Disc Golf Open
For immediate release
May 12, 2010
Contact: Bonnie MacPherson, director of public relations
Okemo Mountain Resort | 77 Okemo Ridge Road | Ludlow, VT 05149
802-228-1947 | bmacpherson@okemo.com
FLYING SAUCERS SIGHTED AT OKEMO'S JACKSON GORE
LUDLOW, Vt. - Visitors at Okemo's Jackson Gore Inn have reported seeing saucer-shaped discs flying through the air. It's not an alien invasion - just the season opening of Okemo Mountain Resort's disc golf course. Now open for its second season, The Maples at Okemo Disc Golf Course welcomes players daily from 7 a.m. until sunset. Greens fees are $2 per person and disc rentals are available for $5 (including greens fees) for a set of three discs: driver, mid-range disc and putter.
"Disc golf is very similar to regular golf," says Okemo Recreation Facilities Manager K.C. Gandee. "It's a fun game of skill that appeals to all ages. It's a great outdoor activity for families to do together."
According to the professional Disc Golf Association, disc golf is played much like traditional golf. Instead of a ball and clubs, however, players use a flying disc. The sport was formalized in the 1970s, and shares with "ball golf" the object of completing each hole in the fewest number of strokes (or, in the case of disc golf, the fewest number of throws). A golf disc is thrown from a tee area to a target "hole."
The Maples at Okemo Disc Golf Course offers play uniquely inspired by Vermont's maple sugaring traditions. The tee boxes for each target include an interpretive tour of sugaring history and the process for making maple syrup. The natural wood of the target posts pays homage to Vermont's state tree, the sugar maple. Authentic galvanized metal sap buckets atop the posts bare the number of each hole, and metal tubs topped with chain roofs serve as the destination baskets for final throws.
The longest hole, number 7, at The Maples at Okemo Disc Golf Course is 451-feet long. The shortest hole, number 6, measures 132 feet. Number 8 is the course's signature hole and requires players to throw across a brook through a narrow opening in the trees or to lay-up on a bridge before making a final approach shot. The course was designed by Adam Ford and built by Okemo staff.
Players should check in at the Jackson Gore Spring House, where they will receive a score card with a course map and some basic guidelines for play. Discs are available for rent and for purchase at the Spring House also.
For more information about The Maples at Okemo Disc Golf Course or other events and activities Okemo has to offer in summer, call (802) 228-1600 or visit okemo.com.
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