I have a group of boys that are wanting to do a Senior Project for their EAST Lab (technology/community involvement) that involves putting a disc golf course in the local park. I am really excited as I had talked to the parks department before and kinda been shrugged off, but kids from the local school... they have a chance! So here is the real question....

Has anyone ever seen a basket suspended from a tree (not connected to the ground)? Would this be acceptable, as long as it meets the necessary specs on height from the ground to the basket rim?

I have never seen or heard of it being done, but couldn't really give them a "why you can't". I did have some "Why you shouldn't" ideas, ie... kids swinging on them, basket swaying after 1 putt and time to wait for it to stop before the next putt, etc....

I don't want to squelch their creativity, as they have some really good ideas and big plans, and I want them to stay after it. But.....

It's been done many times, even on courses used in Worlds (2005). My only request when people have swinging baskets is they design a way to secure it for sanctioned events such as a ring embedded in the ground directly below the center of the basket where a chain can temporarily be extended from it to the bottom of the basket for tournaments.

Temporarily for a tournament or a private course, perhaps. But IMO, it would be a very bad idea for a local park on a permanent basis. Besides the obvious concerns of trying to prevent the theft of the basket, the potential liability for injury due to people (dgolfers or worse, people who don't know the sport and can thus claim ignorance) swinging on it, swinging the basket at each other, throwing it in anger after missing a short putt and hitting themselves or members of their group and so on is way to great.

Consider the scenario of two 8 year olds in the park encountering this fun new swing toy with mom/dad not paying close attention. Consider some of the possible injuries as these two grab on and start climbing. The potential for someone getting hurt is way too high, and the liablity incurred for allowing such a dangerous situation would be a very easy target for a suit.

Exactly.

I've seen a number of these on private courses, and I love them. (Confession: that includes one on our private course).

But in a public park, add to the aforementioned cautions the probability that kids, teenagers, and even adults swinging on it will break it often enough to be a real nuisance.