Proposal for frisbee golf course flops
A bid to get a frisbee golf facility set up in Upper Harbour has failed to fly over its first hurdle.
Frisbee golf, or disc golf, is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world.
With nine or 18 ‘‘hole’’ courses, the aim is to get the frisbee into each basket in as few throws as possible, with serious players having many different discs, just like a golfer has different clubs.
Haydn Shore, who set up four frisbee golf courses at Woodhill Mountain Bike Park, says there is a lack of full-time courses with permanent baskets in Auckland.
Temporary courses are only really available to ‘‘hard core’’ frisbee golfers, rather than allowing the public to play.
Shore and fellow disc-golfers made a presentation to the Upper Harbour Local Board, asking for a permanent course to be set up in a local park, at a cost of $500 to $900 per basket.
The course would be similar to one established in Henderson Park, which has baskets that are virtually maintenance-free, he says.
Shore says Rosedale Park North would be the most suitable site, due to its large size and natural obstacles.
‘‘I’ve spent hours and hours driving around Auckland looking for space that would work.’’
But Rosedale Park is a site in demand, after local sporting groups have to relocate due to the Northern Corridor Improvements.
Local board chairwoman Lisa Whyte says Rosedale Park has ‘‘a bit too much going on’’ for the board to commit to a frisbee golf course there.
Shore’s alternative site, Rook Reserve in Albany, is also going to be used for stormwater runoff from the motorway expansion.
But Whyte is happy to try to find alternative sites in the area.
‘‘I think the nature of the sport is reasonably flexible. When I saw Rosedale I had a small panic attack,’’ she admits.
Whyte suggests a nine-hole course could be set up somewhere like Luckens Reserve in West Harbour or Sanders Reserve and Bike Park in Paremoremo.
If it is successful, another nineholes could be set up in Rook Reserve after the Northern Corridor Improvements are finished.
The Upper Harbour Local Board agreed to get Auckland Council’s parks department to work with Shore to find a suitable site.