Disc golf proposed for North Dam park

They’re not the Frisbees you’re used to tossing around on Saturdays, but they’re similarly shaped and heavier, and disc golfers will travel to courses set up for playing with them.

Disc golf is a growing sport that Josh Rabe thinks would catch on in Grand Coulee and provide an extra activity for tourists.

Rabe is proposing to set up a “nine-hole” course around North Dam Park, an idea endorsed by the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District.

Rabe met with district commissioners Monday for the second time, and provided them with a cost breakdown of what it would take to get the course going.

For commercial-grade equipment, Rabe said, one hole would cost about $370, not including shipping or concrete costs for the Tee posts.

“I’m 100 percent behind this,” commented district Chairman Phil Hansen.

The group discussed offering businesses the chance to sponsor the holes, with their advertisement affixed to the tee post for three years.

Rabe said he would sponsor one himself.

Other commissioners were enthused, too. Nate Piturachsatit suggested that the full cost might be too high a price point for local businesses to get behind; perhaps the district should set it somewhat lower and find the rest of the money elsewhere.

Hansen said presenting the idea to local businesses would be the next step.

“It’s something that we could have in here by summer,” he said.

The Professional Disc Golf Association lists some 54 other courses in the state. The game is played in more than 40 countries, with about 3,000 courses in the United States alone, according to Wikipedia.