JOHNSTOWN, PA. – Matt Turkach said his son, Hunter, got him hooked on disc golf this summer.
But many of the courses he’s played across western Pennsylvania are “discouraging” for a rookie, the Indiana man said as he lined up at a Westmont Hilltop Disc Golf Course tee Sunday.
That’s exactly why Laurel Highlands Disc Golf Club added the course, club member Nathan Woelkers said.
The nine-hole Westmont Hilltop Junior-Senior High School course opened Sunday.
And it was designed as a beginner-friendly option – during a moment disc golf is gaining popularity across the region, Woelkers said.
“If you can throw a Frisbee, you can learn disc golf,” he said. “We wanted to have something in the area that is more encouraging for people who are just starting to play.”
Woelkers said the group worked with a recent Westmont Hilltop graduate, Trevor Trotz, to build a park-style par-3 course over the past year.
Laurel Highlands Disc Golf club fundraisers raised $4,500 to set up the course, adding a series of nine “basket” holes and two sets of tees at each starting point.
One is for beginners. The other set is for more experienced disc golfers, “so they can enjoy the course too,” Woelkers said.
The sloping fairways are more wide open compared to the challenging, mixed terrain the 18-hole course at North Fork features.
In other words, “this is more my speed,” said Matt Takach, who has been disc golfing the past two months.
The club welcomed disc golfers with special giveaways, including disc sets.
Takach and his son, Hunter, brought their own. They traveled just under an hour to check out the new course.
They were the first to arrive to tee off.
Woelkers said recent Laurel Highlands events have drawn disc golfers from as far away as Michigan.
But they also want to continue to build the interest close to home, he and fellow club founder Coltin Miller said.
“We want to grow our community,” he said.
Woelkers credited Westmont Hilltop school officials for embracing the disc golf concept.
He said they arranged the course to be low-maintenance and easy for the school district’s maintenance crews to mow around.
“And the baskets are built to last decades,” he said.
The course is open to the public.
Event planned
The Laurel Highlands Disc Golf Club is also planning a nighttime “Space Race” tournament Oct. 19 near Hooversville.
It’s part of an ongoing effort to develop a permanent course at The Hollow at Camp Harmony, Miller said.
For $40, all entrants will receive two glow-in-the-dark Total Eclipse discs and a mystery disc, he said.
For more information on the event, visit discgolfscene.com/tournaments/2nd_Annual_Cosmic_Clash_Space_Race_2024.
