Having gone eight months without a course, disc golfers can again enjoy the sport Mississippi State University is nationally recognized for with a nine-hole course located around Chadwick Lake next to the Sanderson Center.
Months of hard work and patience have paid off as the MSU disc golf team feels they have established a course that will make players want to come back for years to come.
Team member Andy Jones, a senior aerospace engineering major, said they wanted to create a course that will push players to perform at their best and help the MSU team get better.
“We think this will provide great experience because a lot of the national courses are open and you really don’t have this super small gap to hit,” he said. “This one’s going to be more for really improving your game.”
While MSU’s first National Championship title may have been in an unexpected sport, the title has brought a growing popularity for disc golf and a course the team feels students can come back and play, Jones said.
“Our biggest thing was we wanted to make sure, 20 years down the road, this course is still one of the best courses in the area,” he said.
However, less experienced players may feel discouraged with the threat of losing a disc in the lake, but risks can also exist in wooded areas in the form of thick brush where discs can be hard to reach or find.
Team member Drew Davis, a senior kinesiology major, said it’s a humbling experience to watch a disc hit the water and sink to the bottom with friends looking on.
“That’s just one of the hazards of playing disc golf,” he said. “If you want to pick up your sleeve of balls and go out to a golf course and play, there’s going to be water there. It’s a risk you take. For the most part, as people play, as they get better. The water doesn’t come into play nearly as much as you think.”
The new course features maroon tee pads set at a longer distance for more experienced throwers while white tee areas are set closer for lesser experienced players. Rakes made of PVC and metal with 50 feet of rope attached will become available to rent from the Sanderson Center for those wishing to fish out sunken discs.
While all 18 holes will not fit around the lake, the other nine will be placed in the old course. It was shut down in June 2009 due to safety hazards caused by erosion, which was one of the main factors in the decision to create a new course.
Nick Tasich, assistant director for intramural club sports, said that in the six years the course existed, erosion resulted in bridges and steps being built, but safety was still an issue.
“We had gotten several reports of people twisting their ankles on [a natural tee pad] when it had been wet,” he said. “With the status of the club being a national championship club, we made the decision to go ahead and close down the existing course and revamp it to something better and more safe.”
With 18 holes, the old location seemed cramped, but plans to have nine will ease up space and allow the course to be spread out. A flexible timeline is in place and hopes are to get the other nine holes in operation by the end of the semester, but weather will be a determining role of when the course is deemed playable.
“That’s been the problem with this; until now is the fact that we’ve had dates set where we’re going to have stuff established and have things in and Mother Nature’s pushed us back,” Tasich said.
Team members feel they got the best results possible with the resources available and are pleased with the progress that has been made, Davis said.