Visitors to Waller Mill Park have a new activity to enjoy with the July debut of a nine-hole disc golf course.
Disc golf resembles the traditional game of golf, but instead of striking balls, players throw discs toward chained baskets representing the cup. The new course stretches through Waller Mill’s wooded area.
According to Park Manager Michael van Audenhove, the City of Williamsburg’s Parks and Recreation department worked closely with the Colonial Disc Golf Club to set up the course.
“It was probably 750 hours of work on their part,” he said.
Before the course at Waller Mill Park opened, the disc golf courses closest to the Historic Triangle were in Newport News and New Quarter Park in York County. Van Audenhove said the CDGC members were the major supporters of developing a course in Williamsburg, but other community members expressed interest in the idea.
“We set up five temporary holes at ‘Wallerpalooza,’ the fall festival we put on, and people really liked it,” van Audenhove said. “It went from there.”
Most of the work on the course consisted of clearing forest paths, removing dead trees, trimming tree branches and clearing up fairways. Van Audenhove said, in total, the project cost about $1,000, and fit into the park’s budget without requiring any additional appropriations.
The nine-hole course is currently open to the public with two sets of tees to allow visitors to play an 18-hole round. However, van Audenhove said the park had plans to expand the course to a full 18 holes, and replace the natural tee pads with concrete ones. The expansion is set for completion by spring 2015.
Discs cost $1 to rent for a day, and daily passes to the course cost $2. Visitors can purchase an annual pass for $37.
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