Bring Disc Golf to Laguna Niguel Regional Park

The Laguna Niguel Disc Golf Club is proposing the installation of an 18-hole disc golf course in Laguna Niguel Regional Park. Total cost of the project is estimated at $15,000.00.

Rationale:
There are now more than 2000 Disc Golf courses in the United States and Canada, nearly all installed by city and county parks departments. They have found that there are few recreational activities that offer the high benefit-to-cost ratio of disc golf. Disc golf has relatively low capital and maintenance costs compared with other recreational installations, is environmentally sound, is played year-round in all climates and is enjoyed immediately even by beginners of all ages.

The installation of a disc golf course would be consistent with the stated goals of the recently revised master plan for Laguna Niguel, one of which is to “Plan for new high-quality recreation facilities and programs that provide spontaneous games and more non-organized activities to meet the needs of teenagers and adults alike.” Disc golf is also in perfect keeping with the plan's call for the “development and improvement of a system of public and private parks and recreation facilities achieved in cooperation with private community associations.”

What Is Disc Golf?
Disc Golf is played much like traditional golf. Instead of hitting a ball into a hole, you throw a more streamlined looking Frisbee® disc into a supported metal basket. The goal is the same: to complete the course in the fewest number of shots. A golf disc is thrown from a tee area to each basket, which is the "hole." As players progress down the fairway, they must make each consecutive shot from the spot where the previous throw has landed. The trees, shrubs and terrain changes in and around the fairways provide challenging obstacles for the golfer. Finally, the "putt" lands in the basket and the hole is completed.

Who Can Play?
The simple answer is that everyone can. In studies measuring participation in recreational activities, "throwing a Frisbee" has consistently been a top-ten activity. A disc golf course serves a broader portion of the community than many narrower interest activities with higher cost, skill or fitness levels required to even begin to play. Men and women, young and old, families with small children -- all can play disc golf. Because disc golf is so easy to understand and enjoy, no one is excluded. Players merely match their pace to their capabilities and proceed from there.

How Much Does It Cost To Play?
Many courses are located in city or regional parks where citizens play free. Most private and several public facilities will charge up to $5 per day to play, or earn passive income from annual passes and/or fees to enter the park. The equipment itself is quite inexpensive – discs designed for golf sell for $8-$15 each and only one is needed to get started.

The installation of a disc golf course in Laguna Niguel Regional Park would benefit the surrounding community by increasing and enhancing recreational opportunities, park safety and conservation goals.

Recreational Needs: A disc golf course would provide an inexpensive form of recreation for people of all age and skill levels and be a much needed addition to the recreational facilities at Laguna Niguel Regional Park. The installation of a disc golf course would provide an important recreational resource for the schools surrounding the park, as well as for the wider community. A disc golf course would give youth in the neighborhood a healthy and challenging outlet for their energies and would allow members of the Laguna Niguel Disc Golf Club to organize clinics and youth leagues on their behalf. For the growing number of disc golfers in Laguna Niguel, the presence of a disc golf course in the city limits would obviate the need to travel to play and would give them a base from which to further promote the sport.

Safety: A disc golf course at Laguna Niguel Regional Park would increase foot traffic in the Park at random times during the day and steadily during evenings and weekends. The influx of purposeful visitors would discourage the presence of individuals who are only in the park to cause mischief and perhaps engage in crime. Areas that are infrequently used and considered unsafe would be "opened-up" by the course. As many of the attached letters from different Recreations Departments show (Annex II), the installation of a disc golf course has led to significant decreases in vandalism and litter as users have a stake in keeping the course and surrounding area clean and well-kept.

Conservation: Disc golf can be an environment-friendly sport. Unlike traditional golf, a disc golf course may not require trees to be removed; grass mowed and watered daily, plants uprooted or non-native species planted. Many courses can be designed to fit into the existing flora of a park like Laguna Niguel Regional Park. The impact of a disc golf course on the surrounding area is minimal. Each hole has multiple pin placements, ensuring that no one area gets constant foot traffic (this has the added benefit of providing new challenges to players). In addition, disc golfers overall tend to take great pride in where they play, helping reduce potential litter on the course. In the long-term, a disc golf course would also help in the preservation of the park by giving young people in the neighborhood a stake in its preservation and protection.

Economics: A deluxe 18-hole disc golf course with two sets of tees, professional signs and baskets can be purchased and installed for under $15,000, less than the cost of a single tennis or basketball court. An 18-hole course can serve more than 100 people at any time, compared with a tennis court (4 maximum) or basketball court (10 maximum). The cumulative square footage of 27 x 60 sq. ft hard surface tee pads is also less than either a basketball or tennis court.