MORGANTOWN — Outdoor enthusiasts hiked through the snow Saturday morning to take a tour of a proposed disc golf course to be built at Coopers Rock State Park. The proposed design will cover 71.1 acres of the park alongside trailways in the forest.
The course will consist of two 9-basket sections, and a smaller 6-basket beginner’s course loop, to accommodate all skill levels. If the design is accepted, construction of the course will take around two years.
Nick Buysso, of the Morgantown Mountain Goats Disc Golf Club, led the tour, discussed the proposed design and answered questons along the way. The team will be responsible for constructing the course, as well as funding it.
“I’m feeling pretty positive right now. I don’t think there’s really any solid opposition. I have a lot of support from my friends, family and fellow disc golfers,” he said.
He said it’s been more than two years in the works with meetings, paperwork and designing the course. He said the idea of getting people on the ground and taking the tour is a big step forward.
There will be two weeks of public comment after the tour. After that, it will need to be approved by the state.
“First thing that happens is we’re going to have to eliminate the hazardous trees that are hanging,” he said. “Eliminate all the greenbrier that’s going to be in the center of the fairways, so that will be our first target.”
Buysso said there will be lots of clean-up involved.
“We’ll need a lot of volunteer help. Our disc golf club is very good at volunteering and putting in mass efforts of making that stuff happen,” he said.
Adam Polinski of the Coopers Rock Foundation was also on the tour Saturday. The foundation’s role in the creation of the disc golf course will include recruiting volunteers and working on trails.
“There’s one part that shouldn’t be forgotten: That there’s the non-disc golf uses. That there will be primarily walking and running, but on a day like today cross country skiing,” he said.
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