Super Nooner - Willmore Park Editions - 11/4 & 11/11

[discdoh]

The City of St. Louis has given us the go ahead to run a couple of events at Willmore Park!

There will be a Super Nooner on both days. This simply means that the JB Sunday Nooner will temporarily be moved to Willmore Park for both of these Sundays. I believe that the cost will be $10 ($5 to payouts & $5 to the Willmore Course Fund) and $1 for the ACE POOL (optional). The random draw doubles teams will be selected sometime around 12:00P-12:300P. From what I understand, this course is something special that everyone should thoroughly enjoy!

If you have a portable basket, please bring it with you. We might need it. It is always better to have too many than to not have enough!

If you cannot play in the Super Nooner, have no fear...the course is available for anyone to play all day. Just come on by and check it out!

I will add more information as it becomes available...

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[discdoh]

Here is a map...

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[Stubborn Puppet]

I must admit that I was very skeptical about the suitability of Willmore Park as a location for a DG course. Just looking at a map or looking from the main road, this looks like a skinny, crowded park with very little room to spare... especially for an 18 hole course. I'd also heard from random sources that the course was short, crowded and had safety issues.

All those concerns have been alleviated and those "random sources" were wrong.

Willmore is a deceptively BIG park. Lots of room to spread out, lots of space to explore and it's a really pretty and scenic park that truly represents what St. Louis is supposed to look like.

The course is actually pretty long. It's not CC or Carrollton, but I think it's similar in overall length to Sioux or maybe just a bit shorter (with much less walking between tees). I felt that there was a decent amount of variety, good terrain changes, plenty of trees, OB's and general hazzards. I never felt like it was difficult to avoid other park-goers or traffic and I don't foresee safety being an issue (unless the player is a total d-bag). I had a really good time playing this course - I felt that the challenge level was just right, the length and mix was just right and was very pleased to see very minimal areas of honeysuckle, overgrowth or tall grasses to swallow discs. The water hazzards (ponds) were there and required a player to pay attention to them, but they were not overly intimidating... but they do come into play - just right.

Other positives were great and plentiful parking, good shelters, plenty of restrooms (although I did not check to see if they were unlocked) and what seemed like a very friendly public.

I think there are a few minor tweeks that could make the course a little better - a slight adjustment to a tee location here and there could be used to do things that would add a little length to short holes, keep discs off the path or road and take care of what myself and some others thought were a bit too unforgiving tee-off challenges. I suppose there might be a few opportunities that could improve the walking distance between a couple of the holes. I think that there will also be a real need for some navigation markers - the arrows spray painted on the grass were great for now... but without them, I'd have been totally lost most of the time. Hey, like I said, "minor tweeks"... nothing seriously out of place.

I was very pleased, for the most part, with the good behavior of the 50-60 players that showed up yesterday. I'd say we set a good example for what folks should expect from disc golfers.

Some thoughts on things we could do better: I think we could do a better job of keeping the foul language down. I know that this has frequently been a complaint of other park-goers and park neighbors around the area and it's one of the easiest things to avoid. While the group on Sunday did an excellent job of keeping trash picked up, I can guarantee we need to encourage the city to get some trashcans out on the course (there are currently no trashcans anywhere except at the shelters and in the parking lot).

Another important thing to remember: There is no consumption of alchohol in public spaces in the City of St. Louis. I thought that it was just that nothing in bottles was allowed, but I was wrong. Here is exactly what the St. Louis City Code says on the subject: "No person shall drink any nonintoxicating beer or intoxicating liquor in any park, public building, street, sidewalk, alley, highway, parking lot, thoroughfare, or other public place unless consumption of intoxicating liquor or nonintoxicating beer in such place has been expressly authorized in writing by the Excise Commissioner."

Also, dogs MUST be kept on a leash at all times. This is just a good idea at Willmore, period, as so many people walk there dogs here and there is a dog park.

The one thing we cannot afford, if we want this park and others to actually get permanent courses, is for disc golfers to become known for breaking the law.

A HUGE THANK YOU to all the folks who worked to make this happen. Those who designed it, those who set it up, those who brought baskets and those who attended! Thank You.

[Stubborn Puppet]

Just wanted to give this a bump and remind everyone that this IS indeed happening again this Sunday morning, Nov 11th.

The course has undergone a couple of minor tweaks to basket and tee positions (nothing major, just a little) and I'm going to make sure that everyone has access to a printed map this time.

We DO still need baskets and we'd like to see them showing up around 10am to 10:15am to make sure we have enough and can get the course set up in time to allow folks to warm up and get a feel for the shots before the Super Nooner gets underway. I know there were a couple of folks who were disappointed that they brought their baskets but they didn't get used. Please, don't let that stop you this week. Just be a little earlier and we will be able to use those in place of any which are less desirable.

This course was really good, should be even better this week, don't miss it.

[Stubborn Puppet]

Here's a scorecard and map for tomorrow.

[clane]

Is there any kind of update on this course in terms of likelihood or time frame of it becoming reality?

[Stubborn Puppet]

The club is still looking forward to a few more conversations with St. Louis City. We are optimistic about how previous conversations and the two Super Nooners went.
We will, of course, let everyone know as soon as we have something concrete to tell.

[Chris K]

I am pretty sure the city is talking about this course or will be at their next meeting. It would be good if we had one or two voices to answer any questions that are raised. Gary Bess, City Park Director, is behind this but he does not want to make waves with the residents. Typically, residents think their property is in danger when disc golfers are seen as potential thieves. The reality is that thefts go down when a park has more traffic. The added benefit of disc golfers is they pick up trash as they walk through the park.
Does the club know when the next meeting is scheduled?

[Richard~Cheese]

I nominate the course captains.To attend the city meeting as reps for the course and club,then they can come to the December club meeting with any info and at least one club board member should join them. Are the city parks meetings open to the general public?

[Stubborn Puppet]

I promise both of you, "The board has this well under control."
We have a representative working on it right now and our priority is for getting this course in the ground without debate, distraction or division.
We WILL keep you all posted.