BELCHERTOWN — A portion of a former farm near the town’s center that has been mostly vacant conservation and recreation land could become an 18-hole disc golf course next year.
The Select Board has given the go-ahead to Recreation Director Kyle Thibeault to pursue the creation of the course at Piper Farm Recreation Area, a 68-acre town-owned site between Route 202 and Springfield Road that Belchertown took by eminent domain in 1990.
“We are in the beginning stages of trying to get a disc golf course off the ground for the town up at Piper Farm,” Thibeault said in an email Thursday. “We have a few rough numbers of what it would cost to get the project started.”
But he said these cost estimates, at around $13,000, including the design of the course and purchase and installation of the disc golf baskets, aren’t precise, as the Recreation Department still needs to understand any conservation issues on the property and how many community volunteers are available to clear the area for the course.
Disc golf courses typically feature heavy-duty baskets, bolted into concrete bases, with players attempting to land their discs, or Frisbees, in the metal trays or into the metal chain supports holding these trays up.
Thibeault said the Belchertown course would be free to play, but players would have to bring their own discs. Ongoing costs would be minimal.
“Maintenance would also be mostly maintaining the fairways, which is mostly covered by the foot traffic but would have a few clean up days with volunteers and the Recreation Department when needed,” Thibeault said.
Brian Giggey, who runs the Amherst-based Explore Disc Golf that provides consulting expertise on projects, is aware of the Belchertown project and supports its development.
“Disc golf continues to be one of the fastest-growing sports in the country,” Giggey said. “Disc golf is a wonderful family friendly activity, and shows no signs of slowing down.”
Giggey said having a course there would be a good use of underutilized space and could bring many people to town at one time for tournaments and friendly competitions. Up to 72 players, or four players at each hole, can use the course at once.
If the project moves forward, Belchertown’s would be one of about 15 course in the region, with a nine-hole course on the University of Massachusetts campus in Amherst and an 18-hole course in Warren.
Giggey built the nine-hole course at UMass at a cost of about $2,000.
Belchertown acquired the land for $306,331 through the eminent domain process. The land had been eyed by private developers for housing development.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com
