Ready to Soar
CRANBERRY TWP — After two and a half years of planning and constructing, North Boundary Park's disc golf course is ready to officially open.
Grand opening for the course — one of the longest in the world — is slated for 10 a.m. Saturday at the No. 1 tee.
“It's going to be a celebration more than anything,” said J. Gary Dropcho, who helped design and implement the course. “A lot of work has gone into this.
“The goal was to make this the most challenging course around and I believe that's been accomplished.”
The par-71 course covers 10,742 feet. Virtually every hole deals with elevation and all 18 holes deal with wooded areas in part, if not all of the fairway.
“There's only 20 courses in the world that are longer than 10,000 feet,” said Doug Cloutier, who assisted Dropcho in designing the course.
Cloutier works for Cranberry Township and, like Dropcho, is a member of the Pittsburgh Flying Disc Society.
Dropcho emphasized that the 18-hole course at the park “is designed for the high-level player” and that beginners who attempt to play the course “will likely get discouragted with the sport.”
The grounds formally served as a horse farm. Some of the fences are still in place.
A six-hole beginners course is part of the project and features five par-3 holes and one par-4 hole. The par-4 is 326 feet and none of the par-3 holes are longer than 200 feet.
All sixholes are on level ground and in the open, with no trees involved.
“It's the perfect place for beginners to learn the sport and practice,” Dropcho said.”The idea of this complex is to promote disc golf for all skill levels.”
As part of Saturday's grand opening, members of the Pittsburgh Flying Disc Society will be on hand to offer tips and give disc golf lessons. A number of Cranberry dignitaries will be on hand as well.
Prizes will also be awarded.
Lorin Meeder, the township's environment program coordinator, estimates the cost of the disc golf complex at $350,000.The disc golf course was the Cranberry Township Community Chest's 2018 project of the year. That organization contributed $214,000. Another $100,000 came from the township itself.“There are so many volunteers ... A lot of people came together on this,” Meeder said.The combination of hills and distance make the North Boundary Course one of the most challenging anywhere.Cloutier said there is 1.2 miles of paved trail surrounding the course, along with another portion of unpaved trail.“Just walking this course is rigorous,” Dropcho said. “Add another 70 disc throws to that and it's quite a workout.”Each hole on the course features three tee boxes — for the average, advanced and pro-level player to begin from. There are four par-5 holes on the course, including No. 16, which is 648 feet long from the pro tee.“No. 16 is the toughest hole on the course,” Cloutier said.The No. 18 hole runs downhill, before a slight upgrade to the basket. Numerous trees are involved.“I love that hole because its contour can determine the outcome of a match one way or the other,” Dropcho said.The area hosted the Disc Golf World Championships in 2015. Moraine State Park and Slippery Rock University were two of the courses involved that year.Dropcho is confident the addition of the North Boundary Park course will lure major disc golf events back to Butler County.“There is still some work to be done here, but I'm confident this course will be ready to host a national or international event within two years,” Dropcho said.
