Lackawanna County plans to open a disc golf course at McDade Park this summer.
The 12-hole course will cost between $10,000 and $12,000 to set up and could open by the end of June, according to county parks and recreation director Paul Bechtel.
Instead of balls and clubs, disc golf players toss a Frisbee toward elevated baskets. With rules similar to golf, players try to reach baskets in as few throws as possible. Lowest score wins.
The county commissioners approved an agreement at their meeting Wednesday to accept a $4,310 grant to build the course from the Lackawanna Heritage Valley.
Each “hole” will carry a local historical or cultural reference, Bechtel said. He also obtained a $5,000 grant from the Pocono Forest and Waters Conservation Landscape organization.
Commissioner Bill Gaughan credited Bechtel with coming up with the idea.
“For those of you who may not be familiar, disc golf is one of the - if not the fastest-growing sports in the United States,” Gaughan said. “It's a sport that blends skill, strategy and the outdoors, and it's suitable, really, for all ages and all skill levels.”
Bechtel said he’s never played disc golf, but many do.
“We're trying to make the parks a little more progressive and add some new features that residents may want. And this has been something that's been talked about for years, even when I was a consultant,” Bechtel said. “And that's why I kind of was bringing it back once I became director.”
The first hole will sit behind the park’s 9/11 memorial, and the rest of the course will extend into nearby woods, he said.
Gaughan said he hopes the course attracts new visitors to the park.
“It's going to support local tourism and provide yet another way for residents to enjoy one of, I think, one of our most beautiful public spaces in the county and probably really in our region,” he said.
Disc golf has its own trade association, the Professional Disc Golf Association. The association has more than 300,000 lifetime members across 54 countries, according to its website.
UDisc, a website dedicated to tracking disc golf, says more than 16,000 courses are open worldwide, including dozens in northeast and northcentral Pennsylvania.
