Mar 17 2004, 11:08 PM
<font color="red">The Chili Disc Golf Course in Rochester, NY needs your help! </font> There is a possibility that the course may be closed by the Town of Chili. The Town of Chili Highway Superintendent has sent out a memo suggesting the course not be reopened this year. We believe that he may not want to mow the fairways. The Town will be reevaluating the course.

The Rochester Disc Golf Club is preparing its case for keeping the course open. This course was the site of the 99 Pro Worlds finals and is featured in the 99 Worlds video. For those of you who have played it, you know that our local disc golfers have put countless hours planting trees and flowers and working on the course. We do a lot of the extra trimming and mowing ourselves.

We would appreciate your impressions of the course and any suggestions and/or input of reasons that we can present to the Town to keep this valuable asset open.

The Chili Recreation Advisory Committee has been charged with evaluating the continued use of the land as a disc golf course. If you have opinions or input on the matter, please post here or e mail me at tmullign@frontiernet.net . We are also soliciting e mails trying to emphasize that The Chili Course is a World Class course and is a valuable resource for the Town because it attracts people from outside the Town who spend their money there on food, gas, lodging etc. I will forward the responses to the Recreation Advisory Committee.

More on the matter in the Rochester Disc Golf Club posting section in the Affiliate Club section of this board. Our website is Rochester Disc Golf Club (http://www.discgolfrochester.com)

Thanks,
Tom Mulligan, Rochester Disc Golf President

ross
Mar 17 2004, 11:19 PM
Here you go:

Dear Members of the Chili Recreation Advisory Committee:

My name is Ross Hammond. I am a native of Buffalo, who now resides in San Francisco where I am the Outreach Director of the San Francisco Disc Golf Club. In 1999 I had the good fortune of traveling to the greater Rochester area to play in the PDGA world championships and got to play at the Chili course. Without boring you with pages of superlatives, it was one of the best courses I have ever played on. Not only was the course challenging and unusual, but it was evident from how well maintained it was that the local players took great pride in the course and were working very hard to make it a top-flight facility.

The Chili disc golf course has become synonymous in the disc golf community with the spirit of volunteerism that so defines our nascent sport and has become a magnet for disc golfers all over the country who I am sure (as I did in 1999) spend hundreds of dollars each in the area on food, loding, etc. when they come to play the course.

Thank you for your consideration, and please keep the course open.

Sincerely,

Ross Hammond
SF Disc Golf Club
www.sfdiscgolf.org (http://www.sfdiscgolf.org)

Moderator005
Mar 18 2004, 10:33 AM
Here is the text of an e-mail I sent to Tom for forwarding to the Chili Recreation Advisory Committee.

Let's see some more letter writing out there! Save this wonderful Pro Worlds course!

Chili Recreation Advisory Committee:

My name is Jeff LaGrassa, I live in Reading, PA just outside of Philadelphia. I am a research chemist and have been an avid disc golfer for about 8 years. I had first heard about the Baker Farm course in Chili during the Professional Worlds Championships in 1999, and I purchased the videotape sold by the Professional Disc Golf Association which showcased the course. I was blown away by what I heard from other golfers and saw on the tape! It was a "no-brainer" to make a road trip to go play the course. Over Memorial Day weekend in 2001, I traveled with a good friend of mine, a computer programmer, SPECIFICALLY to play the world-renowned Baker Farm disc golf course at Chili. Suffice it to say that it was a most memorable weekend; the weather was perfect, the course was in outstanding shape, and my crony even scored an ace, his first ever hole-in-one! As a hobby, I write up disc golf course reviews and publish them informally on a website. Let it be known that with its world-class design and beautiful landscaping, (which must have taken hundreds of man-hours to design and create) the Baker Farm course at Chili instantly became one of the top ten courses I've ever played out of over 100 courses played across the U.S.A.!

I would estimate that we spent several hundred dollars over the course of the weekend in patronizing local Chili businesses: our hotel room for 3 days, dining charges at local restaurants, shopping, etc. Since it has been a few years, we are even considering a return trip. Now I personally know of dozens of other golfers who have also made the "pilgrimage" to the wonderful Chili course. Based on the amount of tourism revenue you would possibly give up, I would highly recommend you reconsider the proposal to turn the course into a parking lot for trucks. There surely must be other solutions to your dilemma that do not include removing a space that is so beloved by disc golfers both locally and across the country!

Sincerely

-Jeff LaGrassa

flyboy
Mar 19 2004, 12:44 PM
PAY FOR PLAY or it will go away.This is a problem across america ....Turn it into a business, and include the city in the profits.The city is a business also.Most parks are an illegal business and the city gets nothing but complaints.Disc Golf is not small anymore.I have never played there and wish NY the best...... I used to live in the city for 3 years upper east side.

Moderator005
Mar 28 2005, 12:08 AM
Chili task force to determine fate of disc golf course (http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050327/NEWS01/503270327/1002/NEWS)

Looks like the Chili course will stave off elimination for the time being. Woo-hoo!