CARLSBORG — The uproar continues over holes, hikers, horses — and trees hit by flying discs in Robin Hill Farm County Park.
During an emotional meeting on June 25, equestrians as well as runners and cyclists spoke against a Clallam County Parks proposal to build an 18-hole disc golf course at Robin Hill, the wooded park on Dryke Road just north of U.S. Highway 101.
And the calls and e-mails are still streaming in, said parks supervisor Bruce Giddens.
“We all thought we were doing a wonderful thing for the park and the people,” Giddens said on Monday.
He’s heard from disc golfers in Jefferson County, King County and even Portland who said they’d gladly golf at Robin Hill.
Among Clallam County residents, “it’s about 50-50,” opponents to supporters, Giddens said.
As for those who’re alarmed about the course, the horsemen and -women have been in the majority, he said.
But others fear the discs will spoil their serene space.
“At the June 25 meeting, there were many opponents of the Frisbee golf course . . . folks who either walk or cycle there, like myself and my wife,” noted George Mansfield of Sequim.
The meeting was “the first time that many attendees had seen the plans for the Frisbee golf course; they were caught unprepared to comment.”
Janis DeVerter of Sequim was another non-equestrian lover of Robin Hill, and one who doesn’t believe that the county parks department has given the public enough opportunity to comment on the disc golf plan.
After conducting research on the sport, she found that the citizens group, San Francisco Tomorrow, has lamented harm done by discs in that city’s Golden Gate Park.
Players on a course there have tossed their discs into trunks so many times that the trees have been damaged, the group says. Foot traffic has removed soil, leaving roots exposed.
“Oh, and what about public bathrooms?” DeVerter asked.
“Oh, yes, we have a wonderful disc golf course in Sequim, but we don’t have any place for a team of Boy Scouts to go potty, or a team of young men, or women.
“This seems a little poor planning on someone’s part . . . I think the whole idea should be scrapped for lack of doing homework.”
