center), and it runs next to this unused land. I thought now might be the time to approach them with an idea that piggybacks on "gentle" development of some overgrown park space.

thanks,

Stew

Sounds good, Bill. If you e-mail me at info@explorediscgolf.com, I will be more than happy to e-mail you the PDF of the course map --- it's a pretty large file.

I'd love to hop on a call sometime. Hopefully sometime next week after I get back from the USDGC? It's a pretty packed week, but hopefully we could pin down a time to talk on Thursday the 10th.

[Brian Giggey]

Baskets and tee boxes are in. Signage should be up after Thanksgiving.

The course is still considered a construction site due to the machinery in/around the detention basin. It should be fully open after everything has been cleared out around the holiday.

More info and pictures can be found in Explore Disc Golf's monthly newsletter that went out this morning:
http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=42b ... 85f3038aea

[Bill Stewart]

Brian, H.A. and I played the 9 hole layout Saturday morning. I anticipate some of us locals will add holes by developing alt "tees." We thought the flow was a little funky, with the walks between 1 & 2 and 8 & 9. Right out of the box, we came up with 2 extra holes that solve the walk issue: after 1, swing around the basin clockwise, and throw across it to basket #8, then proceed to #2. And after completing 8, tee off back to #1's basket then play #9.

The basin may represent an area you'd want to keep people from throwing over given the course, rightfully so, seems to be designed with the newbie DGer in mind. However, it looks like anyone who can throw 300' could clear the basin easily.

Is the game plan to see how the course is received with the hopes of expanding farther inward with another land purchase by the city? Is there potential to add holes within the existing layout? Some of the woods at the far end of the basin (residential side) look wide enough to support a basket. Also noticed significant untouched real estate in the woods above 8 basket.

Regardless of the future, the course is well done, clean and there are a couple long holes so that the whole thing isn't just a pitch and putt. We especially enjoyed driving in and seeing an area with two signs that read "Disc Golfer Parking Only." You don't see that very often.

Thank you for your effort.

P.S. are you up there on a regular basis during construction? I'd like to meet you there at some point.

[Brian Giggey]

Thanks for the feedback.

The flow from 1-2 and 8-9 is a bit odd, but we didn't want people throwing across the detention basin out of safety concerns. We had throwing to 8 as a "bonus hole" in mind, but we wouldn't promote it to the general public. There are definitely possibilities over the basin, but once again, the city wanted it beginner friendly, so that's what it is.

Above hole 8 is above the parcel line. If you saw pink ribbons on the left of 8 and right of 4, those denoted the property boundary. Many of the holes were a but straighter than we'd like, but that's solely due to the narrowness of the parcel.

Anything behind the detention basin is close to flood plains, residential buffers, and near the LOC, so we stayed clear. There is ery little room to expand in the parcel that was programmed for disc golf. If anything does happen in the future, it will be further down past holes 4-5.

We have our last construction meeting on 12/3. I was there every other week since June so I'm sorry we never met, but hopefully soon. Thanks again for the feedback --- we hope you find it enjoyable. It was designed in a fashion that advanced players should birdie almost every hole, while beginners can shoot closer to par without getting discouraged.

[Bill Stewart]

Jason Powers and I came up with an 19-hole layout while spending a couple hours up there Saturday morning:

1. Regular Hole 1.
2. Tee 9 area to basket 8.
3. Regular Hole 2.
4. Regular Hole 3.
5. Regular Hole 4.
6. Regular Hole 5.
7. Regular Hole 6.
8. Regular Hole 7.
9. Regular Hole 8.
10. Tee off just above 8 basket to basket 1.
11. Regular Hole 9.
12. Tee off from lawn in front of 100 Summit St Building to basket 1.
13. Tee off about 100' past 9 tee (tree with red ribbon) across retention basin to basket 8.
14. Regular Hole 2. (only repeated hole, and it's a good one)
15. Hole "3A." about 15' to the right of 3 tee box is a tight line to the same basket.
16. Tee 4 to basket 5.
17. Tee 20' uphill from 7 tee box and throw to basket 3.
18. Tee just in front of basket 3 down to basket 7.
19. 2 tee box to 9 basket.

Best holes in "official" layout: 2, 4, 7, 8.
In "unofficial 19," 16 (downhill hyzer bomb), 18 (downhill anny/flick placement shot) and 19 (big hyzer dogleg) add a lot to the mix.

Granted, the course is designed to appeal to the beginning disc golfer, but the fairways are very clean and a great place for a more experienced DGer to get in some practice. Once the grass grows in around the retention basin, there are all kinds of shots from the opposite side back across the basin to baskets 6, 7 & 8 in the woods.

Pristine baskets & signage, good compacted stone dust tee boxes, make this a worthwhile stop for anyone in the area.

Thanks again, Brian.

[Titan_Bariloni]

u dudes love 19 holes huh?

got some exploring to do this spring..looking forward to it

[Bill Stewart]

Ha. Funny Titan, because Wolfie and I kept losing track of where we were on the count. It started out as "we just need to find 9 alternate holes," to "wait, we already have 11 getting back to the start." Which is kinda nice because you go from looking for holes to "OK, we're already at 16 so we only need 2 more." Anyway, we thought we had 18, but when I started listing them here, all of a sudden I realized we overshot by one.

20 holes at Pye, btw. Hoping for 23. Call me if you decide to head east, and I'll show you the "Peabody Pirate" course.

[Thomas Bentley]

Going to try to get up there late Sunday afternoon. Is the DGCR page going to be up by then? Can't wait to see another basket in Greater Boston pop up on that map. Thanks to everyone involved!

[Thomas Bentley]

Great little course. I am very glad to have it around.

[Brian Giggey]

Great little course. I am very glad to have it around.

Glad you enjoyed it!

The DGCR page will go up in April/May after everything dries out, the permanent signs go up and the nice pictures can be taken. As soon as the city says its ok, we will post it.

That being said, it is open and hope you all continue to enjoy it.

[Brian Giggey]

There will be a Ribbon Cutting this week, and all are invited to attend.

Thursday, June 5th
3:30pm
100 Summit Street Peabody, MA 01960

There will be a speech by the Mayor.
The city will be handing out free "Peabody Disc Golf at Scouting Woods" discs.

[Jaxon Sheehy]

awesome!

[Thomas Bentley]

Is there a rain date or is this thing going to happen?

[Brian Giggey]

Just got a message from the Mayor's office.

They will be looking at a new date due to the rain. Once we get word, we will pass it along.

[Thomas Bentley]

Thanks for the update.

[Bill Stewart]

Wow Brian. Just got off the phone with the mayor's office to find out if there was an update on the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Yesterday? Damn. We missed an opportunity to introduce a bunch of newbies and city officials to the locals who play, promote and support the sport.

"Once we get word, we will pass it along."

Must have been posted in another more relevant new england disc golf blog....

[Brian Giggey]

Sorry, Bill. We have a lot going on with new projects, and everything else under the sun. We don't post here much, so when I got the reminder, I re-arranged my week and headed to Peabody. It was a 20 minute talk by the mayor and state reps. No disc golf besides putting in the basket for pictures.

[Bill Stewart]

Brian I reached out to the Mayor's spokesman with contact information and volunteered my services. Feel free to direct any inquiries that might result from your "course contact" status to my email whsfive@gmail.com. Until we get a local course rep, it makes sense for someone more local to deal with questions about the course and sport from the newbies out there.

[Franklin Sullivan]

Brian, I don't think the issue is that there was no disc golf played. You're running a business out of a largely volunteer-based grassroots type sport. That's fine. But as you build more courses, are you really going to be able to keep up with maintenance? It's important that you do everything you can to include locals who will care about the course in the planning process as much as possible - and that's not to mention the missed opportunities from a situation like this to help locals network towards possible future course development if we are lucky enough. If we want to see disc golf grow and be recognized as a positive in our communities, it's important to show town and city officials that there's a good group who are willing to do the work to keep up appearances.

[Brian Giggey]

Thanks for the note. The City of Peabody is well aware of Bill Stewart, as they met with him before our contract was picked up. After the project was completed, I once again pass his name and contact along, as our firm moves on to the next project --- although we do remain in touch for any punch list items, events or helpful tips.

We provide an extensive contract and deliverables to all our clients. We are contracted for design and installation specs only; no maintenance. When it comes to maintenance, that is the responsibility of the city --- of which they may or may not want volunteers, I'm actually unsure, but it wouldn't hurt to reach out and ask.

It seems the best avenue would be to get in touch with the parks and rec department, and ask how you can help grow the sport in the area --- host tournaments, form leagues, etc?

http://www.peabody-ma.gov/parks_rec.html

Edit: Franklin, please don't take this the wrong way, we just usually don't know many of the local players. Between all our projects and being constantly on the road with The Mobile Disc Golf Experience tour, we don't really get the chance to find out who they are. If and when we do get an e-mail or message, we always pass their contact along in hopes that the client uses them to help promote the course in their local area.

[Rick Williams]

Is this a "beginner friendly" course? I plan on playing the course this Thursday, and possibly bring first time players there this Saturday.

[Matt Stroika]

Is this a "beginner friendly" course? I plan on playing the course this Thursday, and possibly bring first time players there this Saturday.

It is beginner friendly if you are wearing pants (think NEFA treasurer). Hole lengths are good for anyone but the poison ivy is fairy brutal on some of the holes if you land off the fairways which are very friendly (some sort of landscaping fabric covered with wood chips). I am fully aware of what PI looks like and how to avoid it but I ended up with some on one of my arms playing the nine holes twice. Can't keep them all on the fairway!

[Rick Williams]

Thanks for the information, Matt. I'll let my friends know.

[Bill Stewart]

Beginner and dog friendly. And I don't think the PI is that bad.

[bryen hart]

Just wondering if anybody knows how maintenance is going to be taken care of. I know this is a very new coarse but the tees are already getting rutted and it would be good if there was someone with keys to the gate to get a truck in there to bring in stone dust for them and bring debris out. there is also the big tree that fell over by the left side of hole 4. i have a truck and tools to help if anybody has talked to Peabody parks and rec about community upkeep at all.

[Titan_Bariloni]

time for the locals to step in?

[bryen hart]

I emailed parks and rec to see if we could get the OK to be in there with tools and if at some point they could open the gate to the access road toget the downed tree out.

[bryen hart]

No response from parks and rec yet. Do locals usually work with them or is it more of a here is your coarse good luck kind of thing? I plan on doing a trash walk some time on Thurs. Not sure what else I can do without there approval. It looks like they panned to have te right side of hike one open up until the trees but it is now full of weeds but I don't won't to be in there with a weedwacker and get yelled at or worse. Any input from a local with more experience with this kind of thing would be helpful.