CARLSBORG — The thought of discs flying through Robin Hill County Park excites people inside and outside Clallam County — and not always in a positive way.
Amid a river of e-mails, letters and phone calls, the Clallam County Parks Department has extended the period for public comment on the region’s first 18-hole disc golf course at Robin Hill, the park off Dryke Road just north of U.S. Highway 101.
The comment period was to have ended today, but on Thursday parks supervisor Bruce Giddens announced that it will run through July 31.
The proposed course would turn about 20 acres of Robin Hill into a play space for golfers who aim discs, not balls, at baskets placed in the park’s meadows and woods.
E. Michael McAleer, a Sequim real estate agent and devoted disc golfer, last year urged the county parks department to explore a course at Robin Hill, a 195-acre swath beloved by runners, walkers, cyclists and equestrians.
Parks supervisor Bruce Giddens said his department has since worked hard to design a course golfers can enjoy without disturbing the rest of Robin Hill’s fans.
But the outcry over the discs — and future of the park’s 3.4 miles of foot paths and 2.5 miles of horse trails — has been more intense than anything Giddens has seen in his eight years with Clallam County Parks.
At two meetings in June, he faced many alarmed horsemen and -women, along with others who want Robin Hill to stay as it is: perfect for a quiet afternoon under the trees.
And this week, “we’re still flooded,” with comments, Giddens said.
