Flying Saucers Land in Apple Valley
A new disc golf course opens this weekend in Alimagnet Park

Posted: 7/1/05 - Apple Valley Thisweek Newspapers

By: Sarah Daniels


Flying saucers, in the form of frisbees, will become a more familiar
site in Alimagnet Park in Apple Valley.

The first disc golf course in Apple Valley was recently installed in
the park. A grand opening celebration is scheduled for today.

Disc golf is played much like regular golf, but uses a frisbee
instead of a golf club and ball. In disc golf, players toss a
frisbee, or disc, at a series of baskets on a course. The objective
is to finish the course under par.

Randy Johnson, park and recreation director for Apple Valley, said
he had received many requests for a disc golf course from residents.

"The hardest thing was to find the physical space for it,"
Johnson
said.

One hole of disc golf can take up about one acre of park space,
Johnson said.

Johnson didn't design the course himself – he called in the
expert,
Bill Ashton.

Ashton, an avid disc-golf player for nearly 30 years and a certified
course designer, has designed 10 disc golf courses in Minnesota,
including the new 12-hole course in Apple Valley.

"It's going to be a good little course," Ashton said.
"It's going to
be challenging."

Johnson said he expects the new course to bring more people into
Alimagnet Park.

"We've had lots of good feedback already," he said.

Ashton said disc golf appeals to players of all ages.

"It's a lifetime sport," Ashton said.

Scorecards and discs specially designed for disc golf can be picked
up at the Apple Valley Community Center, Johnson said. Players can
rent a set of discs that contains a driver, mid-range and putter.