SOUTHWICK – Known as a recreational community, Southwick may soon add the latest sports craze – disc golf – to its offerings.
Resident Freda Brown and business partners Drew Gardner and Chris Barde met with the Southwick Planning Board this week to discuss creating a disc golf course on Brown’s property on John Mason Road.
Gardner explained that disc golf combines frisbee and golf on a course that includes fairways, greens and even sand traps.
“It’s like golf, but you throw weighted frisbees,” he said.
Gardner passed around a disc to the board and audience. Slightly smaller than an average frisbee, the disc was rubbery and slightly weighted around the rim.
“We want to create a course on this property and create other passive recreational opportunities in Southwick,” said Gardner.
Brown owns 125 acres of land that she wants to preserve as much in its natural state as possible. She told the board the course would follow the land’s natural terrain and very few small trees would be cut.
“It wouldn’t be clear-cut like a traditional golf course,” said Barde.
A sand pit on site would be cleared to make a gravel parking lot and small buildings – such as sheds – would be located there as well.
Brown asked the board what she needed to do to get the plan in motion.
“Apply,” said Board Vice Chairperson Roz Terry, “as long as it’s within the town by laws.”
The group was given a copy of the commercial recreational use bylaws by Town Planner Alan Slessler prior to the meeting.
Terry suggested they include every possible design in their site plan, even if was something that was planned for the future, so they would not need to return for modifications.
“Look at the big picture,” she suggested. “If you think you might want bathrooms, a banquet hall, a pro shop – put it in there now.”
Gardner said the up and coming sport has become popular but there are few courses in the area.
“There is one in Westfield at Camp Shepard and there is one in Wilbraham,” he said.
Brown is proposing a 27-hole course.
Disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc game, as well as a precision and accuracy sport, in which individual players throw a flying disc at a target. According to the Professional Disc Golf Association, “The object of the game is to traverse a course from beginning to end in the fewest number of throws of the disc.The number of disc golf courses doubled in the 8 years from 2000 to 2008. The game is played in about 40 countries around the world.”
