Reflections and Announcements

Dear SFDGC Member–
This coming Friday, March 31st, the Golden Gate Park Disc Golf Course is celebrating its 10th Birthday!  Through the spirit and dedication of the local disc golf community, the GGPDGC was conceived, designed, built and was given as a gift to the City of San Francisco nearly ten years ago.  For those of us who have been a part of the SFDGC community for many years (even to the beginnings of the effort to build this beautiful course nearly 20 years ago), and also for new members alike, it is easy to see how fortunate we are to call the Golden Gate Park Disc Golf Course our home.  This understanding, and also our awareness of our part in the history of this great urban park, continues to be a primary reason that the SFDGC has honored its commitment to care for and maintain the course.  The time that we spend with our friends playing disc golf in Golden Gate Park is simply one of the great joys of our lives.  It is well worth reflecting on how truly fortunate we are to have and to share this resource with each other and with the greater community of park users.   

The founding members who designed and built this course promised to take care of it, and they did so right from the very start.  The San Francisco Recreation & Park Dep’t had the vision to give the SFDGC permission to build in this extraordinary place, and the membership and volunteers throughout the years have risen to the challenge of caring for it.  It wasn’t easy at any stage of the development to get the course in the ground–it took years of tenacity, talent and hard work. The course looks just beautiful today…it has certainly evolved over the years–look at some of the old photos and see how much it has changed.  We have always been concerned about the wear and tear for which our play might be responsible, and how we might mitigate our impact…but instead of looking beaten down now after ten years, it looks even more majestic and regal than ever.  The Cypress, Pine and Eucalyptus trees that line the course are maturing, some 100-125 years since many of them were planted.  We play through this peaceful, happy place with a continual sense of awe and appreciation for the sheer beauty of it all.  We have every reason to be proud, and humbled, and protective of this special place.

The SFDGC has always taken its stewardship seriously.  Through the early years of volunteership and work parties, the ongoing dedication of the Beautification Project team, and the overall cooperation we have all shared in to some great extent, we still have this remarkable place to play disc golf.  So–we continue our work.  This year, we will be replacing the signs at each tee box with new ones…it will be a gradual process, but the work is underway to get it done. The new design concept is exceptional…we know that you will love the new signs!  The specifications for the images and mounting features will be documented and repeatable so that we can maintain design and installation continuity into the future.  We’ll keep the bias-cut Eucalyptus trunks in place for as long as they can stand time and the elements, and we’ll find a suitable means of remounting as the the trunks decay.

Another major project we are taking on this year is one that many members already know about–the replacement of the DGA Mach III Baskets.  Our baskets have stood the test of both time and of the salty air so close to the ocean.  They have lasted surprisingly well and frankly, they still work just fine.  However, as so many of us watch our “perfect” putts slip through the back side of the chains, we can see that the chains have gotten slick, and we know that better catching mechanisms are now available that more fairly catch the disc.  The SFDGC intends to replace the existing baskets with the most durable and up-to-date basket design available, the DGA Mach X.  Most of us have by now played on courses with Mach X baskets…the De Laveaga Disc Golf Club replaced their baskets with Mach Xs a couple of years ago.  Aquatic Park in Berkeley has done the same even more recently. Numerous other world-class courses around the country have installed Mach X baskets, including Fountain Hills in Arizona, Maple Hill in Massachusetts, and Rollin Ridge in Wisconsin,  The chain configuration is different than that of our existing Mach IIIs, and they take a little getting used to.  But after having played many rounds with these Mach X baskets, it is clear that they catch fairly and uniformly, with far fewer spit-outs than we see with most other designs, including the Mach IIIs.  The new baskets will feature number plates powder-coated a beautiful shade of International Orange, to stand out in a subtle but distinctive way against the parkland shades of green and brown, and also to echo the color of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Deciding on which new baskets we should install has been a challenging process.  There was lengthy discussion, and a vote was taken, regarding the basket project at an SFDGC meeting in November 2016.  The vote that night was not regarding which basket design people prefer; rather, it was a question of whether we should move forward at that time with purchasing the DGA Mach X baskets.  The group that night voted no for several good reasons, chief among them that we had to do more comparative research into cost, design, availability, and also to allow a more careful consideration of what is best for the course.  

It is accurate and appropriate to say that we have now researched our options and done our due diligence.  There are well-respected voices in our community that have expressed a preference for a different brand of basket…perhaps the Innova Discatcher 28, or the Prodigy Pro DG T1.  But another important element went into this decision; in addition to the more consistent putting target, the metal materials and corrosion protective coatings out of which the DGA baskets are made have proven to be uniquely well-suited to our local environment.  The Mach IIIs need to be replaced, but they have not rusted away or fallen apart throughout the years of use.  The Mach III is a fundamentally sound and sturdy product, and the materials and coating have lasted quite well.  DGA designed the new Mach X to be a better target than their previous products while maintaining their use of proven materials and their high standard of workmanship.  Furthermore, we have seen and played on baskets, produced by other manufacturers, at courses a similar distance from the ocean. Those baskets are not as old as our Mach IIIs but are showing significant signs of corrosion, especially at the welded areas.

For these reasons, we have chosen to purchase the new DGA Mach X baskets.  Our intention is to have them installed by the 10th Birthday Bash this spring, with the new sign project well underway by then, too.

With regard to the existing baskets, the preliminary plan is to put them up for auction to partially offset the cost of the new ones.  If there are baskets still remaining, they might be sold, raffled, or donated outright.  Details to follow on this element.   

The time is right for the club to take this step to improve the infrastructure of the course, and to continue our stewardship in this meaningful way.  Your SFDGC club officers have not made this decision lightly, nor do we expect that the decision will not be subject to criticism for having made it.  We hope that your response will be enthusiastic and supportive.  We hasten to add that, in the tradition of this exceptional community, we respect the views of the club members and we want to hear from you if you have any comments, complaints, suggestions, or otherwise thoughtful contributions to make on this subject.  We anticipate and wish for a positive response because we want to move expediently forward on this project. We hope that dissenting opinions might be made in a civil (if not conciliatory) manner.  So please give us your feedback, if you will–let us know what you think.

We will be accepting feedback until this coming Saturday, April 1st (no fooling) at 6PM PST.

Link to feedback form: https://goo.gl/forms/LFrS6yjMPBrK1LQJ2

Unless we are greatly surprised by your feedback, we’ll proceed with the plans to replace the old Mach IIIs with new Mach X baskets.  If everything goes according to plan, we will have the new baskets installed by the Birthday Bash on April 22nd, which will make a fantastic 10th birthday present for the GGPDGC!

Thanks very much for your time in reading this long letter, your thoughtful consideration, and your continuing financial support through membership (280 current members in 2017 as of this writing).  We could not pursue these projects to upgrade course equipment without you.  Please make plans to join your SFDGC family for a celebratory round at the Birthday Bash on April 22!

Sincerely,
Your SFDGC Officers
Jon Toby – President
Shawn Mercy – Vice President
Steve Erle – Treasurer
Jerry Showman – Secretary