spencer 9-hole-course opens

[steve]

Regional digest

Picture

Lions Club President Robert Maryyanek, left, and Anthony Bove, of the Parks and Recreation Commission, try out the new flying disc course at Luther Hill Park in Spencer. (T&G Staff/DAN GOULD)
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Spencer flying disc course opens
SPENCER -- The Spencer Lions Club has donated a nine-hole flying disc course to the town on 30 acres near the entrance to Luther Hill Park off Route 9.

Robert Maryyanek, Lions Club president, designed the public course. Lions Club members began building the course last fall and completed it last month.

The free course begins to the left of the entrance gate at Luther Hill Park, near the Lake Street skateboard park. The course is laid out over 30 acres through the park woods and finishes at the parking area off Lake Street.


“The disc golf course was an opportunity to give something back to the public who have contributed to Spencer Lions events while making better use of the land surrounding Luther Hill Park,” Mr. Maryyanek said.

A map of the course and responsibility for its upkeep were given to the town Tuesday. On hand for that event were Anthony Bove, a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission and a recently elected selectman; Margaret Bacon, superintendent of the Utilities and Facilities Department; and Patrick Horgan and Ryan Pontbriand from the Highway Department.

The course includes seven par-3 holes and two par-4 holes and provides an opportunity to walk in the woods and accept the challenge of throwing a flying disc, avoiding obstacles such as trees, to reach the next basket. Each throw is counted until the disc lands in the basket. Counting all throws, an individual should be able to complete the course in 29 throws, providing they don’t hit any trees.

[Mike Dussault]

Designed by the Lions club pres huh? Wonder if he had any experience with this. I will be sure to check it out on the way to MH some day soon.

[David Hoey]

Steve- you beat me to it. Saw that in the paper this morning. My neighbor actually was excited, he came over with the paper in hand because I'm out with my Mach lite all the time. I might check it out today, seeing as it's right down the road from me. If I do, I'll chime back in.

-Hooray Spencer!

[Paul Benoit]

Kick ass!!!! I grew up not too far from Luther Park and used to play volleyball as a kid and swim in ajoining Lake Whittemore.

The park is located off of route 9 going west out of Worcester. For those os us who live closer to Boston: Take the Mass Pike going west, get off of exit 10, route 12 south (ramp is to the right after the toll both) to route 20 west, to route 56 north. When you get to the center of Leicester, take a left at the set of lights (that will be route 9 going west). Go about 5 to 6 miles and when get into Spencer look for a sign for Luther park on the right and travel up the narrow road to the parking lot. If you find yourself in the center of Spencer by the Price Chopper, you have gone too far. I hope this is helpful.

[Dave Jackson]

disc golf in spencaah, yeah baby!!

[HERO]

My dad (70) just called me in my office, and read me the Worcester Telegram's piece on DG..."WOW!!!", he said--"Disc golf is getting big!"

hero

[David Hoey]

Took the two minute drive and went and checked it out yesterday. #1-find the skate park and park up there, it is free there and super close to the first teepad. It was fun playing some new holes that's for sure, but it doesn't seem like they asked for much outside help or consulting. The course is brand spanking new, so there needs to be much foot traffic. It is very wooded with some nice old, tall trees. Lines are difficult on some of the holes, but if you get it through it is very satisfying, if not, it's disturbing. I genuinly really liked about 4-5 of the holes. A couple of holes were like things that make you go hmm... and one or two in my opinion were just silly and need to be rethinked. Longest walk to the next teepad was 3ft. So, that may need to be rethought. But the absolute cherry were the baskets. 6 ft telephone poles planted into the ground, with thin tires going around it and a single set of chains bolted into the pole with a little give. It is a sight. Luckily though, if they see people using it often enough, they might get some real baskets, cut a minimal nuber of trees, so that there is some lane on a couple of holes in particular, maybe in the way future some alternate tees, and this has the potential to be a real groovy 9-hole.

[Mike Laterreur]

My dad (70) just called me in my office, and read me the Worcester Telegram's piece on DG..."WOW!!!", he said--"Disc golf is getting big!"

hero

I had one of my store managers tell me today that he read about the article and was going to check it out. I'm still trying to get him to try playing one day, but he takes his kids out to Barre to watch the passing locals every now and then.

[Rick Hobbs]

I plaed a couple of rounds there the day the story in the paper appeared. I should have worn shoes instead of sandals because there's a bumper crop of poison ivy in the woods.
The baskets are an interesting "home grown" design, and they work OK but the chains should be attached to a metal ring at the bottom instead of being bolted on. I had one throw rejected that would have gone into a "real" basket.
2 and 3 are fun holes with some natural rock outcroppoings to keep it interesting. The rest of the course isn't particularly rugged but there are doglegs built in to keep it a little more challenging.
I do foresee potential conflicts with other park users owing to the fact that some of the fairways are on park roads or picnic areas. #1 in particular might be a problem because people park along the road that serves as a fairway there. There were picnickers close to 4, and I had to throw right over the heads of another group on 5. Another golfer I met named Dave came awfully close to hitting a woman in the head while she was walking her dogs along the road at #8. It was a blind throw, and I don't think she realized how close she came to getting hit, but she was happy to see the course being used. Perhaps a few signs could be posted notifying people that there is a DG course there, and which areas to avoid.
I'm sure the good people who built the course wouldn't want cars or people being hit by discs.
Anyway, it's still better to have a course than not, and with a little fine tuning and pruning this course could be a good place for younger kids or beginners.

[Rick Hobbs]

I plaed a couple of rounds there the day the story in the paper appeared. I should have worn shoes instead of sandals because there's a bumper crop of poison ivy in the woods.
The baskets are an interesting "home grown" design, and they work OK but the chains should be attached to a metal ring at the bottom instead of being bolted on. I had one throw rejected that would have gone into a "real" basket.
2 and 3 are fun holes with some natural rock outcroppoings to keep it interesting. The rest of the course isn't particularly rugged but there are doglegs built in to keep it a little more challenging.
I do foresee potential conflicts with other park users owing to the fact that some of the fairways are on park roads or picnic areas. #1 in particular might be a problem because people park along the road that serves as a fairway there. There were picnickers close to 4, and I had to throw right over the heads of another group on 5. Another golfer I met named Dave came awfully close to hitting a woman in the head while she was walking her dogs along the road at #8. It was a blind throw, and I don't think she realized how close she came to getting hit, but she was happy to see the course being used. Perhaps a few signs could be posted notifying people that there is a DG course there, and which areas to avoid.
I'm sure the good people who built the course wouldn't want cars or people being hit by discs.
Anyway, it's still better to have a course than not, and with a little fine tuning and pruning this course could be a good place for younger kids or beginners.

[Justin Anderson]

I haven't played the course yet but I'd like to say I'm impressed with the positive critiques folks have made. Nobody's said it's absolute crap or gone on a Discatcher-or-nothing rant. Good job NEFA. Always see the positive and look to what good future enhancements to a not so great course can bring.

[Rick Hobbs]

Apologies for the unintentional double post- my computer decided to misbehave around the time I wrote it.
I'm trying to offer constructive criticism here. Like I said, my biggest concern is how people playing the course will interact with other park users, and a little education will hopefully solve these problems before they happen.
Sure, the baskets aren't perfect but they do work most of the time and they can be upgraded a bit without too much trouble. It's actually a pretty clever use of inexpensive materials.
I'll probably toss another round there again soon, and post any more ideas/comments here. This could be a good model for a small local course in other towns. (like mine, maybe? hmmmmmm.....)