NEFA DISCussion

Disc Golf Course Opens at Southern Vermont Ski Resort

Ludlow, VT - Okemo Mountain Resort has recently completed construction of a nine-hole disc golf course at the southern Vermont ski and snowboard resort's Jackson Gore base area. The Maples at Okemo Disc Golf Course is now open to the public and welcomes players daily from 7 a.m. until sunset. Greens fees are $2 per person and disc rentals are available for $5 (including greens fees) for a set of three discs: driver, mid-range disc and putter.

“Disc golf is very similar to regular golf,” says Okemo Recreation Facilities Manager K.C. Gandee. “It’s a fun game of skill that appeals to all ages. It’s a great outdoor activity for families to do together.”

According to the professional Disc Golf Association, disc golf is played much like traditional golf. Instead of a ball and clubs, however, players use a flying disc, also known by the trade name "frisbee." The sport was formalized in the 1970s, and shares with "ball golf" the object of completing each hole in the fewest number of strokes (or, in the case of disc golf, the fewest number of throws). A golf disc is thrown from a tee area to a target "hole."

The Maples at Okemo Disc Golf Course offers play inspired by Vermont’s maple sugaring traditions. The tee boxes for each target include an interpretive tour of sugaring history and the process for making maple syrup. The natural wood of the target posts pays homage to Vermont’s state tree, the sugar maple. Authentic galvanized metal sap buckets atop the posts bare the number of each hole, and metal tubs serve as the destination baskets for final throws.

The longest hole, number 7, at The Maples at Okemo Disc Golf Course is 451 feet long. The shortest hole, number 6, measures 132 feet. Number 8 is the course’s signature hole and requires players to throw across a brook through a narrow opening in the trees or to lay-up on a bridge before making a final approach shot. The course was designed by Adam Ford and built by Okemo staff.

Players should check in at the Jackson Gore Spring House, where they will receive a score card with a course map and some basic guidelines for play. Discs are available for rent and also for purchase at the Spring House.

E-Nyce wrote:Sounds like they have home made baskets?

The Maples at Okemo Disc Golf Course offers play inspired by Vermont’s maple sugaring traditions. The tee boxes for each target include an interpretive tour of sugaring history and the process for making maple syrup. The natural wood of the target posts pays homage to Vermont’s state tree, the sugar maple. Authentic galvanized metal sap buckets atop the posts bare the number of each hole, and metal tubs serve as the destination baskets for final throws.