Disc-golf players want Tacoma’s 1st course at this park. They need Metro Parks’ buy-in
On Wednesday afternoon a group of high school students carried boxes of multi-colored discs and metal-chained disc-golf baskets through Swan Creek Park in Tacoma. Setting them up according to a map designed by one of their peers, the students quickly began throwing, enjoying the misty rain and fresh air.
A group of disc golfers with the Parkland Disc Golf Association and the Pierce County Disc Golf Association want scenes like that to happen more often. Citing increased interest in the sport, its affordability and social and health benefits, the associations are making a concerted effort to create the first and only permanent disc-golf course in the Tacoma city limits.
They need to get Metro Parks Tacoma’s approval to move ahead. Talks have begun, but no commitments have by given by the agency.
Josh Larson, who lives in Tacoma’s Eastside, fell in love with disc golf after he was injured in an ATV accident four years ago and needed something to do while his leg and foot recovered. Larson said he tried to drive to every disc-golf course he could to develop his skills and get outside. Larson found that the nearest courses to Tacoma were at least a 20- to 30-minute drive away.
Since he joined the Parkland Disc Golf Association and the Pierce County Disc Golf Association several years ago, Larson has been on a mission to spread the disc-golf gospel.
For the last two years he has filed permits, organized tournaments, set up baskets and hosted pop-up disc-golf events at Swan Creek Park with the help of other avid disc golfers. Every Wednesday, Larson also runs the Parkland Disc Golf Association’s putting league, which practices weekly.
“I’m a disabled Army vet with PTSD, and it’s hard enough for me to interact with people and get out and get any kind of interaction outside of my household,” Larson said. “This pulls me out of my house and gets me moving. It gets me the exercise I need … a lot of people with disabilities can play the sport. It’s a very accommodating recreational sport where you can actually build up to professional status and play.”
Larson said he’s seen an explosion in the sport’s popularity. Both pop-up disc-golf tournaments at Swan Creek in 2022 and 2023 garnered between 200-300 attendees of all experience levels and ages, he said.
Larson said establishing a permanent disc-golf course at Swan Creek would bring more people into the park, inspire community connections and bring a valuable and affordable resource to a low-income area. It could also bring in tourists and others who could see Tacoma as a disc-golf destination, he said.
On Friday, Metro Parks met with Larson and several others with the Parkland Disc Golf Association and the Pierce County Disc Golf Association to discuss the possibility of a permanent course at Swan Creek, said public information officer Stacia Glenn in an email to The News Tribune.
Glenn said the department recognizes there is an interest in this sport but said Metro Parks has not heard from the community that disc golf is a priority at Swan Creek or other parks.
In last year’s community-wide needs survey, disc golf was not an activity residents or youth expressed specific interest in, Glenn said. Because Swan Creek’s Master Plan doesn’t include a disc-golf course, there would need to be research to determine if it would be a good fit.
“A targeted outreach and engagement effort would be conducted to see if disc golf rates higher on a community needs list than any other activity that would occupy that space, and to date that effort has not been included in our work plan,” she said.
What would a Swan Creek disc golf course look like?
Disc-golf courses consist of teeing areas where players start throwing their disc and attempt to land it in a basket within a certain number of throws. Courses usually have nine or 18 holes.
At the most basic level, a course consists of tee pads, targets and tee signs indicating the hole the player is playing. Routine maintenance of a course might consist of cleaning up tee pads or trimming around baskets, but once infrastructure is installed, very little additional maintenance is required, according to a proposal Larson shared with Metro Parks and The News Tribune.
For an 18-hole course, the costs for baskets can range from $4,500-$10,000, tee pads can cost $1,800-$8,100 and tee signs can cost between $540-$3,600, according to Larson’s proposal. There would be additional costs for any signage, professional course design, benches or landscaping.
In the proposal the Pierce County Disc Golf Association said the club would offer direct assistance to Metro Parks for the project and said PCDGA has a long history of fundraising, course planning, course promotion, event promotion, coordination of volunteer labor, running organized competitions and course maintenance.
“We have operated on properties where we are the sole caretakers and have also entered in agreements with parks departments where coordination with parks staff is key. Our association represents a wide variety of players who bring a level of investment and commitment that we think is unparalleled in the recreation community,” the proposal said. “Pop-up events and other fundraisers could be run concurrently and are effective means of promotion and gathering community support.”
According to the proposal, planning a layout for course installation at Swan Creek could take an estimated three months and tee pads and baskets could be installed over the course of four to six work parties spanning two to four months.
Glenn said it’s still “way too soon” to know if the park can accommodate what the groups want but said Metro Parks regularly meets with people and groups to hear about their specific wants and needs.
This story was originally published February 5, 2024 at 11:39 AM.
