NEFA DISCussion

So today I had a chance to talk to a man from the fitchburg park dept. about setting up a disc golf course in either Coggshall park or Fitchburg State Forest. After telling him about the game of disc golf and how great a game it is he seemed on board to look into getting a course going. I have a few starting questions for everyone out there.

1. Would you play disc golf at Coggshall or FSF?

2. Can anyone help me get this going to the next level. I really don't know to much about the politics and costs etc of getting a course going.

Like I said he seems really intrested in doing this. Let me know what you think.

Okay Jeff you've got my full attention. I am a longtime Fitchburg resident (40+ years) and will be happy to assist you any way that I can. I can guarantee you there will be a lot of people interested in playing at Coggshall. I have some questions though. Is this Fitchburg Parks Dept. person you speak of credible? I know that a few years ago there was a paintball club using the undeveloped portion of Coggshall on the weekends and it created a minor uproar particularly with the private volunteer group (Friends of Coggshall Park) that spearheads the campaign to maintain the park. I've got to believe there would be some hurdles to overcome particularly with them. Also where is this Fitchburg State Forest land that you speak of? I'm guessing it is in the northern section of the city, but have never heard of any land deemed Fitchburg State Forest.

To answer your question Arthur the person at the parks is credible. I believe there are 4-5 people on the board and he is one of them. I had a chance to talk to him briefly at work, my boss knows him and got the ball rolling on disc golf with him. He mentioned the paintball club and honestly I don't have any knowledge of what happened to shut that down and he didn't offer any. The idea is either to use the land off of the south street entrance that doesnt get used or use the area off of Mount Elam Rd, where the paintball club used to use I believe. I believe in the next week or two we are going to go to the park and see the possible areas that may be available.

The forest is from what I understand is behind the new high school and stretches all the way to Ashby. I'm a former Leominster, now Gardner resident so I don't know all the forest areas of fitchburg so I could be off a bit on where it goes to. But he seemed more inclined to use this area first but defently wasn't against the idea of Coghsall at all. In fact he seems rather enthusiastic(im sure I spelled that wrong) about having disc golf courses in Fitchburg and even hinted after building one that if it worked out and people showed up often to play that maybe building another course could also be possible.

All in all it was a very good starting conversation and there will be more in the short future. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed this will work out and happen. As soon as I find out more I will defently let you know Arthur, so we can actually get this to happen. If you have some good starting questions for the walk through I would love to hear them.

~Jeff

Jeff I have a lot a feedback for you. I'll try to get back to you if I have time tonight. Otherwise I'll respond tomorrow. Oh and please call me Arty.

yeah, you're killin' me. Please call him Arty. Arthur should play in a Masters division.

Soon come, JimBo, soon come. Jeff as far as Coggshall is concerned I like the idea of it being near the South Street entrance for two reasons. 1) The old cross country trails that Fitchburg High use to use for meets are over in that area and would make for good ready made fairways. 2) Also the road from the gate would be suitable for parking, which can always be an issue when creating a course. That road hasn’t been used for about 10 years so I’m not sure what kind of shape it is in, but this may as a good a reason as any to put it back in use. I would think that area would be a better sell over the other entrance because that’s the area the paint ballers utilized and I think the big controversy over that was that it was considered conservation area that many rare species of migratory birds used. Also the residents on Mt. Elam Rd might bark about increased traffic issues. South Street is much busier and more commercial. However I’m not sure how much acreage there is on the South St. side. I used to ride my mountain bike through there and I would think there would be enough land to get a well balanced 18 holes in. There are some nice changes in elevation there as well. Plus a good mix of pine groves, granite exposures and mountain laurel. It would be a pretty sweet location for a disc golf course.
Here are a few points just off the top of my head that you’ll want to discuss while doing your walk through. How is this going to be funded? I know the City of Fitchburg is in pretty dire straits economically right now and are in the process of making heavy budget cuts city wide. They are looking for ways to save money, even going as far as turning off street lights in certain neighborhoods at night. I think it is highly unlikely that you are going to get much from the town financially. So be prepared to propose a way to fund this course. I’m thinking getting sponsorships from area businesses may be the best way to approach this. It worked great for the Devens Disc Golf Course. John Borelli would be a good person to talk to about that. Speaking of Devens, I know they had liability issues and have to buy their own insurance every year primarily I believe because Devens is not an official MA governed town as of yet. You may not have this issue in Fitchburg, but it will be something you will want to consider and inquire about.
I would encourage you to try to sell this idea with the parks dept. as a family friendly sport that can be played by people of all ages. Relatively inexpensive to create and once built is extremely easy to maintain. Also it is very low impact to nature as it utilizes natural landscapes throughout most of its design. It will bring more people to park and use areas that at the present time are being used (to put it bluntly) by less desirable people. In essence it will clean up the park. Another benefit is a lot of the tree damage due to December’s ice storm will have to be cleared in order to build this course and a lot of this work can be done by volunteers like myself. Push the idea of volunteerism as much as you can. Also would probably be a good idea to have these people from the Fitchburg Parks Dept do walk through at Devens particularly right now as it has never looked better. This way they can get a hands on look about positive impact of the sport. Again I will be available to help you anyway that I can. I wouldn’t mind doing the walk through with you even to help get the ball rolling.

Okay Arty it is I agree with you 100% about the location at South St. it just makes better sense. Its right off the main road so out of towners will find it a lot easier and keep traffic off of Mount Elam which is a narrow road to begin with. I havent seen the area myself yet but the description you gave does sound like a great area to play disc golf.

Hole sponship was our main push for funding on this project as we all know everytown is broke. I would think once we get an ok on a piece of land we could start that process to raise money. Volunteerism was another big subject we stressed to help out also. I have no idea about insurance or how that may work so I will defently ask about it, I'm glad you brought that up its a great point. I believe my boss already took him to Barre Falls to show him the basic idea, but I did mention going to Devens to show him a newer wooded course and how it may look at Coggshall.

Arty if you can PM me with you number I can call you when we go and look at the sites. I'm not sure if I will have a lot of notice of when we go and do this so it may be last minute when I call you. Thanks for the help, I really wanna get this done as I think it will be great for disc golf and the city of Fitchburg.

Hi Jeff,

As Arty mentioned, I designed, developed, and promoted the Devens course and would be happy to help you with this one. Email or PM me if you'd like to get together and hear about how we got it done.

Jeff pm sent. I know much of my feedback centered around Coggshall Park, but I'm also very interested in this other piece of land known as Fitchburg State Forest. Building at Coggshall would mean shared usage with other park users which is not a major problem, but may present some minor headaches and raise concerns. I'm guessing FSF won't have this issue as pretty much not too many people realize it even exists. Also if it is where you suggest it is or where I think it might be there will be a lot more acreage to work with. Another issue with Coggshall is its a seasonal park. It is closed to the public during the winter. Not sure if they would allow disc golf play all year round. May not have that issue with FSF.

Count me in as someone interested in playing disc golf in Fitchburg, seeing as how I'm right "next door" in Lunenburg.
From what I've seen of Cogshall Park, it has some interesting topography which would certainly make for a fun course. Also, the "proposed" South Street entrance would make it easy to get to, being just minutes from Rt. 2.
I'm totally unfamiliar with the FSF land and had no idea there was even a State Forest there. It would be kind of off the beaten path, somewhere off of Rt. 31 in the northern section of town. I can't speak for the terrain there.
Right now I think the Cogshall location would be better in terms of visibility. There's a lot of traffic on South Street so a lot of people would know there's a course there, which might attract new players. When I talk to people about this game, they have no idea there are so many courses in New England because most of them are tucked away in the woods off some back road.
Anyway, if you need someone to show support or help build the course, keep us posted.

Hi,
My name is Angelo Bisol and I am a life long Fitchburg Resident. First of all I want to Thank Jeff for his posting on this Web Site as it has created a lot of Buzz with the Parks and Recs department. At first no one knew what I was talking about, so your web site proved to be a great help. I have only played the game once and thought Coggshall Park would be a great place to set up a course. I reached out to the folks involved and I have a set of prints to look at. Once we take a look at the lay out, they request we out something together to present at one of thier meetings. Hopefully we can walk it this week. I also have a layout of the park on a Word Doc. if anyone is interested. When I spoke to the person from the parks department he agreed that the South Street exit would be the way to go.
Thanks for your help,
You have a great Web Site

Went to South Street entrance yesterday. Theres a million possibilities! The landscape is fairly hilly, but the course just about lays itself out. I am looking forward to moving this process forward with the support of everyone in NEFA land. I am in the process of dreaming up the possible design and preparing an info packet to present to those who are in charge of the park. Thanks for all the positive support! Jeff and I are a little over our heads as far as fundraising is concerned, but I'm sure that with the help and support of those of you who have delt with this in the past we will succeed in bringing Disc Golf to Coggshall Park.

Well the wheels are moving now. We got permission to do a layout for Coggshall park disc golf course today. Once we get our layout done we can present it to the board and see what changes they want and hopefully get the course built after.

We are just at the beginging of this trip but already feel we are going in a good direction. The board seemed very welcoming to the idea of disc golf in Fitchburg and we just want a chance to show them what a great game this can be for the people of Fitchburg and beyond.

~Jeff

Congrats on getting the ball rolling for yet another DG course in my area!

Have you contacted John Borelli for input? The reason I ask is because he designed Devens, he lives pretty close to Fitchburg and currently has a lot of time on his hands.

He would be a great resource to tap, IMO.

~Marcy

Hot Damn! I live in Shirley and work in Fitchburg, so let me know how I can help.

Hot dizzle, I live a mile from Cogshall Park and I'm ready to help for shizzle. Yahoo!

Good to see things are starting to move on this idea. I'm glad the city is supporting the Coggshall location, it should be a great spot. With another new course in Worcester in the works and all the other courses already here, central MA could become the center of the DG universe!

Finished first rough draft of the 18 basket layout today. Runs a little under 5000 ft. Many GREAT shots waiting to happen. I am hoping to get further along soon after the friends of Coggshall Park give their consent.

Having spent many of my formative years in a drunken stuper in the Burg I look forward to returning and hopefully not waking up on the bathroom floor. Dutch Kitchen still around?

Been real busy as of late and finally got a chance to look at the layout. Nice job Brian and Jeff. The rough draft looks awesome. I can't wait to see it in person. FYI Eric, the Dutch Kitchen is still there and they still make the best butter frosting on the planet.

Hot skip-diddley-do! Let me know when you boys is heading there to check out the layout, I'll be there!

This Friday we will be meeting with some of the parks commitee people at Coggshall to go over the layout of the course with them. From what I understand there will be some media there also to cover it. Also I heard that Coggshall has a facebook account and just added some disc golf info on it. I don't have facebook(am I the only one that doesn't?) so I don't know exactly what their page looks like, but I heard that since it posted about disc golf its been getting more hits than ever. The city seems excited about this and I hope they show their excitement by letting us set up this course.

If this weather lets up we are going to go down there today and check the initial setup one last time before we meet on Friday. Arty and Jim you are more than welcome to come up and check it out with us. We will be there around 5pm.

~Jeff

So we met with some of the Friends of Coggshall and Park reps tonight and I'd have to say it went really well. We set up a portable basket on the first hole and showed them the basics of how to play and then they took their shots. Former Mayor Whitney took it home with a 7 on her first ever hole of Disc Golf. With a little more practice I think she will be tearing it up in no time. We then took them on a tour of the rest of the course to show them what parts of the land we want to use.

The Sentinel and Enterprise was also there covering it and I'm hoping the picture of me hitting the tree on my first shot is not the one that makes it to press. What can I say I cracked under the pressure, I did nail a blind 50 footer for the first ever duece at Coggshall when no reporters were around, aint that how it goes sometimes. I'm not sure when it will get printed I would figure in a few days and I'll make sure to post it when it does.

Stay tuned folks as I feel good things are coming to Coggshall soon. They have to vote on it next week so we will have to wait another week to find out.

~Jeff

Here You go

http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/ci_12816550

Keep our fingers crossed

Thanks Guy you beat me to it.

OK, so I read the article and posted a comment in favor of the course (naturally.) It looks like the powers that be are receptive to the idea, but it doesn't hurt, I think to show a little support.
Here's hoping it continues to move forward.

The next step is THE CLEAN UP! We will be looking for volunteers to help in clearing many fallen trees, small brush, and tedius fairway clearing as we move forward. Theres also one area that will need to have stone steps for easy access to a steep hill. Once we get the final approval, we will be searching out sponsors to help push this project forward. Before anything is in cement, I would appreciate different opinions on the layout.
Jeff and I will be posting the official word within the next few weeks. Hopefully everything will be positive and we will be able to set dates for the official clearing of Coggshall Disc Golf Course.
BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!

I can't wait to play here!

Nice job getting another course started. Just curious, was the map drawn based on actual fairways on the ground or will the fairways follow the drawn map? Based on the map 50% of the fairways turn left!?

I'm not totally sure I am following your question but I will try to answer it as best I can. The fairways follow the drawn map. A lot of the fairways were just natural spaces between the trees. If you ask me this place seems like it was meant to be a DG course it has lot of tight but open fairways already(via naturally and the Ice storm) before we started.

To answer your second question I think 8 of the 18 holes turn left. I know holes 2,4 and 7 had to because of the trails that walkers use we wanted to avoid them. I also think it was hole 9 we changed it to go right (not on the map) so that shoud take us to about 8 that go left, 3 that turn right and about 7that are tight and straight,sort of they turn a little more than the map shows. Nothing is set in stone right now, we just wanted to get something rough, but good, ready to show the board and welcome ideas you or any others may have about how the course could be better.


~Jeff