By Gary Lloyd
The frisbee disc golf course in Clay is expected to open to the public Monday, Mayor Charles Webster said.
Webster said the course’s baskets will “hopefully” be installed this weekend.
Webster said he’s received a lot of calls from Clay residents wanting to know when the course will open.
“It’s just a good recreational sport,” Webster said. “Plus, it’s a good exercise sport, too. I think it’s a good plus for us.”
The Clay City Council in February approved allocating $25,000 for the development of the two-course, 36-hole basket course that is located around the perimeter of Clay City Park. Those funds paid for the locks, concrete, galvanized pipes, signs, benches and baskets.
Renovations on the disc golf course hit a stumbling block in April when the Clay City Council discovered that the project would cost an additional ,000 due to labor costs involved with pouring concrete slabs. The council voted to allocate the additional funds to the project.
There will be no charge to use the course, and it will be open during daylight hours, the same as the rest of Clay City Park. Other area courses are in Trussville, Springville, Inverness and the Greensprings area. The city of Clay hopes to attract tournaments with the new disc golf course.
The first tournament at the new course will be the Bamboo Classic, scheduled for Aug. 10. Registration will begin at 7 a.m. that day beside the Clay Pubic Library. More information about the tournament can be found at www.discgolfscene.com.
Disc golf is similar to the type with balls, except the players try to throw the discs into baskets instead of hitting balls into holes. If they don’t succeed the first time, the players pick up the disc where it landed and try again. The goal is to get the discs into the baskets on the fewest tries possible.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.