Throughout 2019, if you took a walk through the woods of IACS, you may have heard chainsaws roaring in the distance.
The felled trees and cleared land were making way for a brainchild of our wellness program director, Kyle Thornton. His project: an 18 hole, 7300 foot long, par 60 disc golf course.
Mr. Thornton, who has been playing disc golf since 2001, said that the idea came to him as soon as he walked through the woods his first day here.
Although only 10 holes have been put in so far, the other 8 will be coming over the summer. During that same summer he hopes to get concrete squares or “teeing pads” put in, to make the footing more even for “teeing off”, or throwing the disc golf frisbee.
Despite the noise, the course didn’t actually clear very much land, the course was designed to follow naturally open areas in the woods to prevent as much disturbance and deforestation as possible.
Mr. Thornton says that the course will fully follow Professional Disc Golf Association’s guidelines for courses.The full cost is estimated to be around $12,000, but the cost may be worth it, as IACS sits in a “disc golf dead zone,” because there are no disc golf courses around us. Putting one in here will draw in disc golf enthusiasts and provide exposure for the school. This will mean that the course will be open to the public, and eventually may host tournaments and clinics.
Overall this project may help the school’s outreach grow and will provide an incentive for all ages to get outside and be more active.
