News | Leader | Press • mysuburbanlife.com • Thursday, July 11, 2013 • CD
| SPORTS
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Disc golf draws more people to local parks By DAN SANTAROMITA dsantaromita@shawmedia.com Disc golf is a growing sport and courses are popping up all over the Chicago area and the country in recent years. A c c o r d i n g t o dgcoursereview.com, a website that pools information about courses with an emphasis on player reviews similar to how yelp.com works for restaurants, there are 190 courses in Illinois and 4,267 in the United States. Most of those are free public courses built on park district land, but there are some private courses as well. Molex’s Lisle Campus had a nine-hole course built in 2010. Edgebrook Golf Course in Chicago has a set of 18 baskets set up on the golf course that allows players to play alongside golfers, and even rent a cart, as long as they are willing to pay for a round. Some courses have been around since the 1970s – West Park in Joliet was created in 1979 – but as the popularity of the sport has grown demand for courses has gone up. Among the 15 courses in the western suburbs, 11 were built since 2005 and six since 2010.
“The last five years was a great growth period for disc golf,” said Cathy Kamm, a Lombard resident that designs courses with her husband, Mike, under the name Midwest Disc Golf. “Park Districts are looking for disc golf now. It used to be disc golfers looking for courses.” Kress Creek Farms in West Chicago is an example of a newer course built by a park district. West Chicago Park District Executive Director Gary Major said it was a simple story as to why they put in the 18-hole course in 2011. “We had 50 acres of land, but it had topography and trees on it,” Major said. “We had good space for it.” Since disc golf doesn’t require maintained greens and since flat, open land is typically undesirable, Kress Creek Farms was an ideal fit. Major said it was a relatively inexpensive venue to create and volunteers helped install the course. “It’s an activity a lot of people can play,” he said. “We get very good usage.” As disc golf continues to grow its cult-like following, more courses are likely to
Lorae Mundt – lmundt@shawmedia.com
Joe Klenck of Elmhurst attempts to stick a putt on the 6th hole during the Hinsdale Open disc golf tournament June 30 at Katherine Legge Memorial Park. come. Players can play competitively or casually. Colleen Thompson, a student at Illinois State University, is taking the competitive route. Thompson is participating at the Amateur Disc Golf World Championships this week in Kansas and has
been playing the sport for six years, the last four competitively. According to Thompson, whose favorite courses include Trinity Links in Lockport and Highland Park in Joliet, the sport has several appeals.
“For the most part, it’s a cheap opportunity; the parks are mainly free to play,” she said. “And a wide variety of people can play. Your whole family can play, from a 5-year-old to a 70-year-old. Plus it’s a way to get out and get exercise.”
Local disc golf courses SUBURBAN LIFE MEDIA
Minus the expense of equipment, disc golf courses are generally free to play. Several local park districts have courses installed at their parks, all of which are free.
ADDISON Foxdale Park 1500 N. Itasca Road addisonparks.org Holes: 9 Year created: 2012
BLOOMINGDALE Springfield Park 269 Springfield Drive bloomingdaleparks.org Holes: 6 Year created: 2009
GLEN ELLYN
Maryknoll Park 845 Pershing Ave. gepark.org Holes: 9 Year created: 2011
HINSDALE Katherine Legge Park 5901 S. County Line Road villageofhinsdale.org Holes: 18 Year created: 2012
LOMBARD Lombard Commons 154 S. Fairfield Ave. Holes: 10 Year created: 1995 Madison Meadow 700 Madison St. lombardparks.org Holes: 19
Year created: 1998
NAPERVILLE Knoch Knolls Park 336 Knoch Knolls Road napervilleparks.org Holes: 9 Year created: 1998
ROSELLE Goose Lake Park Mensching Road and Bryn Mawr Ave. rparks.org Holes: 9 Year created: 2005
WEST CHICAGO Kress Creek Farms 30W150 Wilson Road we-goparks.org Holes: 18 Year created: 2011
Lorae Mundt – lmundt@shawmedia.com
Eric Willhite of Glen Ellyn throws an overhand thumber off the fifth tee during the Hinsdale Open.