The new 19-hole Camp Jordan Park Disc Golf Course will officially open on Saturday at noon.
The new 19-hole Camp Jordan Park Disc Golf Course will officially open on Saturday at noon.
The Chattanooga Flying Disc Club will host a long drive and putting contest and provide learner discs for the first time players who attend.
The East Ridge city officials and media members in attendance will tee off at 12:30 and a random-draw doubles select shot tournament will start at 1 p.m.
The Chattanooga Flying Disc Club will also give each kid who attends a disc to get them started in the sport.
Scott Homberg, the disc golf director for the CFDC, said Camp Jordan was selected as the location of the new course “because of the great location, great facilities and a great park staff to work with.”
Rated already as one of the toughest disc golf courses in the south by some who have played it, Camp Jordan was designed by Jake Nye and Mr. Homberg.
“This course is unique because players need a wide variety of throws to achieve a good score,” Mr. Nye said. “There are several long technical holes that force players to throw to a preferred landing zone to allow for a good look at the next shot … playing golf.”
Mr. Nye said when they were designing the course that safety was at the top of the list of considerations.
“At Camp Jordan there is a walking path that is used by many people so this was a major safety concern,” Mr. Nye said. “This path was very difficult to design around and it directly influenced about 70 percent of the layout.”
He said that on almost every tee sign there is a reminder that users of the walking path have the right of way.
“In designing the course, the design team wanted to create as many long technical holes as possible while also making sure that the course flow and transitions from the end of one hole to the tee pad of the next was as short as safely possible,” Mr. Nye added.
The course is also different because it has 19 holes.
“In the beginning of the design phase, the design team committed to a "minimum" of 18 holes,” Mr. Nye said. “The 19 holes that were designed seem to best use the property and allow for 19 unique holes.”
The course has already been compared to championship courses across the nation by some of the more advanced players.
“There are several ideas that the design team hopes to incorporate into certain areas of the course that will enhance and increase the difficulty level for some parts of the course,” Mr. Nye said. “So far, the feedback that the design team is getting from both local and out of town disc golfers has been very good. Many disc golfers are suggesting that it feels like a championship style course. The better that the course is the more likely are the possibilities for hosting two and three day tournaments. So, it seems that getting a tournament scheduled at the Camp Jordan course for 2013 is very likely.”
Both Mr. Homberg and Mr. Nye said that everyone is invited to come out and experience the challenge of the Camp Jordan Disc Golf Course.
The par for course is 65 for professional players and 72 for novice.
Local Directions: From Atlanta; I-75 North, Exit 1A and take a left at the first traffic light. Then travel 1 mile into the park and turn left into the gravel RV lot. The first tee box 1st tee halfway down tree line.
From Downtown: Take I-24 East to I-75 South and get off at Exit 1 and turn left at the top of the ramp and pass over the freeway and turn left at the light. Then travel 1 mile into the park and turn into the gravel RV lot. The first tee box 1st tee halfway down tree line.