Nick Oliver › Belle Isle DGC September 15, 2015 at 8:35pm
We are CLOSED indefinitely. Please read the statement below.
For several months now there have been questions about the course here on Belle Isle. Today we want to address all of you.
The course is CLOSED indefinitely.
What does that mean? The course is NOT DEAD. First lets talk business. We will be giving refunds to season pass holders without question. Please be patient with us. If you would like to roll that money towards a potential 2016 pass please let us know (address below) and we will put you on a list. We have the list of all who bought a pass, but feel free to contact that same address and list your info for us. The people who came and played here and offered their hard earned money are our focus right now.
So, what happened?
The course was inundated with large sums of water all winter, and all spring, and part of early summer. This created a cycle in which no draining occurred and that forced parts of the course to go without proper trimming and mowing. It became apparent to us that having the course in the condition it was in would not do the site or the game of disc golf proper. So we made the call to close it.
And what has happened since then?
Well, we are trying to keep the course alive. While we do not want to drop all the details right here and now the crux of our efforts have been with the DNR and private backers. So the short of it is we are looking to partner up with someone. OUR ENTIRE GOAL IS TO KEEP DISC ON THE ISLE.
And what would that take?
We have a few ideas, such as a secondary course design that would bypass the wettest areas. However that is not such an easy task for a number of reasons. In the end the true solution is $$$ and lots of it. Without getting overly technical it boils down to moving earth and adding proper drainage.
KEEP IN MIND that while the above solution sounds all neat and straight forward that we are working on an Isle, on land that was placed there (its not natural, it was added in to the Detroit river after excavation for various downtown skyscrapers left a ton of overfill). To add to that there is the Conservancy to navigate, who would prefer that we leave the property alone, so you can guess how they feel about moving tons of earth around. Oh, and then there is the water system. Detroit water systems are troublesome as many of you are aware. If only there was a big handle somewhere that would allow us to stop the flow under the course! The problems are numerous, but we have yet to give up.
Want to know what you can do?
Keep supporting the page, the scene (there are a handful of courses in the area, keeping the game alive and showing support to these courses helps us and the sport!) and know that if there are any possibilities of Belle Isle DGC living on we will do what it takes. We will still keep Detroit Disc Golf as an entity alive, regardless of the course situation. We like to think we represent at least a portion of the SE Michigan disc golf scene. We have seen many changes, in our crew and out on the courses. We have tried to keep things positive, support those around us, and to give all of you a place to have fun. That will never change.
STAY TUNED! And thank you for the love this season.
There was no mention of the three water main breaks that are underground and are part of an old infrastructure and could total hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix. It's an up hill battle. Plus we had problems with holes that were never compromise before due to water.
I think it should be noted that we were fighting an uphill battle not only on the course, but in the scene. A lot of people did NOT want to see this succeed, for various reasons. We tried to shed the negativity and move on from having people on our team that were not well liked in the local disc com ... more
I think it should be noted that we were fighting an uphill battle not only on the course, but in the scene. A lot of people did NOT want to see this succeed, for various reasons. We tried to shed the negativity and move on from having people on our team that were not well liked in the local disc community. But the smack talk and the ignorance I witnessed really pissed me off and did not help the situation. People who didnt want to say anything to our faces, but plenty behind our back. Fact of the matter was that ALL the members of DDG, including Andy and myself, tried to work through the stigma that was created early on and NEVER ONCE BASHED ANOTHER CREW, COURSE, or PERSON. Our goal was to bring disc to the city (which we did, thanks to guys like Andy, Chris Haag, and Joe Rob).
Do not sell yourselves short. The work that was done to bring Belle Isle to us was tremendous. Keyboard warriors are a dime a dozen. Thanks for the update guys, keep us posted.
Where the Belle Isle course bashing is a derivative of Detroit bashing that is hurtful. Simply put, "it is less trouble to lift someone up than to hold them down." Within our sport, as with any sport, competing world views exist. As cooperation is needed to create the conditions under whic ... more
Where the Belle Isle course bashing is a derivative of Detroit bashing that is hurtful. Simply put, "it is less trouble to lift someone up than to hold them down." Within our sport, as with any sport, competing world views exist. As cooperation is needed to create the conditions under which we compete, sport can be a place to practice behaviors needed reconcile our world views. Not everyone recognizes this at once.
bummer I always liked the the course, so much that I rose my bike from Madison heights down there to support you guys and even played in the last battle at the bell. I hope this diamond in the rough can be saved someday but at least I can say i played disc golf on Belle isle
Stay positive, we can all work together to alleviate this issue. I think first off we need to start thinking of some way to create funds. Kickstarter for example. Also we could hold tourneys in other locations to raise money and awareness to this course. Just here to help.
Well the DNR told me that they are going to give another entity a chance to run it through Nov. We will see how that works. Beyond that we will be meeting with them to discuss our thoughts, and if there is any chance of salvaging things out there. Might not be DDG or any of us, but I would like to think we will all support it just the same.
Knowing how personal this endeavor is to you and your crew, Nick, it is very cool of you to step outside yourself and set aside any ego. Belle Isle disc golf course is very important to the disc golf community here in the Detroit area. I hope that you will stay involved and make any transition as ... more
Knowing how personal this endeavor is to you and your crew, Nick, it is very cool of you to step outside yourself and set aside any ego. Belle Isle disc golf course is very important to the disc golf community here in the Detroit area. I hope that you will stay involved and make any transition as smooth as possible. I am sure there is an awful lot going on behind the scenes, but I wanted to make myself clear. THANK YOU and all associated with DDG. Without the work and love, we would never be at this point.
:)