Farmville Disc Golf

Farmville scores an ace with disc golf course

Park overcomes doubters, brings visitors and their dollars to town

ersistence, innovation and forwardP thinking town leaders helped transform a plot of fallow farmland into a nationally recognized playing field.

The Farmville Municipal Disc Golf Course officially opened in March, just as much of the country was shuttering because of COVID-19 precautions.

Gyms were forced to close their doors, and many saw disc golf as an alternative. Town Manager David Hodgkins said the new course has been a boon to the town at a time when the pandemic crashed the nation’s economy.

“Although we don’t charge to use the course, and we don’t receive any revenue By De

orah Griffin

directly from it, the business community has certainly benefitted,” said Hodgkins.

Hundreds of athletes have been drawn to Farmville.

“They shop in our stores and eat in our restaurants, they buy our gas,” he said. “As they are traveling through, we hope they might see something that brings them back.”

For the past seven months, as social distancing became the norm, and outdoor activity became vital, the new course attracted those who have played the sport for years, and many who never had heard of it.

According to Farmville Parks and Recreation employee Isaiah Lubben, there has been an explosion in the popularity of the game.

“It’s booming,” Lubben said.

Already home to two tournaments, the nature of the game lends itself to social distancing.

The 18-hole, 35-acre course was the site of the July 11 Contentnea Creek Classic, which brought in 72 players, with varying levels of experience, from professionals to amateurs, from across the state.

Sept. 19 and 20, the Farmville course was one of three Pitt County courses used during the 16th annual Down East Players Cup Tournament, hosted by Greenville Disc

20

Golf. More than 200 athletes competed, most hailing from North Carolina, along with a few touring professionals from Virginia and South Carolina.

Courses at Ayden District Park and West Meadowbrook Park in Greenville also were used during the tournament. Pitt County has free courses open to the public at East Carolina University's North Recreational Complex and at Covenant Church in Greenville.

Hodgkins said sponsorships, which are $500 for five years, help raise revenue to maintain the course. “There is a sign at each basket (or hole) companies can have their name on,” said Hodgkins. “It is a fairly costeffective marketing tool.”

The idea of a disc golf course in Farmville had been floated for a few years, according to Parks and Recreation employee Chris Stokes.

“In 2019, it was brought back up by David Miller, the [town’s] librarian,” he said. “A couple of commissioners got behind it, then everything was put into motion.”

The town enlisted Greenville Disc Golf to help design the course. GVDG is a nonprofit, 250-member association that helps promote disc golf through events, clinics and volunteer efforts.

“The Down East Player’s Cup is our biggest event to date,” said Max Crotts, board member and one of the designers of the Farmville course.

Crotts, who has played disc golf since he was 3, began competing in 2003. He has played in two world championships and plays at least twice a week.

Crotts said the land in Farmville presented a few design challenges. One was a lack of wooded areas, as many disc golf courses rely on trees to present challenges on the course.

He said they designed the fairways (the area of play) and the roughs (areas to avoid) by how the

Contentnea Creek Barbecue, top, sits across from the new disc golf course. Open Wednesdays and Saturdays, owner Charles Ellis said he has seen an increase in business, specifically during tournaments. The professional tee pad at hole 12, center, sits next to Contentnea Creek, which runs along the course. Bottom, professional disc golfer and ECU student Adam Durham practices with professional disc golfer Taylor Rafaleowski.

21

“For the past seven months, as social distancing became the norm, and outdoor activity became vital, the new course attracted those who have played the sport for years, and many who never had heard of it.

grass is maintained. The taller grass defines the roughs and the shorter grass, the fairway.

Also, the area is prone to flooding, which presented challenges as well.

GVDG executive board member Vince Tricarico said, “We had to get creative with the design.”

Tricarico, manager at Play it Again Sports, has seen a tremendous influx of disc golf customers, especially from Farmville.

He has played the sport since 2005, and recently placed fourth in July’s Contentnea Creek Classic.

He said as they planned the course, they tried to meet the towns’ criteria.

“They wanted something beginners could play, but they also wanted something that more experienced players would want to travel to,” Tricarico added.

He said by using DiscGolfPark equipment (an international design and sales company),

Farmville Parks and Recreation’s Isaiah Lubben talks about the most recent addition of a retaining wall at the disc golf course. Two sponsors can be featured on the 36-foot wall for an 18-inch display at hole 7. Lubben said they want to make it the course’s signature hole.

22

for the baskets, turf tee pads and artwork, the town elevated the course’s prestige and created consistency.

“DiscGolfPark courses are highly rated courses — nationally and internationally,” he said.

Another challenge in designing the course was skepticism from naysayers in the town.

Parks and Recreation’s Stokes said, “I don’t think a large section of the population was sold on it. As we developed it, and people began to play, I think the community bought into the idea. Now that it is operational, I think people can appreciate it and see the impact it has had.”

Lubben and Stokes said they now see Farmville residents on the course weekly, if not daily. They estimate 25 to 50 people, locals and non-locals, play the course weekly. As the weather cools, they expect that number to increase.

Tricarico said, at first, some people could not see the far-reaching effects the course would have.

“They look at the money that was spent and see there is no fee charged, and no concession stand. They wonder how is this making money?” he said. He said people don’t realize, as with the Sept 19-20 tournament, “216 different people will play the course

“Now that it is operational, I think people can appreciate it and see the impact it has had.” - Chris Stokes

during the weekend,” he said. “Where are those people going to eat, where are those people going to get a drink? Where are they going to stay?” he asked rhetorically.

Each player is given a list of eating establishments in the towns where the tournament takes place.

One local restaurant that will be on Farmville’s list sits directly across the street from the new course, Contentea Creek Barbecue. Owner Charlie Ellis has lived his whole life in Farmville. He remembers when all the roads surrounding Farmville were dirt.

He has owned the restaurant since 1998. Only open Wednesdays through