Dennis Pond - Stafford Springs, CT

[Luke Adolph]

I just got this email from a friend who lives in Stafford. Hopefully it will happen!


---------------------------------
There will be a meeting to discuss

*STAFFORD DISC GOLF *

on Thursday, September 26th

at the Stafford Town Hall at 8:30pm.
Please attend to discuss planning for Dennis Pond/ Ice House Road Course.

For any questions text Neil Hoss at 860-428-4892

[Karl Molitoris]

...Hopefully it will happen!

Yes it will!

Luke (and others),

Last night Neil (one of the town's selectmen) and I held a kick-off meeting for the purpose of:
1) 'inquiring / soliciting' for volunteers, etc. (no absolute commitment of course...after all, they're called "volunteers" for a reason), obtaining - due to the short notification of such in the local papers - a better-than-expected (by he and I) turnout. This bodes well for the future!
2) stating pertinent / relevant information about the course (purpose, location, what kind of 'volunteers' / resources we'll be needing, etc.)
3) the next meeting will be Oct. 10 at 8:30pm in the Stafford Town Hall. Further information will be given then.

So, for the purpose of informing the dg community (well, at least NEFA) of this course, let me take a step back and summarize what's happened so far:

1) After nearly 4 years of "negotiations" with the town of Stafford, CT (the town I grew up in) I was able, with a lot of Neil's help, to obtain a plot of land that will be wonderful for fulfilling my vision of a course for the town.

2) The course's 'scheduled opening' will be early April 2014. That means we've only got 6 months.

3) The course will be 18 holes.

4) The purpose of the course is to "provide an active recreational activity for people '7 to 70'".

5) I've designed the course to accomplish the following - in the order of their listing below:
a. safety
b. aesthetics
c. variety of hole shapes / terrain / obstacles / shot shaping; in other words, a "teaching course"
d. as easy a walk "as possible" (although, with this being a very hilly parcel, this is no easy task)
e. challenge(s) for the "experienced" player

6) The shortest hole will be ~100 feet; the longest ~300+ feet.

7) The course will be within walking distance of the center of town (less than 1/2 mile).

8) There will be 1 "open" hole (and 17 wooded ones!).

9) The land is quite unique in that there are LOTS of trees that 2 grown men 'hugging the tree' couldn't touch each others' hands...meaning 4+ foot diameter!

10) The next step will be the felling of the unneeded trees (all less than 1 foot in diameter, but there are a lot of them) and clearing of the multitude of dead already-fallen trees in the fairways.

In closing, it is not my fear but rather my understanding (that such WILL happen in some cases) that some players will feel that this course we're building here is a "...waste of a good piece of land..." as it'll be a "bunny / pitch & putt course". This (in fact though) is JUST what New England needs a whole lot more of! Grass Roots! "The ground up" baby! Get a LOT of people playing the sport (not just guys that can throw 300+ feet).
It always has been my vision to provide my home town with a "...course that EVERYONE can play...". This will be that course. I am wicked excited about this.


Karl
PDGA #25917
NEFA #732
karlmolitoris@yahoo.com

Ps: And remember, it's all about the short game anyway! THIS will be the course to hone that game on!!

[Jesse Carrieri]

Short and long tees covers "everyone".

[Mark Dombek]

Karl i want in on this. ive dont quite alot of development and labor on a few courses in the area. i live right in wales so its only 15 min for me. i have all the tools. chainsaws, polesaws, loppers, etc....