Disc Golf Course Maintenance and Improvement

[DPdiscer]

Sometime back, Birdshot joined HFDS in efforts to maintain and improve disc golf courses in the greater Houston area. We are looking for players that will take on the responsibility of being the supervisor of thier home course with respect to maintenance and improvements of the course. You will be responsible for keeping up with the condition of tee markers, teeboxes, baskets, etc. on the course and communicating with Birdshot, HFDS, and the Parks department that is over your course. There are already players out there that take care of courses. We just want to organize the communication and make funds available to these courses from the Parks dept, HFDS, and Birdshot. Here is who is currently supervising courses in this alliance between Birdshot, HFDS, and Parks department.

Jeff "Stimpy" Moore - sole communications with Houston Parks for maintenance and improvements issues. Please go through Stimpy.
Christian Goddard - Agnes Moffitt
Conrad Joe - TC Jester
Jack Camp - Nottingham Park

If you are interested, please email me at charleshconaway@yahoo.com.

[DPdiscer]

For those of you interested in what is going on with the maintenance funds that Birdshot has, go to our website at www.houstonbirdshot.com (http://www.houstonbirdshot.com) and go to the additional links for the link on course maintenance and improvement. I would attach it here but it looks like that it does not accept .xls files.:p

[Jake Walsdorf]

Below is a message regarding the effort Round Rock is making regarding concrete tee boxes. When will Houston have this caliber of players that we as course cooridinators can depend on? Players want, but noone wants to give... That has to change!:mad:

Concrete truck arrives today @ 3:30 for the last 6 boxes. More work today than just crete - can start breaking forms & backfilling, gosh with enough people, we could even pick up all the freaking trash & get a rock or 2 out of the fairway. See you as soon as you're able to arrive.

Lala


Looks like the Wilco concrete tee box project is proceeding very nicely. With enough volunteers today, it may be done (and this would be the last email you’ll get about coming out to help J ).

We need a good turnout today of our local golfers. This kind of project is a ton of work and it will benefit us all, but it takes a lot of people to make it all work. It is the first big concrete tee box project in a while, but hopefully not the last.

Please come on out this afternoon and evening and pitch in any way you can. If you can’t make it, talk to some of your friends about going out and spread the word that we need help.

Thanks!
Double R & Waterloo

[mattman]

yeah, mind blowing. Have you guys seen the round rock commercial, with disc golf and other sports that are in the round rock complex, something about the recreation capitol.....

[DPdiscer]

I still think that Jack Brooks #1 is the prototype for the cheap, but effective way to go for long lasting teeboxes. Billy said that Jeremy and somebody else (I think Dave was there) put in the teebox made with a mixture of quikrete, shell, and water? Not sure, but it sure seems to work good.

[DPdiscer]

Richard Fason has agreed to be the course supervisor for maintenance and improvements at Mozola. If you see anything amiss out there, contact Richard or myself.:)

[DPdiscer]

For 2009: The major maintenance and improvement issues I see for the greater Houston area courses are as follows:
1. Teeboxes at Agnes Moffitt, MacGregor, Tom Bass, wherever teeboxes are in bad shape. Crushed gravel or Quikrete? Lots of labor and involvement of parks depts. We need to keep talking to parks depts about this. Stimpy Moore is Houston Parks contact.
2. Planting trees on courses that need it from loss over time and IKE. Course designers would need to be involved in these decisions and involvement of parks depts.
If anybody can think of anything else that needs to be addressed, please post.

[ERicJ]

1. Teeboxes at Agnes Moffitt, MacGregor, Tom Bass, wherever teeboxes are in bad shape. Crushed gravel or Quikrete?
Innova document (http://www.innovadiscs.com/downloads/course2007_web.pdf) recommends 12'x6' tees with a minimum of 8'x4'.

If you go with 4" slab the Quikrete calculator (http://www.quikrete.com/Calculator/Main.asp#concrete) says you need 41 bags for 12'x6' or 18 bags for 8'x4'. I haven't priced Quikrete lately, but IIRC it goes for about $4/bag. That's anywhere from $72-$164/tee and ~$1300-$3000 per 18-hole course.

If you want concrete I suggest you look at purchasing in quantity much larger than 80lb Quikrete bags.

Then there's the whole other matter of getting the Parks department to approve concrete tees... I mean empty picnic table slabs. :rolleyes:

ERic

[Midnightbiker]

I would like to volunteer to keep an eye on Kingwood, but first we need to see what can be done to get this course playable again.

[DPdiscer]

Hi Midnightbiker,

I will put you down for Kingwood supervisor. Have you talked to Kingwood association yet about cleaning up the course? Its hard to get ahold of anybody. When I try to get ahold of parks departments, sometimes I get no reply to emails or phone calls. Disc golfers get no respect:mad: Once Kingwood is cleaned up, you can decide if more trees need to be planted;). I was wrong in that last post. Not crushed gravel, crushed granite. We tried the crushed gravel and that was a huge mistake unless you heat it up and pack it.

[Midnightbiker]

Hi Midnightbiker,

I will put you down for Kingwood supervisor. Have you talked to Kingwood association yet about cleaning up the course? Its hard to get ahold of anybody. When I try to get ahold of parks departments, sometimes I get no reply to emails or phone calls. Disc golfers get no respect:mad: Once Kingwood is cleaned up, you can decide if more trees need to be planted;). I was wrong in that last post. Not crushed gravel, crushed granite. We tried the crushed gravel and that was a huge mistake unless you heat it up and pack it.

I will see if I can get a hold of someone in the parks dept and get back with you this week.

[DPdiscer]

I will also email Andi Lehman since she has a good relationship going with Kingwood association. Thanks Midnightbiker for stepping up to be the supervisor of that course.

[djxionic]

What about Information Boards at local courses? I know that Moffit has one. Ones at Mozzola and TC Jester would be nice. I always see advertisements at Jester for Spring Valley Pro Shop and there is that box on hole 1. Maybe they would sponsor something? As a new comer this past year, I was always a bit confused playing new courses. A info board around hole 1 with a map and stuff about HFDS and the PDGA might be helpful.

[DPdiscer]

Course Boards need to be cleared through the local parks department. Then it is a matter of who is going to pay for it. Course boards are very valuable to have. Have the layout, rules, and postings.

[derek]

Innova document (http://www.innovadiscs.com/downloads/course2007_web.pdf) recommends 12'x6' tees with a minimum of 8'x4'.

If you go with 4" slab the Quikrete calculator (http://www.quikrete.com/Calculator/Main.asp#concrete) says you need 41 bags for 12'x6' or 18 bags for 8'x4'. I haven't priced Quikrete lately, but IIRC it goes for about $4/bag. That's anywhere from $72-$164/tee and ~$1300-$3000 per 18-hole course.

If you want concrete I suggest you look at purchasing in quantity much larger than 80lb Quikrete bags.

Then there's the whole other matter of getting the Parks department to approve concrete tees... I mean empty picnic table slabs. :rolleyes:

ERic

Just go with rubber tee pads and make them actually flush to the ground so people with a run-up arent punished.

[ERicJ]

Just go with rubber tee pads and make them actually flush to the ground so people with a run-up arent punished.
Are there any examples of Houston area courses with rubber tee pads "done right"?

[derek]

Are there any examples of Houston area courses with rubber tee pads "done right"?

No, not that I can think of, but theres a few courses in houston i havent played. The woodlands has them but felt the need to put a 2x4 on the front edge so that your foot runs into it during the follow-through. If some of my proposals ever get out of the 'approval' stage i hope to get them installed correctly

[icantdrive355]

The only rubber tee pad at Bear Branch that's any good is on #12. It's long, grippy and very durable. The other ones are falling apart (even the ones replaced about 1 1/2 years ago thru a scout project) and are only about 4-6' long

[derek]

The only rubber tee pad at Bear Branch that's any good is on #12. It's long, grippy and very durable. The other ones are falling apart (even the ones replaced about 1 1/2 years ago thru a scout project) and are only about 4-6' long

Youre right, i forgot about that #12 tee pad, its different than all the rest, its a 1/2" thick flypad i believe and the rest are 3/8". Terramont has the thinner ones also, but if they were just set into the ground properly and didnt have that wood block on the end theyd be fine.