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Residents urge town to keep Jack Blackhawk disc golf course open after surprise closure notice
Summary
Residents and club organizers told the Highway, Parks & Community Programs meeting that the town’s disc golf course is an important, low-cost amenity and urged staff to adopt a mowing/maintenance plan that would keep at least a 9-hole summer layout while reducing town maintenance costs.
Julie McDonald, a former chair of the Parks and Community Programs committee, told the board she was surprised when a letter announced the course’s immediate closure and asked the town to improve communication with the public and the club. “I wanna advocate for the keeping this golf course open,” McDonald said, citing past grants and volunteer investments that helped launch the course.
Matt Wall, a resident who said he often takes his children to the course, described it as an inclusive local amenity and credited disc golfers with regular stewardship. “It’s part of the community,” Wall said, asking the board to consider the social value of the course and its regional draw.
Bob Hoffman, an organizer who traced the club’s roots to 2010, said the local club stages tournaments and that the course attracts out-of-town visitors. Hoffman asked that the town include the Disc Cap club in any decisions affecting the course. “If there’s some decisions to be made regarding disc golf care, please include DISCAP,” he said.
Jeff Wachowski, who helped design or expand course layouts, presented a mowing-minimizing proposal to reduce town labor while keeping recreational access. Wachowski suggested keeping a 9-hole “summer course” that uses areas already mowed by park crews and leaving the remaining back nine to grow tall until the lower-mow winter season. “We could include the original 9-hole course as a summer seasonal course,” he said, estimating the additional mowed area at roughly two acres and explaining a routing that would let players get 18-hole play in lower-growing seasons.
Town staff acknowledged the club’s materials and tournament participation statistics and said organized events must follow the town’s permit and insurance requirements. The chair proposed that parks and highway supervisors meet with community programs staff and the club to evaluate Wachowski’s plan and identify maintenance adjustments that could reduce the town’s cost burden. Staff committed to an internal review and follow-up meeting with the club to consider mowing logistics, insurance and fee requirements for tournaments.
The meeting did not include a formal vote to reopen the course; staff said they will review the club’s maps and usage data and report back. The board also reminded presenters that the town’s website and event-permit rules govern tournament notifications and insurance.
