Come June, play disc golf in Lincoln Park

An aerial view of Lincoln Park.

By Stefanie Donahue

Lincoln Park will soon be the site of a new 18-hole disc golf course.

On February 12, Blaine City Council approved the allocation of $7,489 to purchase 20 disc golf baskets, two for putting practice, to be installed at Lincoln Park on D Street. Blaine community planner Alex Wenger said he hopes to unveil the new 18-holedisc golf course at the park in June.

“I’m really excited about this,” Wenger said. “I think it’s going to be a big deal.”

Similar to golf, disc golf players count strokes each time they throw a disc. Discs are thrown from a tee pad and players take turns until they finish the hole or the basket. The player with the fewest total throws wins the game.

“Kids can play it and senior citizens can play it,” Wenger said. “Bring your [disc] to the park and that’s all you need.”

The idea for the disc golf course was raised in 2011, when the city’s park and cemetery board approved the Lincoln Park Plan. At the time, the 27-acre park contained walking trails that were in “adequate condition” but required vegetation management. English Ivy that posed a “serious” threat to trees in the park.

The plan called for trail restoration, improved safety, entrance design, trash receptacles, parking access, picnic areas and play equipment – including a disc golf course – among other things.

“Lincoln Park is a great place to take a walk and get some exercise,” read a description in the Lincoln Park Plan. “By adding a few pieces of fitness equipment and a disc golf course, people could come to the park and experience nature while getting a good work out.”

The park and cemetery board has budgeted up to $20,000 for the disc golf course, Wenger said. They’ve already designed the layout of the first nine holes and volunteers from Whatcom Disc Golf Club have played a large part in the planning process. “They’ve been great,” Wenger said.

“This has been a really special and unique project for the Whatcom Disc Golf Club to help with,” said the group’s president Ryan Klassen in an email. “As a club, we have been trying for years to find more and adequate places to play, so we are really excited for this opportunity.”

Klassen said that he and other volunteers offered to help the city plan the layout of the course to ensure it minimizes impact to the park and current park users. “This has been a lot of work, mostly due to the invasive ivy covering a majority of the park,” he said. For the last several weeks, the nonprofit has hosted work parties at the park to cut back ivy and prepare.

“We’re looking forward to the grand opening of the disc golf course and the chance to play this new remarkable course once the work is done,” he said. “We’re hopeful that once complete, the city of Blaine will have one of the best and most northern disc golf courses in the continental

United States.”

The city’s new disc golf baskets will likely be installed in April or May, when the weather improves, Wenger said. Volunteers are welcome to help and a work party schedule will be released closer to the installation date.

Wenger said Lincoln Park is one of two designated off-leash dog parks in Blaine; the new course will not change that rule.

“The new disc golf course has been carefully designed to not impact the primary perimeter walking trails and primary north/south trail,” he said in an email. “A great deal of effort went into locating the tee pads and baskets so that people walking on trails will not be affected by disc golfers. The course does cross a few internal trails and signage will be posted where appropriate, but the park will remain completely open to everyone, including dogs.”

To learn more about Whatcom Disc Golf Club, email whatcomdisc@gmail.com or search “Whatcom Disc Golf Club” on Facebook.