Pye Brook Disc Golf

Inside The Green - Pye Brook Park

Bill "Stew" Stewart  »  Tuesday March 29, 2005

I had stumbled across the sport from an Ultimate Frisbee contact. I played for the first time at Amesbury in the fall of 2002 (about 15 min. from Topsfield). I quickly became addicted to the sport, and got an understanding about this terrific community of people involved by attending the last Frozen Fruits tournament in January of 2003 – simply because it was held in the town next to mine. In June of ’03, my wife asked me what I wanted for my 40th birthday. I told her to see if she could pull any strings in the charitable foundation she works for to pay for a disc golf course – somewhat jokingly. She told me, “Make it happen.”

I spoke to some very cooperative people in the Topsfield Parks and Cemetery Department about the sport – met with those blank stares we’re all too familiar with – and they directed me toward Pye Brook Park. Pye Brook is a capped landfill park in Topsfield that opened a couple years ago, and had only sports fields for its improvements. They pointed out that 1/3 of the acreage they have to mow are those sloping hills on the perimeter of the fields.

I didn’t know the first thing about course design, so I read as much as I could by John Houck on the internet, and got in touch with Doug Russell figuring: ‘the Fruits is an awesome course, so this guy knows what he’s doing.’ About the time we started taking walks and checking out the park, I found an organization in town, the Topsfield Athletic Association, had the correct tax designation for a grant. We ran the money through them, and I started planning the course design and construction. I got the green light from the town conservation commission after making a few adjustments, and we had two work days in May that made the course playable, but not very easy to follow.

During the course of a very busy Summer, we slowly got the signs up, made some improvements, and finished laying out the shorter course. I ordered 150 Pye Brook stamped discs from Innova, and started selling them, making $3/disc for the TAA account, and getting discs in the hands of friends and people I would meet at the course. We had an annoying punch list of little projects we had to finish, so by declaring Oct. 16th as the ‘Grand Opening Day,’ we had a date to get everything done by.

The day was great, we had a tourney with 44 people, and some coverage in the local papers. So far everything with the course has been really fantastic. I have a few local buddies in town that just picked up the sport this Summer and can’t get enough. We try to make a Friday afternoon round before dark. We’re also starting up Sunday doubles at 9:00am. The red (shorter) course averages about 150’ per hole, and there isn’t as much risk of the nasty OB bushes on the blue fairways, so the couse is ideal for beginners and kids.

Like most great endeavors, the whole experience was as good as it was because of the people who helped me with the course. My ultimate Frisbee homeys (we also play on a capped landfill – in Cambridge) gave a lot of sweat back in May, and along with friends in town, got most of the bull work (digging and clearing) done. There’s been some great NEFA guys who’ve been a part of the work pre-opening and ongoing with maintenance and some alterations – it’s great to have their knowledge and experience. Really, the more you get to know the NEFA family, the more you realize disc golf brings out the best in everybody.

It’s just a blast, and I must thank my wife for the course as a gift, and her patience with the endless hours working at the course (that probably should have been spent on our own yard) that I did. My 9-year old son Willie played with Matt Stroika’s son Matthew (also 9) at the tourney, and Matt and I really enjoyed seeing the tourch being passed on to the kids. I’m so lucky to have been able to pull this off and enjoy the positive feedback and vibe that everyone’s given.

My goals for next year? For starters, I’d like to shoot a round under par! Actually, I’m really just interested in seeing course traffic grow, host a couple of tourneys, and turn people on to the sport like a modern day ‘Johnny DiscGolf-Seed’! I’m looking to make more holes and tees if possible, and adapt to changes the park will go through successfully.

But what I’d really like to do in 2005 is get to work on another course. Really, I don’t want to work on another course, but it’s great having one 2 minutes from your house. And I think I have a lead on another course here in the North Shore area. I guess the point is that I really couldn’t pass up the opportunity to start another course if the means are there – and they are. Let’s face it: I’m selfish and I’d like to have a couple places to play right nearby!

Source : NEFA News Winter 2005 Page 24. Visit NEFA’s website to see the complete newsletter.