Valley News – Fore, the future: Whaleback OKs disc golf course plan

ENFIELD — The Upper Valley Disc Golf Association is set to build a permanent disc course at Whaleback Mountain in 2022.

The group received official approval from the Enfield ski area in December. The Whaleback board of directors green-lit the project at its monthly meeting.

After putting a lot of time in reaching this point, UVDGA president Dan Walsh was thrilled by the news.

“We’ve been working on it pretty much all year,” Walsh said Wednesday in a phone interview. “And so when we finally heard a week or two ago that the board at Whaleback gave us the go ahead, (we) just couldn’t (have been) more excited.”

The UVDGA held a Disc Golf Community Day at Whaleback in October, and that event’s success was huge in pushing the project forward. Walsh said they raised around $5,000 that day, and about 150 people attended. Both figures exceeded expectations, both for the UVDGA and for Whaleback.

The positive turnout was key in proving the community’s interest in disc golf.

“On the whole, it was a very big success,” Walsh said. “Having that many people come out, and everyone had a good time, it was all successful. That was a pretty critical step in kind of showing folks at Whaleback that there was community support behind this idea.”

Whaleback Mountain executive director Jon Hunt is equally enthused about the new course. Whaleback was interested in finding ways to capitalize on its space outside of ski season, and the enthusiasm for disc golf from the UVDGA and the event attendees made it a clear decision.

Hunt acknowledged the group’s efforts in making this happen.

“I’ve got to give the folks over at the Upper Valley Disc Golf Association all the credit,” Hunt said. “They brought it to us, and they kept harping on me. It’s not something that’s a huge investment for us financially. But it’ll bring people to the mountain during the summer and engage folks when they’re generally not thinking about skiing.”

Whaleback is currently early in its 2021-22 ski season, which will limit the on-site work the UVDGA can do. Both parties are hoping to break ground in the spring and to have the 18-hole course ready for play in the summer or fall.

Walsh, in particular, wants to make sure the course is in place by October. He envisions making the Disc Golf Community Day an annual event.

“I think everyone had really great time, so I don’t see why we wouldn’t,” Walsh said. “As things develop, we’ll probably extend it to have, potentially, an actual competitive tournament attached to it. But I think we all had fun. It’s a fantastic location for an event in the fall foliage.”

One of the first steps in building the course will be determining the exact location the course will go in at Whaleback. Hunt said the UVDGA had a couple options in mind, and they’ll just have to work through the various logistics. Whaleback’s priorities are ensuring the course won’t interfere with ski and snowboard operations, but they also want to build a quality disc golf course.

The UVDGA is funding the project primarily through fundraising. The group has a few grants as well, but donations will comprise the bulk of the payments. Walsh estimated the course could cost $10-15,000, but they’re aiming to raise closer to $20,000 to create a better course.

Walsh said the extra money could go toward nicer baskets made with material that won’t degrade over time, more complex course designs and signage around the course directing newer players where to go. He said things like that are what can take a good disc golf course to the next level.

“There’s things like (the course upgrades), and then beyond that, (the extra money would go toward) just having the resources necessary to do a good job clearing the holes,” Walsh said. “There’s going to be a lot of clearing fairways, cutting out greens, doing a lot of manual labor stuff. Having ample resources to do that right and to do it quickly will allow us to put a really nice course together next year.”

Seth Tow can be reached at stow@vnews.com.