The high amount of use of the disc golf course at Ham Lake Park led the Ham Lake City Council to approve expanding it from nine holes to 18 holes.
Public Works Superintendent Tom Reiner estimated that between 100 and 150 people probably play the course every day.
Chad Nowak plays disc golf at the Ham Lake Park course last month with some friends. The course will be expanded from nine holes to 18 holes starting sometime around Aug. 1. File photo by Eric Hagen
“It seems to be a good use of the park,” Mayor Paul Meunier said. “I can’t imagine anything getting that much use that we now have other than the baseball fields or the softball fields.”
Reiner told ABC Newspapers that the new nine holes will be installed sometime around Aug. 1.
Councilmember Gary Kirkeide questioned the impact the new nine holes would have on the park.
Reiner said the nine holes would be near the Don Hansen ballfield complex and more developed recreational areas and would not impact the less developed portions of Ham Lake Park.
According to Reiner, expanding the disc golf course means there would be additional walking trails, which he said improves the park.
The work will be done in-house and is capped at $4,000, Reiner said.
The disc golf baskets that players throw the frisbees into are easy to relocate if necessary.
“All we’re talking about is a basket cemented in the ground,” Reiner said. “We pull the basket out, fill the hole and we can move the hole anywhere we want.”
There have been concerns raised by some residents about trash and noise, but the council unanimously approved the expansion.
Trash cans were recently installed by the existing nine holes and Reiner said he only spotted a couple of cans when he played the course over the Fourth of July weekend and a couple of days since the park was last maintained, so there has been improvement in that aspect.
