Killeen opens disc golf course
Posted On: Sunday, Feb. 7 2010 05:35 AM
By Mason W. Canales
Killeen Daily HeraldRibbons fell and discs flew through the air Saturday at Conder Park as Killeen celebrated the opening of its first disc golf course.
About 60 people gathered near two practice holes for the nine-hole Kiwanis Club Killeen Disc Golf Course to watch the course's grand opening ceremony.
"This is obviously something that people are excited about," Killeen Parks and Recreation Director Brett Williams said before introducing several people who contributed to the development of the course.
The Kiwanis Club of Killeen contributed $10,000 to fund the disc golf course, Williams said earlier. Parks and Recreation installed the equipment and Colen Wilson, a Killeen geographic information systems project manager, designed the course.
"This entire project was done without using tax payers' dollars," City Manager Connie Green said at the ceremony.
Green, Councilwoman JoAnn Purser, and other city officials all thanked the Kiwanis Club for making the project possible.
"On behalf of the City Council, we just want to thank the Kiwanis Club," Purser said. "They are a partner in Play Town USA and a partner to help revitalize the parks."
The Kiwanis Club can't take full credit for the disc golf course idea, Kiwanis Club of Killeen President Chuck Lauer said.
Jessica Lauer, a 2008 Ellison graduate, thought installing a disc golf course would be a good senior project in the leadership academy, Chuck said. She later got the Kiwanis Club involved. After a year of fundraising and about six months of development, the project came to fruition.
"I think she didn't believe that we would be able to do it," Chuck said. "This just exceeds my expectations."
He also thanked the city for partnering with the Kiwanis Club on the project.
The nine-hole course spreads through about 11 acres of Conder Park. It weaves in and out of several trees and crosses a small creek.
The city currently has score cards for the course and additional information about disc golf on its Web site, www.ci.killeen.tx.us.
Williams hopes disc golf will pick up popularity in Killeen with the addition at Conder Park, he said. It will give something active for children and adults to do for a very low cost.
"The most important thing is, it offers another free recreation in our parks," Williams said.
During her remarks, Purser offered a challenge to the City Council and city staff to compete against each other.
If they do so, the course will bring to them what it will bring to residents, she said.
"This addition to the park will be a lot of walking, a lot of exercise, a lot of fellowship and a lot of fun," Purser said.
Contact Mason W. Canales at
mcanales@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7554. Follow him on Twitter at KDHheights.