Southeast of Saline is close to unveiling the new Disc golf course that has been a collective and on-going process since last spring. “The idea came about when Mr. Stumpf mentioned at lunch one day that Mr. Ptacek was in the process of writing a grant for a Disc Golf course that would fit perfectly into his Lifetime Fitness class,” Tammy Streit said. 

Streit saw this as an opportunity for her Geometry class since Mr. Ptacek needed to come up with a cost analysis in order to move forward with this project. Four groups of Geometry students were required to investigate what disc golf is, the best baskets for our purpose, a reasonable style of tee pad, a design for a tee pad sign, the benefits of having a disc golf course at SES, and the required maintenance. 

“Finally, each student had to turn in a layout for the course using Google Maps. Each group then had to settle on one proposal for the course out of all of those layouts to present as part of their project,” Streit said.

The best parts of these four plans were then compiled into one final proposal, but funding for the project was still in question. Mr. Roger Stumpf provided information about available grants from the Greater Salina Community Foundation and the foundation came through with the entire $5000 needed for the project.

Delays have occurred due to the current pandemic, but with school back in session this fall, staff and students alike have completed various subprojects for the overall completion of the course.

“Flags have been placed in the field to mark proposed basket placement and tee pads for evaluation and a first walk-through were done by Mr. Stumpf,” Streit said. 

Volunteers helped mow designated areas for tee pads and baskets, so it is clear where the proposed areas are, and dug basket holes. Mr. Caselman walked the course in order to make certain that the disc golf course wouldn’t interfere with the cross country track. Mrs. Brooke Petty’s class set and installed the sleeves that hold the basket poles. Mrs. Streit’s Algebra II and seminar students (many of whom were in on designing the source last year while in Geometry) assembled the baskets. Students were tasked with delivering the baskets to the course and attaching padlocks. 

“This is a student-created course and It is very rewarding to me when students look at the map of the course and point out a particular hole and say, ‘That is one of the holes I designed’. Or, when they look at the baskets and say, ‘Those are the baskets we found at Emporia’,” Streit said.

A lot has been accomplished, but there is still remaining work to be done. Mr. Scott Emme’s class will be in charge of designing the tee signs that go with the corresponding hole to show the layout, distance, and part of the hole. 

“In the Spring, some more clearing of tee pad areas will be done and 4ft x 10ft concrete tee pads will be laid. Mr. Emme and Mrs. Petty’s students will be key in helping with this part of the project,” Streit said.

The course is open to students during school hours, and it will be made available for public use during off-school hours once the Cross Country season has finished up.  

“We will be able to run tournaments on our course. A normal Disc Golf Course is 18 holes while ours is 12. So, there are two options. We can run a tournament where the 12 are played through twice with a break for lunch and then 12 more played in the afternoon. Or, we can put in 6 temporary baskets when we want to host a tournament,” Streit said.

Thank you to everyone involved and the hard hours’ people put in. None of this would have been possible without your involvement. Especially the Kansas Health Foundation and the SES Educational Foundation. This grant was made possible by the Kansas Health Foundation of the Greater Salina Community Foundation.